You might think you know what to expect from a Joe Hart interview just before the World Cup... but think again
England's goalkeeper talks exclusively to Sky Sports on whether playing for England is better than sex, why he won't be reading Andrea Pirlo's book, and even Mad Men...
"Go on then," says Joe Hart as he takes his seat for the beginning of our interview. The reason is that I am explaining to England's goalkeeper that I think I have prepared at least some questions with a slightly different twist.
We are in Manchester City's Platt Lane Academy Complex and it has been a day of media activity for Hart. This, combined with the fact it is 2014 and combined with the fact a certain sporting event sits on this summer's horizon, means the national team's No.1 has inevitably faced a familiar line of enquiry - World Cup, World Cup, World Cup.
But what
do you ask in a World Cup year that would not already have been put to Hart? Well, I try my luck...
It does not start too well, to be honest. Callum Burton is a name Hart does not recognise. This is a bit of a surprise given Burton is building a promising reputation in rising through the ranks with Shrewsbury Town and England, which is the same career path as Hart, but at least it is a unique question and at least it leads to the next.
Hart has heard of Harry Lewis, another teenage goalkeeper on the books of Shrewsbury and earning England recognition. The reason is that Lewis is the grandson of Ken Mulhearn, the last goalkeeper to have won a top-flight league title with City before Hart's 2012 and 2014 successes.
That title win with City in 1968 makes Mulhearn a City legend. As is his status, Mulhearn was on the field and celebrating with Hart after City won that first Premier League title in 2012.
So is it strange for Hart, now a double Premier League champion, to think in decades to come he will be held in similar, if not higher, esteem by future generations?
He answers excitedly: "Oh, yeah! It's weird but it's nice. Anything positive you can do for anyone is nice. If someone looks at you in a good way, the only thing you can do really is try and be a good role model and point them in the right direction."
That gets us down to the real business. England fans will desperately be hoping everything Hart does this summer will be positive - starting with Wednesday night's warm-up game against Ecuador.
And, so, with talk of Mulhearn at least providing a temporary distraction, and not fancying the prospect of returning to my bosses solely with quotes about a goalkeeper from the 1960s, what of the World Cup?
How often has Hart been asked if England can win it in Brazil? The subject of England's chances of potential success this summer is an obvious and, at the same time, ridiculous question; Hart is hardly going to say England will just be making up the numbers this summer.
"Yeah, it's a lot," Hart explains of the frequency with which he is asked about England's prospects. "But it's only because people care. English people want the England team to do well. They want some inside information to which they think I'm privy and that I know how it's going to turn out. But, unfortunately, I don't.
"Like I have always said, though, we're turning up confident and turning up to win. We've a team of players at the highest level football can offer, club-wise, and we're going to do the best job we can. I'll do everything in my power for us to do well."
Those are familiar lines from England players. And another subject to which Hart will be no stranger is of the World Cup bringing England back into battle with their Euro 2012 conquerors, Italy. The two sides face each other in their opening game in the Amazon jungle setting of Manaus on 14th June.
Two summers ago, Hart was famously unable to prevent his nation from suffering a quarter-final elimination on penalties by Italy. And, of course, of that defeat, the most-discussed moment is Andrea Pirlo's 'Panenka' penalty.
Again it is an event of which Hart is frequently reminded. Indeed, as we speak, just half-an-hour earlier, as part of the day's activity for the head&shoulders 'Hart' Rate Moment campaign - which is all about illustrating the importance of preparation in order to feel confident in a heart-racing moment - another member of the media had attempted to repeat Pirlo's chipped penalty when taking on Hart in a spot-kick.
"I think people get more of a buzz off that than I do," Hart says, grinning, with regards to the 'Panenka'.
Watching from a distance of no more than 10 yards as Hart had faced those penalties from journalists had been a memorable experience. Admittedly Hart was not facing the calibre of opposition to which he will take on in Brazil but, saving himself from suffering any injury, he never once needed to dive and still made his saves every time by reading the direction and with just a simple side step to his left or right.
As for watching him take a penalty, top corner, no mistake. Hart has taken penalties in the past, for England Under 21s in their successful shootout with Sweden in the 2009 European Championship and the winner for Manchester City in a 2011 friendly with LA Galaxy, but this is still a goalkeeper. It makes us leisurely footballers feel quite incompetent.
But we do not want to get stuck on the specifics of that Pirlo penalty. How about that different twist? What about Pirlo the person? Has Hart read Pirlo's much-lauded autobiography, 'I Think Therefore I Play', which was published earlier in 2014?
Hart laughs, screws up his face and shakes his head. The reason is not any grudge still standing from that shootout in Kiev in 2012 but rather that, by his own admission, he is "not a big reader".
The 27-year-old will instead spend the England squad's long trip to Brazil via Miami catching up on television series. He has been saving HBO's True Detective, which was broadcast this spring on Sky Atlantic. Has he tried another Sky Atlantic broadcast series, AMC's Mad Men? "Is it good, yeah?", asks Hart, and the conversation, in another twist, veers off to talk of Don Draper.
Inevitably, the subject of Pirlo does have to return. In his book, the Juventus midfielder describes playing for Italy as being better than sex. So how would Hart describe playing for England?
"(Pause for thought) I like playing for my country," he says, smiling. "I love playing football. But I'm never going to quote that in a book, I don't think!"
Another gem from Pirlo's 150 pages sees the Italian recount the following anecdote from his time at Inter Milan in 1999, when now-England manager Roy Hodgson took charge of the Serie A club on a caretaker basis.
Pirlo writes: "Roy Hodgson mispronounced my name. He called me Pirla [which translates in English to d**khead], perhaps understanding my nature more than the other managers."
Hart chuckles at being told this story but says of Hodgson: "He is a good guy, a football guy, and has been around the game a long, long time.
"He wants his teams to do well; that is his main objective. Getting people's names wrong is not that important when we all know who he means and what he wants from us. He puts a lot of trust in us and the best way to pay him back is to win."
England will have their work cut out if they are going to win the World Cup but at least in Hart they have a goalkeeper who, having been dropped by City earlier in the season, is back to his best (see his performance in May's win over Everton at Goodison Park). He will go into the tournament with the confidence of having won two Premier League titles in three years along with the 2014 League Cup.
Indeed, much has changed for Hart since he went to the 2010 World Cup as the second-youngest member of Fabio Capello's squad only to be debatably left as the unused third-choice goalkeeper.
In the four years since, Hart has won the FA Cup, two Premier League titles, the League Cup and has also experienced playing in the UEFA Champions League. That is natural career development but also means England will have a better developed player than the one who could have been thrown in to the miserable team performances in South Africa in 2010.
Hart acknowledges as much and sums it up perfectly as our interview ends: "I suppose everything that's gone on since the last World Cup can only benefit me; good and bad. I'm always learning. I'm still a relatively young guy, I'm still loving my football and I potentially have the chance to play for England in a World Cup."
Joe Hart is the ambassador for head&shoulders 'Hart' Rate Moment campaign which is all about illustrating the importance of preparation in order to feel confident in a heart-racing moment. To find out more search #HartRateMoment
