England great Peter Shilton says Joe Hart is over-rated and no longer deserves to be No 1
Shilts tells Sam Allardyce: 'He's prone to making errors...in my eyes he's not an automatic choice at the start of this season'
JOE HART should no longer be considered an automatic choice as England's No 1 goalkeeper.
That's the verdict of former international great Peter Shilton, the nation's most capped stopper with 125 caps.
Manchester City's Hart boobed badly at Euro 2016, letting in decisive goals against Wales and rank outsiders Iceland.
New England boss Sam Allardyce will have noted that Hart himself said he "didn't perform personally to the level that's required to push through to the quarter-finals".
And Shilton has weighed into the debate by insisting: "It wasn't a good tournament for Joe, his concentration levels didn't seem to be great.
"I think maybe he's come back to the pack, alongside Jack Butland and Fraser Forster, and it's all to play for now. All goalkeepers make mistakes but the best ones make fewer and he obviously came unstuck at the Euros."
Shilton, 66, who played for his country between 1971-90, is also a twice former European Cup winner with Nottingham Forest in 1979 and 1980.
He believes City's Hart, 29, is over-rated. "I've always said I don't think Joe is as good as a lot of people think he is," he said. "He's a good keeper but he's prone to making errors, and not just for England.
"There's competition now and in my eyes he's not an automatic choice at the start of this season.
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"Sam Allardyce has reportedly said that Joe was too highly strung in the tunnel before games in the Euros and he is going to tell him to calm down but after 60-odd games for England you should know that anyway."
Shilton thinks Stoke City keeper Butland and Southampton rival Forster are getting better all the time.
Butland's chances of going to Euro 2016 were wrecked when he fractured his ankle in a 3-2 friendly win over Germany in Berlin in March.
"I think they're both improving - they've both had some bad luck," he explained.
"Butland was very unlucky when he injured his ankle but I believe he's got character and will come back strongly this year."
Shilton did not exactly give a ringing endorsement to the Football Association's decision this month to bring in Allardyce as manager to replace Roy Hodgson.
"A lot of people may be looking at a couple of things, a) Sam has never won a big trophy and b) the style of football he plays," said the former Southampton, Stoke, Leicester City and Derby County keeper.
"Sometimes though a manager can only play a style with the players he's got. Sam's an Englishman, he's experienced, he's come up through the ranks ... and he seems a logical choice.
"You do want an Englishman in charge but by the same token you want the right man in charge. We could maybe have put in Harry Redknapp, who plays a better type of football, with a younger man under him.
"But he's been out of the game for a couple of years now and that's probably gone against him. Hopefully Sam can pick up the debris left from the Euros."