- Football
Pellegrini wanted to drop Hart sooner
Manuel Pellegrini delayed dropping Joe Hart for Manchester City because he did not want to disrupt England's crucial World Cup qualifiers.
The Sun is reporting that Pellegrini wanted to act after Hart's clangers against Bayern Munich on October 2, but kept faith with his beleaguered shot stopper three days later against Everton because England's key group games were on the horizon.
It turned out to be a good decision for all parties, as Hart played in the 3-1 home win against the Toffees, before going on to concede just once as England successfully navigated past Montenegro and Poland to book a place in Brazil next summer.
In fact Hart's displays for England reportedly renewed Pellegrini's faith in him, but his high-profile clanger in the 2-1 defeat to title rivals Chelsea, when he gifted Fernando Torres a late winner following a mix-up with Matija Nastasic, left the Chilean no option.
Hart was finally dropped for the Premier League clash against Norwich City on November 1, a decision which has divided opinion - especially as there is a World Cup at the end of the current season.
The 26-year-old will sit on the bench for England against Pellegrini's native Chile tomorrow behind Celtic's Fraser Forster, but has been reportedly been assured he will still be No. 1 to face Germany on Tuesday.
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