• Premier League

Hart running out of chances at City

Manuel Pellegrini is a very fair man. When he first arrived at Manchester City, there were glum faces and disputes throughout the dressing room, and he knew he'd have a lot of sorting out to do. A good example was with his striking options; despite bringing in Alvaro Negredo and despite it looking like Edin Dzeko would be a firm favourite to leave the club, Pellegrini gave him the chance.

The same went for French midfielder Samir Nasri, whose performances throughout the 2012-13 season had been downright awful. He was another one fans wouldn't have been disappointed to see playing somewhere else. But the new manager came in, wiped everybody's slate clean and gave them the chance to prove themselves worthy of their first-team spot.

Joe Hart has failed to replicate the heights of his magnificent performance against Borussia Dortmund in October 2012 in recent times © Getty Images

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It's a big part of Pellegrini's management style - as soon as a player has the shirt, they have the chance to remain in the team, and he's always challenging those on the bench to win their place back.

When it was clear that Dzeko's start to 2013-14 hadn't been brilliant and, as Negredo had scored a few times from the bench, the Spaniard was given his chance. Nasri also impressed throughout the opening stages and kept his position ahead of James Milner, who was understandably incredibly frustrated last season.

In fact, the only player who had more let-offs than he should have was the one who was contributing to many of the early-season away defeats: goalkeeper Joe Hart.

It's very troubling for City's fans that the Hart they're watching currently is a shadow of the one they saw in the 18 months after the game against Tottenham in August 2010. Under relentless pressure at White Hart Lane, the Englishman proved why he was keeping veteran Shay Given out of the team, with a string of fine saves. It was almost like that game ended Tottenham 0-0 Joe Hart.

Since his man-of-the-match display in the home draw with Borussia Dortmund in October 2012, City's goalkeeper has barely hit the heights he's been expected to. And it's a worry that, at just 27, his form appears to be suffering one very large wobble, when he should be heading towards the peak of his career.

The problems have been brewing for a while. Shots to his left have been a constant niggle - even when he was impressing after his loan spell at Birmingham - and there have been question marks over his command of his area. While it's not necessarily a bad thing to punch the ball clear (personally, I always think that if the goalkeeper would prefer to get rid of the ball, then let him get rid), there have been growing calls for him to attempt to catch more crosses in order to win back possession. Then, of course, the quality of his distribution was the subject of frequent criticism.

It seems clear that if Pellegrini had possessed a better backup than Costel Pantilimon, given how he'd treated other players who were out of form, Hart would have been on the bench much earlier than he was last season. It took several high-profile errors at Cardiff, Aston Villa and Chelsea before the manager's hand was forced. If the Chilean had had more confidence in his No.2, I doubt very much whether we'd have seen Hart last until the end of October.

Roy Keane described Hart as "arrogant" to highlight one potential reason as to why mistakes were creeping into his game. There's certainly an argument that there is some ego there - though some would say it's a common trait of the best goalkeepers. Watching his behaviour behind the scenes at Carrington, it's clear he's not shy and is willing to be the joker of the pack; throw in a ridiculously high number of ad campaigns to which he lends his face and perhaps he needs to step out of the limelight a little.

Regarding Saturday's 1-0 loss, it's difficult to put the blame for Stoke's winning goal at the feet of Hart, but he certainly played his part in a calamity of errors. True, Mame Biram Diouf should never have been allowed to run with the ball from his own half - having been shown a yellow card already, you can understand Fernandinho's reluctance to bring him down in midfield, but (as cynical as it sounds) Aleksandar Kolarov could have done it instead. However, with the striker having dribbled a shot straight at the goalkeeper, there was no way it should have slipped through his legs and into the net.

From a man whose form looked like it was on its way back to its best at the end of last season, Hart seems to be feeling the pressure once more. Think back to the match-winning save at Everton that built a huge platform to City reclaiming the Premier League title; that was a Dortmund-esque save. By contrast, the shot he let in on Saturday was about as much of a threat as a back pass.

Willy Caballero hasn't joined City to be a reserve. He was first choice at his previous club, he's worked with Pellegrini before and he was regularly the best goalkeeper in La Liga. This is a shot-stopper Pellegrini trusts - and you get the impression he's not really sure whether he trusts Hart.

With the run of games coming up (Arsenal, Bayern Munich, Chelsea), it's a risk to potentially unsettle the defence and switch the goalkeeper, so Pellegrini may stick with Hart. But if that error on Saturday isn't the one that allows Caballero the chance to make his Premier League debut, then Hart surely can't afford another one for quite some time.

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