Former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart returned to Shrewsbury Town colors on Tuesday night, but it looks like he won’t be leaving the pundits anytime soon.
Joe Hart made a surprise return to Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night (Image: Malcolm Couzens)
Joe Hart made an unexpected return to Shrewsbury Town as goalkeeping coach on Tuesday night, but the match pundit provided only a one-off cooperation.
The former Manchester City and England goalkeeper, 38, has taken up a career as a pundit after his impressive playing career came to an end. Hart is a regular on Match of the Day, covers major international tournaments for the BBC, and has won much praise for his expert goalkeeping analysis.
But Hart switched studios to League Two on Tuesday night as he helped his former club Shrewsbury Town prepare for a crucial away game at Salford City.
Shrewsbury head coach Gavin Cowan has revealed that Hart has offered to come and help out while the club waits to appoint a new goalkeeping coach following the departure of Brian Jensen.
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“There’s nothing simpler than mates trying to help mates,” Cowan told the Shropshire Star ahead of Shrewsbury’s 2-1 win against Salford.
“I spoke to Joe recently when he was appointed and Dave has been in dialogue with him and we have discussed that the appointment can take a little bit of time.
“We were picking Joe’s wits about the goalie situation, but it’s just a buddy wanting to help a buddy. He came down and offered to be a part of what we’re doing. This is just confirmation that he’s a class act.”
Mr Cowan continued: “Personally he’s a great guy. He’s not that far off – I know he’s a busy guy – but it still took a lot of time to get here. But that’s what he wanted to do in the first place – ‘Can I offer my help and expertise?’
Shrewsbury currently do not have a first-team goalkeeper coach, so Hart has stepped in (Image: Malcolm Couzens)
“He’s going to come and help us and really try to get us closer to the three points.”
Cowan’s comments before the game all but confirmed that Hart had no intention of leaving punditry permanently to pursue a coaching career.
Hart, who was born in Shrewsbury and went on to play in the first team through Salop’s academy before being snapped up by Manchester City in 2006, had previously downplayed the possibility of him going into coaching.
He previously wrote to BBC Sport: “I haven’t taken a coaching badge, but this was a deliberate decision. For some people, becoming a coach or manager is an obvious option when you stop playing, but it’s not something that’s ingrained in me.”
“But I still want to give something back. Even though I’m not a goalkeeper anymore, I love talking about the art of goalkeeping and how it has changed so much in my time and how it continues to evolve.”
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