Joe Hart

Spot on. The cheers were more for the fact that the fans probably couldn't believe that we actually had someone in goals who STOPPED the ball from going into the back of the net

 

Here’s the thing, might be my memory but didn’t think he got much of a chance under Pep, was he not ousted pretty much straight away without much of a chance to impress. Seem to think it was after a * euros / World Cup he had rather than a run of bad Man City matches.

 

To be fair to Bain he's made a few crackers, just a pity he * it with his inconsistency.

 

Defending that led to those saves was nothing short of criminal

 

Calmac had an excellent game,apart from that pass back to Hart. I really don’t think Hart had any notion it was coming back to him & it was a horror ball.

 

He was alert and made the save.. cant ask much more

 

Agree about that, but I was talking about the bollox up later in the penalty box. I think that might have been why he gave the wry smile. The pass back to him was a bad idea.

 

Ah OK... thought it was a foul to be honest and was rather amuzed he didn't get it. If we weren't winning 7-2 not sure hed be smiling..

 

If we weren’t winning easily I wouldn’t be either. Although nothing came of it.

 

He isn’t great with the ball at his feet, we knew that when he signed. However, first and foremost I want my keeper to be able to do the most important thing of being a keeper, and that is keeping the ball out the net, something which he has been pretty good at during his career. I don’t think he is a great keeper, but he is a vast improvement on what we had.

 

Seems like hes gonna love it here

 

That double save was incredible

 

THE first sell-out crowd at Parkhead since the Covid-19 outbreak last year celebrated the goals scored by David Turnbull and James Forrest in the Europa League qualifier against Jablonec on Thursday evening with deafening roars.

Not being allowed inside Celtic Park in such large numbers for 17 months due to the coronavirus pandemic has been torturous for supporters and they enjoyed the turnstiles being thrown open once again to the full.

Yet, arguably the biggest cheers of the night were reserved for the saves that Joe Hart pulled off from shots by Jan Krob and Milos Kratochvil in quick succession in the second-half.


Goalkeeper was a problem position for the Glasgow club last season – Scott Bain, Vasilis Barkas and Conor Hazard were all unable to hold down a regular first team place – and was a major reason their bid to complete 10-In-A-Row failed so badly.

Celtic fans are desperate for Hart to do well and his heroics in the second leg of the third round double header were rapturously received.


The 34-year-old has played for Manchester City, Torino, West Ham, Burnley and Spurs, won every honour in the English game and represented his country on no fewer than 75 occasions, including at World Cup and European Championship finals, during his long career. So he is no stranger to large attendances.

Still, he was taken aback by the vocal backing that Ange Postecoglou’s side received throughout a 3-0 win that secured a play-off against AZ Alkmaar of the Netherlands and is convinced it can play a major role in a revival in fortunes in the coming months.


“I was told about what to expect and it was an experience, it really was,” he said. “I really, really enjoyed it. The support was unbelievable. You could tell that people have really missed being here. I obviously wasn’t here last year, but personally as a footballer I really missed having fans in the stadium.

“Our job is not to play on emotion, our job is to be focused. But on Thursday we saw what it meant to them. We got the win and people were happy. I think we need to keep it as simple as that for now.



“We are going to grow as a team and we are going to look to entertain, but we ultimately we are going to make people’s weeks a whole lot better after a difficult year or so if we win games. I would like to think that we can go on this journey together.”

That Jablonek created chances to score indicated the new-look Celtic defence is far from the finished article and Hart conceded there is ample room for improvement. However, he stressed the attacking football that Postecoglou wants his team to play will leave them open at the back at times. He is quite comfortable with that.

“It was good on Thursday,” he said. “We performed in parts of the game and entertained, but there is loads that we can work on.

Like I say, we are trying to start something here. We are going to try and play some expansive football and that is going to require me to make the odd save. We are going to have to bail each other out of a few situations.

“But I think the overall thing that was great to see was the pressure that we applied and the application. We played some really good football throughout the game, created some really good chances and I did my job which is to keep the ball out of the net as best I can.”

Hart added: “It’s an ask that we all have to buy into, the whole entire squad needs to be on board. The manager wants us to play with no fear, he backs us. He puts that responsibility on himself to make us feel like we can play. It is something that we are trying our best to do.

“We are going to grow as a team. He came in quite late as I understand so it is going to take time. But the baseline is hard work and dedication and understanding and all being on the same side.”

Postecoglou has urged his full-backs to push forward into the centre of midfield to receive the ball when Celtic are going forward in recent weeks – a tactic which has worked wonders for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in recent seasons.

Hart, who is set to feature in the Premier Sports Cup second round match against Hearts at Parkhead this afternoon, feels the change will take practice to perfect.

“We have seen it, we know which team likes to do that,” he said. “It is a very simple thing to talk about doing, but it requires team work, it requires understanding. You need to know when is the right moment to do it is and when it is not the right moment to do it.



Ultimately teams are going to become accustomed to what we do so we are always going to have to adapt and overcome. That is going to have to be our mentality throughout.”

Hart played in the Champions League many times during his time with City and helped the Etihad Stadium outfit reach the semi-finals of Europe’s premier club competition five years ago.

Still, the prospect of featuring for Celtic in the group stages of the Europa League is an exciting one for him. He is hopeful the fans can help them overcome Alkmaar in the first leg of the play-off in the East End on Wednesday night.

“What a great tournament it is,” he said. “There are some huge teams in it. Nights like Thursday are amazing. We were playing in a qualifier and it was absolutely going off. * knows what will happen if we make it to the group stages and beyond.

“I have always loved playing in Europe. European football is what this club wants and what this club needs. It is up to us to get us in it.

“It is going to be a step up against Alkmaar of course. I’m not going to claim that I know everything about them, but I am certainly going to know a lot more about them when it comes to Wednesday next week.

“But we have a big game on Sunday for us to prepare for. I have felt it from the moment I have walked through the door – the next game is the most important game, simple as that. Alkmaar will take care of itself, at the moment we are focusing on Hearts.”

Hart continued: “It’s such an easy thing to say, but I have been in football a long time, I know football, I have been in teams that are expected to win. It is just not that simple. It is all about application, it is all about working with the guys off the field.

“We are going to be at home on Sunday. That is huge. We need to get the fans onside from the first minute and try and win the game. You can’t win the final unless you win these kind of games. Like I say, you worry about the future when it comes. Right now it is all about beating Hearts on Sunday.”

 

Hopefully he shows that sour faced * Gordon who the main man is today Kyogo will have Gordon * himself too

 

Hopefully he doesn't have to because Gordon's just had 7 near post shots go right in as usual and hearts won't even get a shot on target.

 

I like his style in that interview.

He’s winning me over more quickly than I thought possible!

 

Big man is buying into things proper. On ye go big Joe Celtic’s number 1.