Joe Hart

Seen him on a deck chair playing his gameboy today.

 

The stream having no commentary and that, made you hear just how much a leader he is.

* voicebox must be burst after a game. Hope we’ve got a lifetime supply of Soothers in his contract.

 

So glad to have him at Celtic

 

We need a song for the big beautiful *.

 

Similar to Callum McGregor's song maybe?

Sent from my SM-A505FN using Tapatalk

 

haha, i take it that means we have one for him already!!

 

Was giving me earache during that game. Certainly keeping those defenders on their toes. Brilliant presence to have in the team.

 

Quite blunt in that interview tbh haha

 

Probably sick of repeating the "redemption" story.

 

Get the feeling he has been on the not so nice side of Sky's 'reporting', so is understandably a bit guarded with them compared to when he has given more relaxed interviews through the club etc.

I get the feeling his way of answering Sky's questions is that it's required as a professional, but he isn't going to give them much.

 

Aye watching it again it seams like that actually! Would have been blethering away to Celtic TV..

Ex England No1, career started going down the pan, aye he probs had it tight from them for a bit!

 

CELTIC’S last taste of the Champions League was a humiliating defeat to Midtjylland in the qualifiers.

Joe Hart’s previous experience in the elite tournament was a stunning semi-final against 14-times winners Real Madrid.




Now, six years after that unforgettable showdown with the undisputed European kings for Manchester City, Hart is thrilled to be back in the group stages again.

And he’d love to get another crack at trying to keep out Real with the Hoops.

Hart said: “It’s massive — and we’re all looking forward to it.

“But we’re in such a mindset here that we just try to take care of business daily. Whatever is in the future will happen. But it’s a good chance to see where the team is at.




I know the Champions League is ahead and soon the groups will be drawn up.




But it’s hard to look past anything when we’re so involved in what we’re doing.

“I’ve had plenty of European highlights. Qualifying for the Europa League first time around was one.

“I’m from Shrewsbury Town originally, so playing in the Europa League was great.



We then got into the Champions League with Man City, we had never done that before. So that was a big achievement playing in it.




Then we went from playing in it, to competing in it, we got to the semi-final one year. So yeah, it’s been a lot of fun.

“It was Real Madrid in the semi-final. The last time I was in the Champions League was 2016, and that semi-final. We lost 1-0 in Madrid.”

Back in May 2016, Hart was a heartbroken aggregate loser.

And even then, despite Madrid boasting the incredible firepower of Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, the decisive moment was an own goal from City midfield flop Fernando.

No one in the Hoops squad can boast the big-match pedigree of the former England goalie. And it’s why his presence will be huge for their chances of upsetting the odds against the best on the continent between September and November.




Hart, 35, has also played against Juventus, Sevilla, Dynamo Kiev, Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Bayern Munich, PSG and Barcelona in the Champions League.

At Torino, he faced up to Roma, Lazio, Inter and AC Milan and Napoli in Serie A.

Asked if that was the type of opposition he’d want for Celtic, Hart added: “I think so. But look, we aren’t going to get much choice, especially with us going into pot four.

“There’s not really an unheard of team. The only teams that might have been slightly less well known are going to be in our pot anyway.




So, we’ll need to see who we get. Of course, it’s where the club wants to be. We’ve earned the right this year, so we’re going to look to build on the fact we’ve earned that right and compete in it this time.”

Celts have a major point to prove on the continent this term — after they crashed out of THREE European competitions last season.

The champs are in a healthy financial position after guaranteeing between £30-40million by qualifying for the group stages.

But even then their football budget will be dwarfed by most others in the competition.




Hart said: “It is what it is, there’s no point complaining.

“We’re in a business where money exists, so you don’t moan about it, we get on with it.

“We’ve built the best possible squad we can with the best mentality, and we’re going to play the best football we possibly can in the tournament.

“However that ends, it ends with us walking in being proud of what we’ve done.”


Hart has looked in typically great shape during Celtic’s exhausting daily training drills.




The veteran added: “I’ve done a lot of pre-seasons. But it’s part of my life. It’s all I know.

“Times have definitely changed since I first started doing pre-seasons, where I don’t even think we’d be on the pitch by now. We’d still be getting flogged.

“You move forward. The boss wants us to be playing football, so we need the ball at our feet and we need to be moving as a group.
“It was a good break. I got maybe five weeks off, I reckon.

“We are given a programme over the summer, but I think the modern-day professional just stays on top of things, and especially at my age I know how to look after myself.”




Hart thrived with Celtic last campaign, and he said: “It was fun, it was a good year and it was nice to have the success at the end of it. But I don’t want to stop there.

“However much more there is to come from me, I want it to be at the highest level possible, and for me to be pushing myself to the limit.
“It’s a different system for me to be involved in, it’s something I’m still trying to learn.

“I don’t think age matters when you are trying to develop.

“I’ve probably explored things that I’ve never had to previously explore under previous regimes.


But I’ve always said, whatever the manager wants, I’ll try my best to do. And that’s what we’re doing here.



I think what is the biggest credit to the manager is that it didn’t matter who came in, we all knew our roles.”

 

NOT content with pushing Joe Hart out of his comfort zone last season by making him take more responsibility with the ball at his feet, it appeared during Celtic’s pre-season camp in Austria and the Czech Republic that he was attempting to convert the keeper into an auxiliary centre-half.

It was striking just how high Hart was positioned in the friendly matches against Rapid Vienna and Banik Ostrava in particular, with the 35-year-old often only a few yards behind his defenders when Celtic were in possession, playing a full part in their build-up play.




Given the team are still shaking off the cobwebs at this time of year, the gambit predictably led to a number of heart in mouth moments over the two games, particularly against Banik when the opposition really should have scored twice after winning possession in midfield with Hart miles from his unguarded goal.

When pressed on the logic behind the high-risk strategy, Postecoglou said that the tactic may well be one he employs throughout the season as and when he sees fit.


“Depending on the context of the game,” Postecoglou said.

“Joe and the goalkeepers are getting used to our gameplan. Last year, he came in pretty late and we didn’t have a chance to work on a lot of things. It depends on the context of the game.

“There were a couple of times [against Banik] when he almost got caught out but that was because of our sloppy passing.




There is no denying, we want to be an aggressive team. To do that, it means everyone needs to be a bit more aggressive, and Joe or whoever our goalkeeper is needs to be a part of that.”

Postecoglou expects that the risk factor in having his keeper so high up the pitch will be eliminated when the rest of his team sharpen up a little.

“Well, there is no risk when you don’t give the ball away,” he said.

“The risk comes when you give it to the opposition. If we stop that, the risk doesn’t happen.

“The times we gave the ball away [on Wednesday] were just sloppy, not because of pressure or them doing anything to us.

 

Great guy

 

Why's this guy playing so far out his box? Hope hes not planning on doing that in the champions league!! I love him but hes no sweeper keeper