Joe Hart – What’s the thinking behind the proposed new deal?…
It’s been reported that the club have started talks with Joe Hart about signing a new deal, and I have to admit that I found this surprising. Joe will be 37 at the start of next season and although he’s still a superb keeper, I think it’s safe to say his best days are now behind him.
Andriy Lunin of Real Madrid CF Real Madrid v Getafe CF, La Liga 2023-2024, Santiago Bernabeu Stadium – 2 September 2023. Photo by Pressinphoto/Shutterstock
I like most Celtic supporters thought that this would be his farewell season, especially with the club reportedly looking to bring in a younger first team goalkeeper with the likes of Andriy Lunin from Real Madrid being mentioned.
Maybe the plan is to keep Joe as cover as he’s thought to be a major voice in the dressing room, he’s considered leader material. That wouldn’t be the worse idea to be honest.
Maybe the club are just thinking back to 2020 when they let Craig Gordon go and we were left with the £4.5m signing Vasilis Barkas. Now that was a bad mistake in both signing the Greek tragedy and also not keeping experienced cover just in case it didn’t work out.
26th December 2021; McDiarmid Park, Perth, Scotland; Scottish Premier League football, St Johnstone versus Celtic; Vasilis Barkas of Celtic warms up
Maybe they don’t want burned again and think by nailing down Joe Hart on a new deal will be some sort of safety net if we fail to land our preferred targets. That may be the case, but we will still need a new man between the sticks at some point in the next wee while and Joe Hart will be well aware of that himself.
If Joe is indeed awarded a new deal, then great, we will support him, but we shouldn’t forget we still need a new face between the sticks. To fail to deal with that is not an option. And with a new keeper in place for next season, having Joe Hart there to mentor him and to provide back-up seems like a sensible option, especially as he is such an important figure in the dressing room.
Joe loves playing football, as he has always said and would be be happy seeing out his career as the back-up keeper at Celtic or going to another club where he’d still be first choice. However he may decide that he can and will fight for his place at Celtic and any new signing will have to be better than him up at Lennoxtown to dislodge him from wearing the Celtic first team gloves.
Just an Ordinary Bhoy
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