During the summer we made 12 signings, from Kyogo Furuhashi to Cameron Carter-Vickers. These 2 for me have been exceptional, but there is one player who has quietly gone about his business with not too much of a mention every week and he is amongst the best, not just in this window but for many windows.
Maybe it is because in most of his games, partly due to the way teams play against us, he doesn’t always have much to do.
That player is of course Joe Hart.
For me this guy has been a fantastic signing and he totally gets playing for such a massive club.
Last season (I hate mentioning it) the goalkeeping position was a massive problem area. We went from Barkas, to Bain to Hazard and never really had a proper solid settled number one.
When Ange came in he rightly gave every player a fresh start including another chance for the keepers to grab that slot. I personally really wanted Barkas to work out, which has a lot to do with the fee we paid for him.
I hated the thought paying out such a big transfer fee in this deal for it not to work out. This is similar to how I think of Ajeti when we fleetingly see him in the starting 11.
Like the majority of us fans, Ange quickly saw what we had, and decided that we needed a new safe pair of hands, and Hart was available with a lot to prove.
Some Celtic fans did, in fact, question his ability especially after not exactly the most fruitful spells at clubs like Torino & West Ham, but giving his successful time at Man City and his 75 England caps, the history told you that there was a player in there that maybe just needed a comforting arm and the required game time to bring back his confidence.
In some of our biggest matches, particularly those in Europe, Joe has pulled off some massive saves, he has also given us some hairy heart in the mouth times as well but overall for me, he has been a really important signing, not just for his saves but also for the way that he leads from the back as well. I am sure this is a massive comfort to our captain Callum McGregor.
There was a couple of saves on Sunday that really impressed me.
In the 67th minute when he rushed out to block Kevin Nesbitt for what would have been a terrible time to lose a goal, but most impressively for the way he was wide awake and alert when he was called upon to produce in the 95th minute, a dangerous time for a player’s concentration.
These saves are what we had been badly missing in matches last season and the saves that wins us silverware.
Joe Hart is a leader, a winner and is currently playing some of his best stuff in a Celtic jersey. I am sure Ange is as pleased as we all are and long may that continue.
Stephen Black is a Celtic season ticket holder from Glasgow This is his second piece for the site.
Great article Stephen.