In theory it makes sense with the home grown thing but I’ve always found Joe Hart unlikeable. Plus his ‘form’ in the last 4-5 seasons has been terrible and he’s well past his best
Even though a month or so I said we wouldn’t need to buy a 3rd choice keeper, I’m actually pretty happy with it. It’s a free, HG option and even though Hart has been really poor the last couple seasons he brings some good experience to the fold and allows both Whiteman and Austin to head out on loan (or at least they better now). I personally have really high hopes for Austin, too early to say if I think he can become a definite number one here in years to come but he’s the first academy keeper in a while that’s given me potential “first team vibes”. Getting him another good loan after the Viborg one is essential for his development and if Hart allows that then in general it’s a smart signing for the club.
Unsure on the Skipp to Norwich loan though, even though they’re likely to lose a few players I think they’re pretty stacked in the midfield department so I hope that there’s an agreement in place that Skipp is guaranteed a set amount of minutes at the least. Apparently there were a couple of German clubs interested in him, that could’ve been an interesting move, quite a few young Prem players have gone there and done pretty well in different spells, Sancho has obviously killed it since joining Dortmund on a permanent move but Nelson, Ampadu and Lookman have had reasonably good loan moves in recent years, albeit since Lookman joined Leipzig permanently he’s barely played lol.
Spurs and Norwich on good terms regarding Skipp is good. Makes it easier when Spurs go in for Max Aarons
Wouldn't be surprised if we added (or tried to add...) George Marsh to any deal for Aarons, considering Orient were playing him as an RB last season
Hart is a no brainer really, free, home grown, 2nd or 3rd choice keeper, experienced, winners mentality, relatively cheap wages. It also allows our young keepers to go out on loan, to see if they are going to be good enough.
I get the reservations about Joe Hart but I do think myself it’s very smart business. Neither Austin or Whiteman are ready and Austin in particular looked like the loan did him a world of good - a couple more seasons of regular football at a good level will mean we will know if he can step up or not. Whiteman needs the regular playing experience badly at this stage in his career as well so we know what he’s really made of. Meanwhile we’re getting an HG player in to challenge Gazza for backup keeper on what amounts to these days a low wage (reported 35k which is a cut on what he had at Burnley) who is also reputed to be a strong leader in the dressing room. Considering he’ll probably barely play I think it’s a smart way of helping balance the squad while potentially giving us an avenue to secure a long term GK from the academy by letting the kids go out and prove themselves.
Castagne Watch It looks like Atalanta are going to sign Mergim Vojvoda from Standard Liege Why am I bringing this up? Well, Vojvoda is a RB... The obvious comparisons are Rob Green Chelsea a couple of years back or Scott Carson at The Sheikh Mansour Team last season, an experienced third-choice keeper who balances out the HG numbers I'd still prefer Ben Foster, though, as it's guaranteed that we'll come up against him wasting approximately 38 minutes of a match if we don't...
You do have to wonder why Hart is doing it. As you say, will rarely play, and then only if one of the other keepers is out long term, and isn't getting paid a fortune (by PL standards). Surely there is a a championship team that will pay that and give him regular football.
It's the usual domino logic Joe Hart is reportedly about to sign That means that Gazzaniga must be off The means that Gazzaniga is bad That means that Gazzaniga was only signed because he knows Poch's uncle There's no hyperbole in that, either, as I've seen r/coys literally do a 180 on Gazzaniga in the space of an hour all because we must respect the ubermensch's decisions above all
Turning on Gazzaniga Someone has to go to free up a space but let’s make it into a conspiracy Wish we didnt get Poch...he’s turned half the ****ing fan base into cultists embarassing stuff
