In the last few years, whether that be at Manchester City, West Ham or Tottenham – if you had told me Joe Hart would be Celtic goalkeeper now, I don’t think I would have believed you.
Now though, the former England international appears to be settling into life at Parkhead, as he looks to rejuvenate his career after a tough last few years in football.
Around a month into his Hoops career, in an interview with former team-mate Micah Richards for the Daily Mail, the 34-year old has opened up on signing for Celtic and his excitement at first hearing of interest from the club.
“I thought about the size of Celtic that legendary home support, and I thought: ‘Yeah! I have got to ****ing do that!’
“I’ve done the Premier League. I wanted to go and take this on.
“I told the people who mattered to make it happen, Celtic did the best they could for me, which I really appreciated, and before I knew it, I was on a plane to the Czech Republic to meet them. I’m looking forward to the future.”
So far, fans have really taken to new manager Ange Postecoglou, and it appears to be the same for players and new signings, with Hart revealing his thoughts from his first conversation with the 56-year old.
“I didn’t know what was next; it was going to have to be something to interest me. Spurs let people know I was available — I spoke to (Celtic manager) Ange Postecoglou. I told him how I was feeling, how I was happy to go and play on a park because I don’t need this **** anymore. I said you can take this as me being vulnerable; I just need a bit of love.
“I’ll be there with you, all or nothing. He said to me: ‘I do my research. I’ve not needed to do one bit of research on you as a goalkeeper, as I don’t need to.’ That made me feel good, first and foremost. He told me he had spoken to people I had played with in the past and people in the game — just about you. To come and do the job I want from you, I just needed to know about you as a person.”
This interview is both an excellent insight into Hart as a character and a person, but also the dealings of Ange Postecoglou and how he gets players on board right from the off.
Despite a slight slip up on Thursday evening, it is clear to see that the former English Premiership winning goalkeeper is starting to have an impact on this squad at such an early stage.
With his commanding presence and experience, it is something that Celtic have badly missed between the sticks in the last 12 months.
Hopefully, we can continue to see these sorts of improvements in Harts game and continue to impact the squad as a whole positively.
