The trial of Paul Hart - Day Four - The heat is on Hart
18/12/03 | Exclusive to LTLF

The defense has started its case to keep Paul Hart in his job. The defendant is in the witness box…

William Snenton for the defense: Mr Hart, would you care to explain the reasons for your team's recent decline in fortune?

Paul Hart: Absolutely. We've had a lot of injuries to deal with this season. David Johnson has been out since September and Michael Dawson has been struggling with various injuries all season.

Defense: But most teams suffer injuries, don't they? Why have these two injuries had such a significant effect on the fortunes of the team?

Hart: Well there have been other injuries, but those two are both key players in the team and we don't have the depth in our squad to replace them adequately.

Defense: Do you think, with this small squad, Forest have got a chance of getting into the play-offs this year?

Hart: The lads are working hard to turn things around, but there is only so much you can achieve which a squad as small as ours. We need all of our key players fit for the rest of the season if we are going to make a challenge.

Defense: Why have things got to this stage where you don't have enough players to make up the team? One of your players recently said that the team could travel to games in a minibus...

Hart: Unfortunately we have been forced to sell a number of players for financial reasons. This has meant the club has lost a number of players since last season.

Defense: Yesterday your chairman, Nigel Doughty, told this court that the decisions as to who left and who stayed was entirely up to you. Is this the case?

Hart: Not entirely. It was left to me decide which players should be released in the summer, but I was told that a certain number of players must be allowed to leave in order to cut the wage bill.

Defense: So it was left to you decide which players would be the ones to go? A tough decision for any manager.

Hart: Yes, I did not want to break up the team after they achieved so much last season, but we had to let some people go. I had to make some difficult decisions about who should go and who should stay. I spoke to a lot of the players about their futures. Some of them told me that they had ambitions elsewhere, so it made sense to allow them to leave, but others wanted to stay and I had to tell them that they couldn't.

Defense: Do you think you were given adequate resources to replace these players with?

Hart: We don't have a lot of money so finding replacements has proved difficult. We still need a number of players to give the squad more depth but sadly the resources are not there to do that. The other lads are working very had to do what they can in the mean time.

Defense: Do you find the wage cap imposed on you by the board restrictive?

Hart: It does make finding players willing to come to the club very hard. A lot of them expect much higher wages, but we can't offer them that.

Defense: Does the same apply to players within your own squad? Do some of them demand higher wages?

Hart: A few of them have.

Defense: And what happened in those cases?

Hart: We had to either negotiate with them to bring the wage down or let them go elsewhere.

Defense: So the wage cap is not only stopping you from signing the players you want, but it is also forcing you to sell players?

Hart: Yes.

Defense: I see. [To the judge] That is all for now. M'lud.

Judge Robert Wollaton: Very well. The prosecution may now examine the witness.

Jeremy Radcliffe for the prosecution: Mr Hart, you say that the wage cap has forced you to sell players and prevented you from buying new ones. Do you think Forest are the only club in financial difficulty at the moment?

Hart: No, of course not.

Prosecution: Then you must understand that Forest are not the only club who must limit their spending and reduce costs.

Hart: Yes, I do, but…

Prosecution: So why is it other clubs are able to bring in new players successfully and you are not?

Hart: I have brought in a number of players recently.

Prosecution: Yes you have. If the jury will recall evidence given earlier in this trial, you will remember that players signed by the defendant have done significantly worse then those he has let go.

Defense: I think my client has already explained that financial restrictions imposed on him have forced him to sell players and made finding replacements difficult.

Prosecution: True, but as he admits himself, Forest are not the only club suffering from poor finances, yet other clubs have been able to keep hold of their best players, while Forest have allowed most of theirs to go. As manager, shouldn't you take responsibility for that, Mr Hart?

Hart: I was forced to sell players to bring the wage bill down. I had to choose the players to keep which I thought would bring the most to the team.

Prosecution: But what about Jack Lester, a player who had scored nine goals for you the previous season and then went on to continue scoring at Sheffield United? He told this court that his wage demands were well within your limits, but you still allowed him to leave!

Hart: We had to let players go. Unfortunately Jack was one of the ones I chose to release.

Prosecution: But you then replaced him with Gareth Taylor. Since joining Sheffield, Mr Lester has scored eight goals. How many has Gareth Taylor got?

