It has been a season of rapid maturation for Joe Hart. After a foundation year at Birmingham City last term he has become Manchester City and England’s first choice.
By the end of this campaign, he will have gained invaluable experience: he has already played 46 games for club and country and if he does not get injured he will surely pass the 60-game mark.
That's an amazing 90 hours of competitive action: for a goalkeeper who is turning just 24 next month, that would be a remarkable achievement.
Hart has impressed with the consistency of his performances. He puts that down to watching David Seaman as he was growing up.
While Hart, like any goalkeeper of his age, was in awe of Peter Schmeichel’s aggressive, flamboyant approach to keeping goal, he also learned from Seaman’s understated effectiveness.
“Growing up, David Seaman was a massive role model for me,” Hart said. “Peter Schmeichel and him were the ones I looked up to. Seaman always made the game look easy. He never looked flustered and always seemed in command of his defence.
"I speak to Stuart Taylor a lot about Seaman because was at Arsenal with him and he tells me what a great keeper he was.
"I've spoken to Patrick Vieira about Seaman too. He says he's the best keeper he's ever played with, the way he prepared, his communication and his ability. That's some praise.”
After his outstanding start to the season, Hart has focused on not letting his standards slip, and in his last seven games he has kept five clean sheets.
“I look at a clean sheet as a personal success,” he said. “I'm not happy when I do let goals in…what keeper is? I always assess what's my fault but I don't dwell on mistakes, I never have, it's not part of my make up. I know what I am and know what I can do. You just move on.”
That mental strength has helped him cope with the number of games he has played. With Shay Given and Gunnar Neilsen out injured, Roberto Mancini has not been able to give him a rest.
Hart concedes that the City squad as a whole have suffered from fatigue, competing as they are on three fronts. While they continue to push for Champions League qualification, their chances of winning the Europa League were damaged by Thursday’s 2-0 defeat at Dynamo Kiev. The FA Cup looks their best chance of silverware.
“Tiredness and fatigue is a problem for everyone at this stage of the season. We are only human beings and the demands on players now is very intense.
"We have been playing a lot of games recently, but that's why you have a big squad, to cope with this stage of the season when you are still involved in a lot of different competitions.
"The top clubs are used to that and it's something we are adjusting too. There are still plenty of us who are still fit so I don't think it's too much of a worry.
"When you have things to play for towards the end of the season that's what players want, so you won't find me complaining.
“The FA Cup is a great opportunity for us now. It's been an exciting competition for us this season and we've had plenty of thrills and spills with the games against Leicester and Notts County making things interesting.
"Then we beat Villa comfortably and now we have Reading, who have knocked out Everton in the previous round, so we won't be taking it lightly that we aren't playing Premier League opposition.
“I think we have as good a chance as any of the big sides left in the last eight and we all want to win it. The FA Cup is still a big trophy and there's a determination in our dressing room to get to the final.
"People say City will only start to go forward when we win a trophy but, regardless of moving forward and stepping up, we want to win every game we play.” Telegraph
Chelsea and Man City will compete for Kaka's signature
Chelsea will go head-to-head with Manchester City in a summer transfer battle for Brazilian superstar Kaka.
Real Madrid are prepared to cut their losses on the 28-year-old who has endured a miserable time at the Spanish giants, partly through injury, after shunning City in June 2009 for the Bernabeu in a £56million move from AC Milan.
Real expect to recoup £40m for the former world player of the year.
Chelsea are confident he will snub City again in favour of working with former boss Carlo Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge. Kaka is seen as the long-term replacement for Frank Lampard. Mirror
Fed-up Man City boss Mancini to offload Balotelli to AC Milan
AC Milan are ready to splash out on Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.
The Sunday Express says Milan are ready to end £24million Manchester City striker Balotelli’s Eastlands nightmare in the summer by taking him back to Italy.
Balotelli has exhausted the patience of many of the City staff and the majority of fans who believe that his removal from Thursday night’s 2-0 Europa League defeat against Dinamo Kiev following an allergic reaction to the grass, was the last straw.
Most have never warmed to the sulking Italian since his summer arrival from Inter Milan while even supportive manager Roberto Mancini is believed to be fed up with the 20-year-old’s problems. Tribalbollox
Manchester United manager Roberto Mancini is fighting dressing room unrest ahead of their FA Cup quarter-final with Reading. (News of the World) Just shows how poor some papers are when they cant even get the team correct!
Matt Mills speaks about today's reunion on *** Official *** Reading site
http://www.readingfc.co.uk/page/NewsDet ... 67,00.html
WAG OF THE DAY
Further proof that you don’t have to be a massive star to pull a pretty WAG, Manuel Neira of San Luis in Chile must be a happy happy man! The striker has never played for a big club and was unfortunate to be outshone by the likes of Marcelo Salas and Ivan Zamorano but it didn’t diminish his pulling power. Currently dating Fernanda Acevedo she is the just the latest in a string of beauties but we aren’t here to discuss Acvedo.
For 2 years Neira was married to the truly stunning Pamela Diaz, something that must have gone some way to console him about his actual career. Diaz was runner-up at the Miss Chile pageant in 1999 and has also been a model, reality TV star, TV hostess and actress (although I use this term loosely as Mission to Mars was shite!). She has one kid with with Neira but meh I don’t mind looking after someone else’s kid if Miss (I hope) Diaz is one of the perks!
OTHER BOLLOX
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to sell striker Wayne Rooney this summer because the pair's relationship has become too strained. (News of the World)
Barcelona are preparing a £40m bid to buy Tottenham's 21-year-old midfielder Gareth Bale. Daily Mirror
Former Liverpool star Javier Mascherano has told Chelsea he wants to stay at Barcelona to fight for his place in the team he joined last summer. Daily Mirror
Aston Villa will dump Richard Dunne after the centre-back was involved in another off-field bust-up. (News of the World)
Manchester United will let striker Danny Welbeck stay on loan at Sunderland for another 12 months. News of the World
Liverpool have offered Kenny Dalglish a two-year deal and substantial transfer funds to become manager on a permanent basis. Sunday Express
Ray Wilkins believes Jose Mourinho could tbe the next Manchester United manager when Sir Alex Ferguson finally calls it a day. (Sunday Express)
Meanwhile, one man definitely quitting United is keeper Edwin van der Sar - the 40-year-old Dutchman has confirmed he will resist calls for him not to retire at the end of the season. (Sunday Express)
Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand's England captaincy is safe - if the 32-year-old can prove his fitness for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales later this month. Daily Mirror
The Premier League is to join the Football Association in demanding greater clarity from Fifa over the use of video evidence to scrutinise offences by players. (News of the World)
Tottenham's shirts for next season could contain computers that will reveal how tired the players wearing them are. Daily Telegraph
A billionaire Indian businessman is said to be ready to offer Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley £200m for the club. Daily Mirror
Stoke City boss Tony Pulis says building a team at his club is a bit like running a rescue centre for stray animals. 'We don't deal at Crufts," he says. "We deal with Battersea Dogs Home."Daily Mail
