Manchester City Manager 'Manuel Pellegrini' undecided on number 1 Goal-stopper

There is something about the subject of Joe Hart that is guaranteed to get under the skin of Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.

Perhaps, after naming him as a substitute for the 3-0 defeat by Arsenal in the Community Shield at Wembley, he just doesn’t really fancy him. It has always felt that way.

Pellegrini picked Willy Caballero to play in goal ahead of Hart as the countdown to City’s title defence gets under way.

‘All 22 players we have in our squad must demonstrate who is No 1 in all positions,’ claimed Pellegrini.

‘Joe finished last season playing well. We will see next Sunday who starts at Newcastle.’

On Sunday, Caballero, the Argentine keeper who worked with Pellegrini at Malaga, looked no better than Hart. Priced at £6million, he looked ordinary.

In a head-to-head, Hart has won two Premier League titles with City and is the established first choice England keeper (not that that says very much). At 32, Caballero’s last big trophy win was the Copa Libertadores with Boca Juniors in 2003. He was so far off the radar of Argentina coach Alex Sabella he didn’t even make their World Cup squad.

Pellegrini, though, is a title-winning coach with City and his views, difficult to comprehend on this matter, ought to be respected. He knows what Caballero is capable of, even if we saw no evidence of it during a disturbing performance from the champions.

Hart, who won his second Premier League medal last season, played 90 minutes against Olympiacos in the Guinness Challenge Cup last week and got half a game against Liverpool on July 31.

Even taking into account an extended break since the World Cup, he has not spent enough time in goal during City’s pre-season. ‘Hart only arrived 10 days ago and the other players have been working for longer,’ said Pellegrini.

City looked anything but ready on Sunday. To be fair to Caballero, the four defenders in front of him — Gael Clichy, Dedryck Boyata, Matija Nastasic and Aleksandar Kolarov — were a huge disappointment.

At Newcastle, when they walk on to the field as defending Barclays Premier League champions, they will have to show who is No 1.