JOE HART showed his class at half time against St Mirren at the weekend when the Englishman went out his way to give his opposite number some words of encouragement.
Former Ibrox goalkeeper Jack Alnwick had a torrid time in the first half against Celtic, the Hoops were four-nil to the good by the break and in cruise control.
Coming out for the second half, the St Mirren goalkeeper revealed Joe had gone out his way to go over to him and offer some words of advice. Jack was stunned by the gesture.
“I’ve got to pay a lot of respect to Joe Hart. At half-time he walked over to me and said ‘Regroup and make saves.’” The goalkeeper told Record Sport.
“I thought that was class from him. This is someone who has played at the highest level but someone who has been in the position I was in himself. He knows what it’s like to be in that situation.
“He’s had some massive ups and downs throughout his own career. He’s made mistakes in World Cups, Euros, you name it. For him to speak to me, I didn’t expect it, but at the same time I wasn’t surprised knowing the type of man he is.
“I respect him so much because of what he did at that moment. He didn’t have to do it.
“I ended up making a couple of the best saves I’ve made since coming to St Mirren.
“There was one I made with my foot when I was going the wrong way.
“I knew at half-time we were never going to win the game, but I didn’t want it to get embarrassing and end up with a 10-0 defeat. It was damage limitation at that point.”
Jack would concede two more in the second half. I did say to the person sitting next to me at Celtic Park on Saturday that the goalkeeper has had a great game considering he’s conceded six goals. Jack kept the scoreline down in the second half for sure.
While we won’t be encouraging Hart to give opposition numbers pep talks when things are much closer, we applaud the Englishman for showing great sportsmanship.
As Jack alluded to, Joe has had his ups and downs through his career. Now an older player in the game, he can help others.
Hart managed to keep a clean sheet against St Mirren and was a big part of the two-nil success against Alkmaar in midweek. He’s steadied the ship for the Hoops.
