Ange Postecoglou was critical of his players after the 2-1 win over Livingston on Wednesday night and strongly suggested that we should expect a few changes to the starting eleven for the game against St Johnstone tomorrow lunchtime as a direct consequence of the below par performances in midweek.
The Celtic manager was in particular critical of the volume of missed chances, noting that players were not getting on the end of numerous crosses that fizzed across the Livingston goalmouth with no Celtic player there to tap home.
That requires going the extra yard or two and it was something that Ange Postecoglou found frustrating and unacceptable and will not have been shy in telling the players in the dressing room a more frank and industrial view of his thoughts compared to what was said in his post match comments to the media, including Celtic TV.
“That’s what we see from him. He expects a lot from him and we expect a lot from ourselves,” Joe Hart stated “He’s certainly not going to walk in after a game, when we’ve not taken the chances to put the game out of sight and it’s turned into a difficult second half, and not say that.
“I think you guys appreciate that and we do too. He’s pretty clear with us and honest with his feelings. He lets us know. But it’s not a shock, it’s not a bolt. We know it’s coming.
“We know when we are playing well and when our flow is good. But he regularly points out to us that it’s all very well and good to get to a certain height. The higher you get, the harder it is to stay at that level. He wants the best for us. But there are different ways of getting that out of us and he can’t be nice all the time.”
Joe Hart was also asked about the difficulty of keeping focused in a game like Wednesday’s when the opposition rarely trouble the Celtic goalkeeper but are just one effort away from causing a real upset.
“No, it’s a way of life for me. Being a goalkeeper is a way of life, so it’s not like I’ve got anything else to think about,” the Celtic goalkeeper told the media, as reported by Scottish Sun. “It’s not a secondary job in a Sunday league, when maybe your mind would wander to your work the next day.
“This is everything for me, every minute or even every second of the game. So I don’t find it difficult focusing. I can’t even remember not being a footballer. It’s everything. It’s my work life, but it’s also my passion.
“Being a goalkeeper specifically, it’s not necessarily being a footballer as I’m a goalkeeper, is in the way that I think. It’s in the way that I analyse situations away from football. It’s who I am and as long as I’ve got the gloves on that’s how I’ll think.”
On the potential threat from teams like Livingston who remain in the game at just a goal behind, Hart outlined his thoughts on how he deals with these situations, which off course he’ll have dealt with throughout his professional playing career and certainly often enough since moving to Celtic.
“That’s what can happen with big teams, the dominant team,” Hart said. “Obviously I want to be there for those moments to try and make saves. Livi stayed dogged, they stayed in the game and took their chance when it came.
“We would have liked to have scored a few more. But football is not set up for us just to smash people all the time. We have to earn it and we have to put the ball in the net.
“I had a good shot to save in the second half, but I was just trying to see it because there were a lot of bodies in the box. It may have looked like a dramatic save, but I just couldn’t see it. As soon as I got eyes on it, I just tried to get rid of it.
“As a team this year we have limited teams to just a few shots. I just try to stay on my toes as much as I can. I’m involved a lot when it comes to the play, but shots-wise, we’re very good at snuffing them out.”
On playing over the festive period there will be no complaints coming from Joe Hart anytime soon. “I just can’t see it that way,” Joe Hart stated. “For me, it’s not a sacrifice to play football. It’s a great opportunity. I love playing it and I’ve got a family now who love watching it.
“Put it this way, I’d much rather be the guy on the field entertaining than being sat at home watching.”
