Manuel Pellegrini's Handling of Joe Hart Has Been Sensible and Admirable

Language is a funny thing in football, as in all walks of life. A completely different impression can be given on an event or a decision depending on what words you use. A manager and player having a discussion over tactics can become "showdown talks" depending on how you wish to portray it.

Equally, when a player is left out of their team, it can be for many reasons, not all of them that reflect badly on the player himself, but if the player in question is high-profile enough, then headlines will inevitably suggest he has been "dropped."

So it was with Joe Hart, who was omitted from the Manchester City side to face Hull City at the weekend, with Manuel Pellegrini opting to give new 'keeper Willy Caballero some time between the posts.

Gareth Copley/Getty Images

This, it seems, was a perfectly sensible decision. Caballero was purchased in the summer to provide good quality back-up to Hart, in much the same way as a number of other teams around Europe recruited high-profile 'keepers ostensibly to sit on their bench.

One thinks of Pepe Reina at Bayern Munich, Keylor Navas at Real Madrid and even David Ospina at Arsenal.

These are 'keepers who will not be happy spending all of their time on the sidelines, so it is inevitable that they will displace their more established colleague at some point during the season, and indeed it is sensible that they are—they must be given some form of match practice, lest they become rusty simply twiddling their thumbs on the bench.

Caballero had been picked for City's League Cup game against Sheffield Wednesday last week but didn't get what one might describe as a strenuous workout. City won 7-0 and, according to the BBC's statistics, Wednesday only had two shots on target.

It therefore made perfect sense, given this light workout, to give Caballero another 90 minutes, which Pellegrini duly did at Hull. This was a Premier League game so obviously competitive but also one that City were fully expected to win, so it seemed an ideal game in which to play the Argentinian.

Pellegrini explained his decision, as quoted by The Guardian:

"

It was a very easy decision because we have to play around 60 games in the whole year and Joe has played eight games in 32 days, which is a lot of games for a goalkeeper or any player. For Willy it was good to play two games in a row. There is no problem.

"

Still, as in that Guardian article and a number of other places, Hart was described as being "dropped," when such a thing implies that a player has been omitted because of their own poor form, which was demonstrably not the case.

As if to prove the point, Hart was recalled for City's Champions League game against Roma and played very well, a slip for Francesco Totti's goal aside, making a number of fine saves.

Hart himself said it was "hard to see the positives" when asked about being rested, as per The Telegraph, but what else might you expect from a competitive player and an England international?

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

There was plenty of criticism of the decision, not least from Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail on Monday, who wrote: "What the hell is Manuel Pellegrini playing at with Joe Hart? He dropped him for no good reason at Hull City on Saturday, and there appears to be little urgency in renewing his contract."

Yet, Pellegrini's handling of Hart has seemed to be very good since his arrival in England. The 'keeper seems to be the sort of character who thrives on proving a point, on proving any doubters wrong, so whenever he returns to the team having been left out, he seems even more determined than usual to play well.

It was a similar story last season, when Hart was going through a slump in form. Pellegrini took him out of the side in favour of Costel Pantilimon, and when the Englishman returned, he was a player reborn, playing every other Premier League game for the rest of the season and putting in some terrific performances.

Despite the criticism, Pellegrini's handling of two high-quality goalkeepers, something that is becoming more and more important in the game today, has seemed perfectly sensible. Hopefully the headlines will reflect that a little more.