become the manager of the England under-21 team. After less than a month of his tenure, Hart made his entire squad available for transfer, after being informed he had to drastically reduce the wage bill to avoid the club going into financial ruin. As a result, Hart lost several experienced and key players, notably Andy Johnson to West Bromwich Albion for £200,000, Alan Rogers to Leicester City for an undisclosed fee, and Stern John to Birmingham City for £100,000. During the 2002–03 season, with the financial problems alleviated somewhat, and having the benefit of a settled side, Hart guided the club to the First Division play-offs, losing 4–3 after extra-time and 5–4 on aggregate to Sheffield United in the semi-finals. Forest started the 2003–04 season well, but a run of 14 games without a win resulted in Hart being sacked after a 1–0 home defeat to Coventry City on 7 February 2004. Barnsley Less than a month after being forced out of the City Ground, Hart accepted the offer of the manager's job at Second Division club Barnsley. However, he left the club a year later after failing to mount a serious promotion challenge. Rushden & Diamonds In May 2006, Hart took over as manager of Rushden & Diamonds, following the departure of Barry Hunter. After an average start to the season, Diamonds embarked on an eight match winless run, leading to Hart leaving the club in October by mutual consent. Portsmouth Hart joined Premier League club Portsmouth as Director of Youth Operations in 2007. He was asked to take over as caretaker manager, initially for one game only following the sacking of Tony Adams on 9 February 2009. Shortly afterwards, Hart brought Brian Kidd in as his assistant. He won his first game in charge 2–0 at home to Manchester City on 14 February 2009. Hart continued as caretaker manager until the end of the 2008–09 season, Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie announcing in March 2009, after a close 1–0 defeat to Chelsea, "(Alexandre Gaydamak) and I have been delighted with how the team have fared. They both have so much experience in the game and they have the respect of the players. We will review the managerial situation again at the end of the season." Hart was appointed as permanent manager on a two-year contract on 21 July 2009. In the 2009–10 season, however, Portsmouth, a club in