JOE HART has been an outstanding addition to the Celtic squad since coming to the club. The Englishman has embraced all aspects of Celtic and has become a leader in the changing room too.
The former Manchester City man was watching his career fizzle out before his eyes as he jumped from one club to the next. When he landed at Spurs, Joe was settling for number two behind Hugo Lloris.
When he was told he wouldn’t get a game at all and wasn’t being considered as a back up; Hart knew he had to move on or see his career suddenly come to a screeching halt.
The goalkeeper could have taken the easy route at another Premier League club. Instead, a phone call with Ange Postecoglou has the former Premier League winner packing his bag and heading north.
Some players can come to Celtic at the back end of their career and do just enough, or less than that – not Joe. He has been involved every step of the way and has helped build the squad harmony we all see today.
His positive attitude and genuine delight at playing for Celtic continues to shine through. Speaking this week as we head into another Champions League tie, Hart talks about how special it is to pull on the Celtic jersey.
“Going away to places like Ross County or Kilmarnock, that’s what gives me fire.” Joe told SunSport.
“I’m gutted we couldn’t get the result for the fans against Real. But this club is a special club when it comes to the support so it really doesn’t need occasions like that for you to feel like you need to give back.
“I feel like as soon as I put this shirt on, I’m in a pretty special place.
“We will work hard and we will have our heads down, and we will see where it takes us.
“That’s kind of what Real do, don’t they? They win Champions Leagues like that.
“It’s a tough one for us, we performed well in the game, but the first goal was crucial.
“We’re not going to base our confidence on one game, we’re confident in what we do and we believe in it. It wasn’t to be, but we’ve just got to move forward.
“We want to give the best account of ourselves every time we show up — that’s what is asked of us.
“We had sensational support against Real Madrid. The atmosphere was special.
“Look, we’re humans too, I know we’re out there on the pitch and it might look like we’re just footballers and you get a bit oblivious to it.
“But we’re not. We realise it’s a special place.
“We’re obviously pleased with some of the stuff that we did — but we are not going to base that off Tuesday night.”
Many had their reservations about Joe before he came in, but you won’t find many Celtic fans saying a bad word about the former England international and the comments above are a big reason why.
