Plenty of Manchester City fans have been reacting to comments made by the club’s former goalkeeper Joe Hart about Pep Guardiola, with the remarks eliciting some polarised reactions.
The Burnley player spoke with Prince William for a programme which is due to air on BBC One tonight and cited being dropped by Guardiola in 2016 as one of the lowest points of his career.
Hart had been Manchester City’s first choice ‘keeper for six seasons before the arrival of the current manager four years ago, with Guardiola reportedly wanting a more composed goalkeeper in possession instead of the England international.
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He duly signed Claudio Bravo, who had an 84.3% passing success rate from the previous season compared to Hart’s 52.6%. The Englishman played just once under Guardiola before embarking on loan spells at Torino and West Ham prior to being sold to Burnley in 2018.
The 33-year-old told BBC [via talkSPORT]: “Things happened with the new manager at Manchester City, probably the most important manager in the world. He didn’t even necessarily not like me, he just had a certain aspect which he didn’t feel I was up to, and it kind of dropped from there.” Those comments were later shared on Twitter by @City_Xtra.
Joe Hart:
“Things happened with the new manager at #ManCity, probably the most important manager in the world. He didn’t even necessarily not like me, he just had a certain aspect which he didn’t feel I was up to, and it kind of dropped from there.”
[@BBCOne via @talkSPORT] pic.twitter.com/ztFMsbki6D
— City Xtra (@City_Xtra) May 27, 2020
Hart’s remarks about being jettisoned by Guardiola drew a mixed reaction from these City fans on Twitter, with some hailing his “class” while others were less impressed – one supporter called him “bitter” given Bravo’s far superior passing stats.
Here is a flavour of the reaction from Man City supporters:
Not a great way to treat one of the best servants of the clubs. Will never forget this.
— Yash M Bhatt (@ymbhatt) May 27, 2020
Devastated when joe left. He took a bit of city with him
— Emma Tolton (@sBqFlRe1Pmsxvrr) May 27, 2020
Pure class as always from Joe. He could easily be bitter and say it was a personal conflict, but he’s honest enough to say it was a system/tactical decision.
— CatchTheFire (@AnCap241) May 27, 2020
He is bitter—not that I blame him. This account is just picking and choosing his more political answer.
— Steeve C (@CanteevS) May 28, 2020
Sorry Joe, but you kind of brought it on yourself when Head & Shoulders adverts were more important than working on your weakness!! 😏
— Stuart Carroll 🇬🇧 (@mcfcger81) May 27, 2020
He went downhill after that anyway
— اسد خان (@Assad121) May 27, 2020
Man City fans, what did you make of Hart’s views on being overlooked by Guardiola? Have your say by commenting below!
