Hart urges City to go forward

Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart has urged the club to move forward ahead of Manuel Pellegrini’s arrival at the Etihad Stadium.

Roberto Mancini was dismissed as City’s manager a year to the day after guiding the club to their first league title in 44 years.

City cited the side’s slow progress in Europe as another factor behind the Italian’s departure, with the club failing to emerge from the Champions League group stage for two consecutive seasons.

Malaga confirmed on Wednesday night that Pellegrini will leave the Spanish club at the end of the season, while the 59-year-old is City’s first-choice replacement for Mancini.

“It’s tough to talk about possibilities obviously,” Hart told Goal.

“We had successful times under Roberto but the club’s made the decision to move forward and we need to react as players.

“Whoever comes in, we’ll give them everything we’ve got.”

Hart was among those in City’s squad last season who were publicly criticised for his performances by Mancini but the England international is adamant that the club are not in need of wholesale changes.

“We need to improve on next year and that’s an exciting challenge,” Hart said.

“There’s nothing massive, just little tweaks here and there. Finishing the job – we didn’t win enough games – we won possession, dominated games, but didn’t win them. That’s what we need to improve on.

“There’s a lot of work to be done behind the scenes, that’s why we’ve got such great people in charge – strong characters, strong businessmen – hopefully they’re going to make the right decisions and we’re going to react as players and move forward.

“Everything’s in the past now, that’s the beauty of football – it’s constantly changing – and we have another chance next year.”