Joe Hart’s attempted escape from the media glare didn’t last long. However, Torino’s management have come out in support of their new number one.
Torino president Urbano Cairo has bemoaned Joe Hart’s “bad luck” after the on-loan goalkeeper made a well-publicised mistake on his Serie A debut, in comments appearing on Football Italia.
On the same day as his replacement at Manchester City, Claudio Bravo (below), endured a shaky debut at Old Trafford, the England international goalkeeper gifted a goal to Atalanta in their 2-1 win at Torino by failing to claim a simple corner.
Hart, the first English goalkeeper to play in Serie A since its inception in 1929, was defended staunchly by his manager Sinisa Mihaljovic after the game and his new club’s president has now also rode to the defence of the 29-year-old.
“It was bad luck and I think he is a great goalkeeper,” Cairo said, according to Football Italia.
“[Hart] conceded a goal from a ball that could’ve been saved, but it must be said that he was touched by another of our players.”
The two-time Premier League champion will be undoubtedly grateful for the belief shown in him by Torino’s management during a testing period in his career, especially after the club’s director of sport Gianluca Petrachi admitted that former Arsenal goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano (below) was actually top of their wish list.
“We had decided to sign Viviano from Sampdoria, but they didn’t want to sell him,” Petrachi told Sky Italia. “The agent [Claudio] Vigorelli said he still hoped to resolve it somehow and then he said he was in touch with Hart’s agent.
“So I thought that if City would contribute in part to his wages, it would be a great opportunity.”
Like simple corners, Hart needs to grab this opportunity with both hands.
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