Paul Hart was in his element last Tuesday, coaching schoolchildren at the Portsmouth training ground. One of the nation’s best in his role as the club's director of youth operations, he had nevertheless agreed to help out with the first team for a week after the dismissal of Tony Adams in February. But a week became the remainder of the season, and a decision on the next step grows nearer.

A Sunday newspaper claimed eight days ago that Hart had already been offered the manager’s job on a permanent basis. He denies it, but Fratton Park regulars who have watched the former Leeds United and Nottingham Forest central defender restore order and discipline to a team that was plunging towards relegation under Tony Adams must be hoping that the offer to Hart and Brian Kidd, his assistant, will soon be made.

“We haven’t been offered the jobs, and that’s an absolute fact,” Hart said. “Nor would I expect it to be that way. We’re really here to see it through and get us safe and that’s what we were brought in for.”

Had Portsmouth not lost at Blackburn on Saturday, discussions might already have started. But a record of only four defeats in his 12 games in charge suggests that Hart, 56, is finding managing at the top level easier than being in charge of Forest (2001-04), Barnsley (2004-05) and Rushden & Diamonds (2006). He certainly admits to rediscovering an appetite for first-team management.

“Really the seed wasn’t planted until after I got the call to see if I would help out for one week – not even a game, because it was an international week,” he said. “It was relatively stress-free, and I don’t think it was until a couple of weeks later that I could say: ‘Oh, this feels all right.’

“In the past, I’ve done everything myself. Now, with Brian, I’ve started to manage in a different way, not trying to be everything to everybody and trying to prove that I’m this or I’m that, and it’s been refreshing. And because I’ve managed from a distance in terms of the training pitch, where I’m overviewing things, I think I’ve had a better picture of what’s going on.

"My wife tells me I never listen. I think I do, although sometimes it takes a while for it to get through. I’ve listened to people recently while I’ve been in this job, I’ve listened to criticisms of when I’ve managed before – they don’t go away – and I’ve tried to learn from the mistakes I’ve made. I’m a centre half, and they develop late. You learn by goals going in and then it all falls into place.”

Hart is full of praise for Kidd, 59. “For me it’s great to have an older man – you can print that – to learn from. I had known him a long time and I had a great respect for him although we had never worked together. It was always in the back of my mind that if I got a job as a manager, that I would ask Brian to come in.”

Together, the pair took Portsmouth back to the basics that he learned under Brian Clough at Forest, and which seemed to have been lost, unexpectedly, under Adams. “Kick it, head it. There isn’t anything that happens on a football pitch, any feeling that Brian or I haven’t been through. Now and again you need little reminders of what you have to do. Heading it and kicking it stands the test of time, all around the world.

“Those people who believe that the Brazilians don’t head it and can’t be nasty are sadly mistaken. They have been brought up hard. Everywhere in the world you have to head the ball, the most courageous act on the football field. You risk injury. Head it, kick it, keep a clean sheet. The rest comes from there.”

As a player, Hart never shirked a header or anything else, and although he is non-commital when asked if he will take the job if offered – and risk the job security offered by his youth role – there is little doubt that he will agree to continue helping out.

“I’ve been there before,” he said. “I know that a pat on the back is only six inches away from a kick up the arse. I tell the kids that the one thing you have to learn in football is to handle disappointment. It’s not easy, even now, and criticism is tough. But I don’t have to do it, do I? If I got offered the job, I could turn it down. If I make that decision, I’ll take what comes.”

Paul Hart was appearing at an official coaching and signing session for Barclays. Barclays is title sponsor of the Barclays Premier League. which is watched by a global audience of 4.77 billion throughout the season in more than 200 countries.
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