Gary Hart

[withdeanwombat]

I think most of us realise that Gary will not be with us next season. Although Gus has shown that he is not a sentimental manager I believe that, with the tile won, Gary should start the Huddersfield game so that we can give him the send off he deserves.

A legend

A tile ? We've won a tile as well ??

 

[stss30]

A tile ? We've won a tile as well ??

f***ing hell the football league have pulled out all the stops this year!

 

[Steve Foster]

Let OGH manage the drinks in the last home again. That way he can come onto the pitch without playing?

 

[libra-gully]

I hope that the club can find a role for him - working with the development squad or something. He's a great bloke.

Not only is Gary a very good bloke, but he has been with the club through thick and a lot of thin. Despite the exile in Gillingham, it was players like Gary and Kerry Mayo that kept things going through some pretty dark times.

It has been fitting for him then to take part in the promotions as well as the relegations. From what i saw the other day, he is now back from injury and training with the first team. If he is training with them still, Gus must think he can still do a job.

Personally, I think we should give him a role in the club, as this is a guy, who like Wardy, knows what it is like to do a proper job before becoming a pro-footballer. This knowledge and hunger is hard to replicate and so would prove invaluable to pass onto the youngsters and/or the development squad. I also think he would be good in the community as he is great with the kids. maybe he could combine the two roles. Perfect!

Either way, good luck Gary whatever you do.

 

[Jimbo26]

Get Kerry Mayo back as well to run one of the burger vans. We can't let these people slip away !!

 

[Tyrone Biggums]

The club has to keep him involved, perhaps in a role that deals with the community and young fans.

How many other players have a story like his and are bestowed with a term of endearment like "Our Gary Hart".

If we let him go elsewhere he'll become "Their Gary Hart" and we can't have that!

 

[goldstone]

If Gus wants to blood a few youngsters in the last couple of games - as he should - there's no reason why he couldn't start with OGH and bring him off, even if he only gets 20 or 30 minutes. That would give plenty of remaining time for the youngster, would give OGH his 300th appearance and also give the fans a last chance to give him a standing ovation.

Three good reasons to do it, in my book.

Have to agree with you 100%.

And how come two people (one of them me) started a thread on the same subject at the same time. Wierd!

 

[Basil Fawlty]

OGH was sent on a Coaching Course a couple of weeks ago, hopefully we can give him a coaching role within the club. The guy is a total legend and I would hate to see him leave.

 

[Perkino]

I wouldn't be suprised if he has a contract for next season as a back up squad player, He can play in a number of positions and would be fairly cheap and reliable

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

I wouldn't be suprised if he has a contract for next season as a back up squad player, He can play in a number of positions and would be fairly cheap and reliable

I would!

 

[Bwian]

there's no reason why he couldn't start with OGH and bring him off,

we'll have none of that on here.

 

[Bwian]

Let OGH manage the drinks in the last home again. That way he can come onto the pitch without playing?

The guy never gave less than 100% for The Albion yet you choose to make twattish comments. f*** off back to Crawley.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I wouldn't be suprised if he has a contract for next season as a back up squad player, He can play in a number of positions and would be fairly cheap and reliable

I would be utterly flabbergasted if he got one. Fine, give him a job elsewhere on the coaching side, if he's got the relevant qualifications, but as a player, I'm sorry, but he is past it. That's not meant as a dig, it's just fact. He hasn't made any impact this season or last, so why should next season be any different? Poyet gave him a new deal because he knows he's evidently a good bloke to have around and is a good influence I guess. He had four or five cameo appearances in Slade's team where we really needed someone to run around a lot and show a bit of passion for the cause, for twenty minutes a game. He was perfect in that scenario. But open your eyes, he isn't a striker because he hasn't scored for years, he's not a defender, he doesn't have the pace to play on the wing, or the awareness/footballing brain to play in midfield in a Poyet team. He might be cheap, but "reliable"? He's in his mid 30s, he peaked in about 2001/02, and we'll be at a higher level next season.

Let's give OGH a big send off by all means, and I'm sure the club will find a role for him (if he wants one: for all we know he might want to find another club and keep his boots on for now), but please: not as a player any more.

God, why does even saying this make me feel guilty, like I've been caught kicking a small puppy?

 

[Bwian]

I wouldn't be suprised if he has a contract for next season as a back up squad player, He can play in a number of positions and would be fairly cheap and reliable

I think that even the most die-hard OGH fans realise that this will be his last season as a player with The Albion and I'm sure Gary is thinking the same. If we've achieved all of the goals Gus has set, where's the harm in letting him get to 300 appearances?

 

[Brighton Breezy]

No.

Would rather see one of the young players who are our FUTURE play.

He had his testimonial for all that emotional stuff.

Also, he hasn't been any good for YONKS...

Oh, and please, can we dish out jobs on MERIT not on the fact someone played for us for a long time. A long time in which nobody else ever wanted to sign him...

 

[BensGrandad]

Being a jourtnalist as I believe you are, you should know that he was offered a contract last summer by 2 clubs in our division and also a couple of conference teams. So if you wish to make snide comments get your facts right. That is not to say that we should offer him another contract

 

[Brighton Breezy]

Being a jourtnalist as I believe you are, you should know that he was offered a contract last summer by 2 clubs in our division and also a couple of conference teams. So if you wish to make snide comments get your facts right. That is not to say that we should offer him another contract

Exactly. LAST season. By clubs in this division and lower. Hardly a Steve Bull esque moment of soul searching to stay here, where he is settled, knows everyone etc.

My point was that, much like Mayo, no bigger club ever came in to test that loyalty did they?

I am not saying he is terrible or an evil person. Far from it. Just that he has done very well out of this club AND already had a testimonial etc. That was the time to say 'Thanks Gary'. Now is the time to play younger players and have a look at players like Navarro etc who there is still some debate about whether we will re-sign them or not. THAT is only fair on them.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Exactly. LAST season. By clubs in this division and lower. Hardly a Steve Bull esque moment of soul searching to stay here, where he is settled, knows everyone etc.

My point was that, much like Mayo, no bigger club ever came in to test that loyalty did they?

I am not saying he is terrible or an evil person. Far from it. Just that he has done very well out of this club AND already had a testimonial etc. That was the time to say 'Thanks Gary'. Now is the time to play younger players and have a look at players like Navarro etc who there is still some debate about whether we will re-sign them or not. THAT is only fair on them.

As already pointed out, Hart turned down Leyton Orient in January and Mayo turned down Reading whilst still with us (they were in the Championship at the time) Kerry mentioned this himself recently on the Albion Roar.

 

[The Large One]

My point was that, much like Mayo, no bigger club ever came in to test that loyalty did they?

Yes, several.

Over many seasons.

 

[Brighton Breezy]

But the point remains, Hart HAS had his testimonial already.

Really is no need to shoehorn him into the team.

As others have said, make him captain if we get to the Sussex Senior Cup Final.