Joe Hart

It is * amazing having him at Celtic. He is a world class goal keeper and we are very, very lucky to have him. Love the guy. Such a fantastic person who obviously loves the club as well.

 

I think we could probably get another 2 years out of him possibly.

But it would be amazing if we could go out and find a new younger 20 something keeper unless of course there serious intent and hope that Tobi Oluwayemi actually makes the grade here I'm the next few years.

I got Hart all wrong...honestly thought he qas completely done and was such a waste of money - maybe this also goes to showcase the effect of Woods as well as a goalkeeper coach.

 

AS Celtic left it late to leave Dingwall with all three points last weekend the headlines were inevitably hogged by the men who made the difference; Jota and his hat-trick of assists while Moritz Jenz marking his debut with an 84th minute goal to change the game offered an easy line.

In amongst all that, though, was a Joe Hart save from an Owura Edwards free-kick when the scoreline remained at 1-1. Such was the lateness with which he saw the trajectory of the ball and stuck out an arm that the Ross County fans behind Hart’s goal were already celebrating. It was a pivotal moment in the game but underlined the reliance with which the Englishman has assumed the goalkeeping position at Celtic.




If Hart’s reputation had been damaged with Pep Guardiola’s dismissal and his arrival at Celtic came with quiet grumbles suggesting arrogance and fears his best years were well behind him, Hart quickly silenced them. Big saves change games and Hart’s big moments were quick to arrive; two quick saves in succession against Jablonec immediately set the tone for his Celtic career. If his presence has lent a solidity to Celtic, his conduct has firmly endeared him to the Parkhead support. And his manager.


"I wouldn't have signed him if I didn't think he could play the role the way I want to,” said Postecoglou. “Ultimately, the No1 role for a goalkeeper is to make sure he keeps the ball out of the net and I have always tried to sign good goalkeepers. Beyond that, we want to try to be a team that play out from the back but I don't want my goalkeeper to be the playmaker.

“If we are doing our job correctly and setting up the team in the right way, hopefully the passes that any goalkeeper has to make are the simplest of ones that any goalkeeper can make. It's more about embracing the role and the attitude that the individual has more than the skill set because there's not a goalkeeper on the planet who can't pass the ball five yards.

“The funny thing is most of them are asked to ping balls 55 yards on a dime. My whole thing with Joe was he was an outstanding goalkeeper with an outstanding career and I still thought at his age he has many outstanding years in front of him. It was more about Joe the person.




Did he want to embrace the new challenge? Did he think he could keep improving? He's been brilliant at that. He's come in every day and he wants to learn and embrace what we are doing. He had every right to question everything I did because he's worked with some of the best managers in the world. He's never done that. He's tried to understand the direction I want to take us in and bought into our football, which is great for me because he's a very influential figure in the dressing-room.”

 

Love big Joe.

 

Absolutely love this guy. Took the club to his heart straight away and is just a class act on and off the pitch.

Always liked him as well

Shows you how wrong you can be on a person judging them by things in the media etc.

 

That 4th photo with Jota and Starfelt… the pure joy

 

Possibly my favourite player at the club now, aside from Cal who’s been ma favourite since he came through under Ronny.

A big beautiful Englishman, hard to come by


He’s hungry to learn even at his age and as Ange said he’s played under some pretty big names, but still comes in with 100% professionalism every single day. And he’s great with the fans.

What a guy.

 

Decent

 

Lads I'm starting to think James McCarthy is the one holding this entire team together

 

We can't lose him

 

Celtic's Joe Hart on possible Man City Champions League reunion: "endless love", being "a soldier", and how stage appeared beyond him
Celtic’s Joe Hart maintains there is so much going on at his club, such a need to “stay in your lane”, that he hasn’t even thought about Thursday’s Champions League group stage draw.


Yet, encouraged to do so, the 35-year-old keeper betrays both how football can stir the emotions, and how all these must be drained in tackling the challenges they have the potential to throw up. It was put to the former England international, who will forever be synonymous with the rise of Manchester City to one of the global players, that drawing Pep Guardiola’s men would allow his career to come full circle.

Hart was a league winner, and Champions League semi-finalist, with City. Then his career appeared to nosedive when cast aside by the Spaniard in 2016. There followed spells of varying profitability with Torino, West Ham, Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur before last summer a move to Celtic restored him to a role of genuine prominence within an institution club. Yet, his enthusiasm for the game never wavered, even as he acknowledges these days with the Scottish champions as they head for European football’s blue riband tournament are priceless.




They’re definitely good times for me,” he said. “I’ll be honest, there’s not many times when I’ve actually not been having a good time in football. From the outside, there have been moments in my career when I haven’t played. But, constantly, I like to be part of a team, whatever way that might be. I’m playing football as a job, like ‘wow’. What a great feeling. A lot of responsibility as I’ve got older, and I love all that. Yes, I am enjoying myself but I’ve been enjoying myself for a long time.”

Hart’s career is at a stage wherein he accepts that mixing it with the elite is to be savoured. “I think so,” he said. “I’ve always really enjoyed it. But maybe when I was younger - I can probably liken it to the first time I was getting in the Champions League when I was 23 - you just expect the world to keep giving. That was how I felt at the time, whether that’s wrong or right. But I just wanted more, I felt like I could take on the world. Definitely, I’m at a different stage of my life, in terms of family and how I feel about things. But it’s still a great feeling, it’s still an exciting feeling. It’s jiust a different feeling. But we grow up and we evolve.



Hence the sense from the outside that drawing City would bring matters full circle. His team-mate Jota confessed, on signing permanently this summer, that he hoped to avoid first love Benfica in the Champions League group stages. Hart will never lose his affection for City, but the prospect of playing them doesn’t stir in the same fashion. “I don’t know whether I’m being silly doing this. But I don’t think about it,” he said. “There’s no point in me thinking about it because it’s not happened yet. There’s competition for places in this team constantly. So, I’m literally just one game at a time and I’d love to have that feeling again. But, I think we’re all going to feel it. The club’s excited. Liking it to full circle, when we got to the Champions League with Man City that was the first time the club had ever done it. This club’s used to it and has had five seasons without it. So that feeling’s quite similar. What a great feeling, what a great time to be involved in football. And at a club like this.

“City is part of my life I’m very proud of, and I’ve got endless love for that club. But, life goes on, as was proven by how I left the place. It’s a superb football club, it’s a superb set up, there’s a lot of people I get on with there. But there’s certainly no one in there that I don’t want a part of playing against. My kind of focus is on what we do and how we prepare and what we can do and what we can bring to the table. I’m a soldier. I’ve been through everything, so I don’t really feel it when it comes to that. My undying love will forever be with the club, but when it comes to team football, I represent Celtic.




“I try not to think, especially knowing football as I know it. If you asked me a few years ago if I was going to be playing Champions League football, if I was giving an honest answer I’d say ‘no’. I’ve always backed my ability and I performed well at that level and I deserved to be there, but football is about opportunities and taking them, believing in projects, I’m here and I’m ready. There is a lot of fun to be had all around Europe [whoever the draw throws up]. I’m new to the club, but I know everyone feels like that who supports the badge, and the players feel the same.”

 

I know he's took the club to heart but his private reg is a bit much