Judge: I think we already know the answer to this question, counsel.

Prosecution: We do indeed. He has scored only two goals in a comparative number of appearances. Surely Mr Taylor's wage demands were not significantly lower than Mr Lester's?

Hart: No, but…

Prosecution: So how did releasing Jack Lester and buying Gareth Taylor benefit the team?

Hart: I believe that Gareth will come good for us soon…

Prosecution: And in the meantime, Forest slip further down the league because they are not scoring enough goals.

What about the decision to sell Marlon Harewood, who was, until he left for West Ham last month, the club's top-scorer?

Hart: Marlon's contract was running out, so we thought it was best to cash in now. We signed Marlon King as a replacement.

Prosecution: But King has yet to score, while Harewood had already proved himself with 12 goals for you this season. Meanwhile Forest are £450,000 down on the deal. How does this benefit either the team or the club financially?

Hart: If we did not sell Marlon then we would have got nothing for him at the end of the season.

Prosecution: Or you could have given him a new contract and kept hold of a player who was capable of scoring 20 goals a season? Mr Doughty has gone on record as saying that he would be willing to break the £4,000 wage cap in order to sign a player of this quality, so surely he could have sanctioned breaking the wage cap in order to keep one?

Hart: That wouldn't be my decision.

Prosecution: But as manager it is your responsibility to manage the contracts of your players and keep your team together, but you didn't take the time or effort to give Harewood a contact he was happy with. Or perhaps it is just a case of your pride getting ahead of you, Mr Hart? Is it not the case that you have tried repeatedly to off-load Marlon Harewood during your time as manager? Didn't you try and sell him to West Brom at one point, only for the deal to collapse?

Hart: Yes, but that was a long time ago when he wasn't scoring.

Prosecution: Doesn't say much for your eye for spotting talent then, does it?

Defense: My client is regarded throughout the world of football as one of the best youth team coaches around. He was responsible for finding and developing the talents of players such as Alan Smith, Jonathan Woodgate, Jermaine Jenas and Andy Reid. I hardly think his ability to find talent is a question here.

Prosecution: [To the witness] What about Darren Huckerby? He was loaned to Forest by Man City last season and scored five goals in 11 games, helping you get into the play-offs. Am I right in thinking that you were given the opportunity to secure his services again this season, either on loan or as a permanent signing?

Hart: We did look into it.

Prosecution: But you decided to not to pursue that option didn't you, Mr Hart? Could you please explain why a player who probably made the difference between you getting into the play-offs or missing out last season was not considering worth getting into the team again?

Hart: We didn't think that it was the right move to make.

Prosecution: Or was it your pride getting in the way again? Was it that you were angry that Huckerby's loan move was arranged by the chairman and not yourself?

Defense: Doesn't that question undermine the prosecution witness's statement yesterday that he does not interfere with his manager's business?

Prosecution: Perhaps it does. But it does say something about the accused that his complete lack of ability on the transfer market forces his chairman to go against his best intentions and make quality signings for the club on his behalf.

Defense: It is precisely because of the chairman's interfering and restrictive influence that my client has been unable to make the signings he wants for the first team.

Judge: Does the prosecution have anything else to put to the defendant?

Prosecution: Just one more matter, m'lud. Mr Hart, you were recently linked with speculation regarding the Leeds manager's job. Were you offered the job in the end?

Hart: No, I wasn't.

Prosecution: I see. Well we shan't speculate as to the reasons why. If you had been offered the job, what would your response have been?

Hart: I would have declined it. As I said at the time, I am totally committed to the job I am doing at Forest.

Prosecution: Is that why you have had talks with both West Ham and Reading about their manager's jobs over the past three months?

Hart: Err…

Prosecution: You are obviously not as committed as you claim to be Mr Hart, or you would not be eying up others job.

Defense: My client is perfectly entitled to have talks with other clubs so they should wish. The fact that other clubs are interested in his services should be a reminder to his current club of his proven abilities.

Prosecution: It doesn't set a good example to his players though. If the manager is entitled to talk to other clubs, the playerswill assume they are too. The manager acting as if he wants to leave will have done little for stability and confidence within the team and could be one of the reasons for their recent slide down the league. [To the judge] That is all.

Judge: Very well. I hope to have this case concluded by the weekend so could both counsels please start working on their final statements?