Celtic manager praises ´top quality goalkeeper´ Hart

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou heaped praise on veteran English goalkeeper Joe Hart after keeping back-to-back clean sheets for his new club.

The 34-year-old former England international signed with Celtic last week from Tottenham on a three-year deal.

Hart had a scratchy debut in a 4-2 Europa League win at Jablonec last week but has since kept clean sheets as the Hoops recorded 6-0 and 3-0 wins over Dundee and the Czech outfit respectively.

Postecoglou had utilised Vasilis Barkas and Scott Bain in goal in games earlier this season but Hart now appears first choice.

Celtic’s victory over Jablonec on Thursday saw them progress into the Europa League playoff round with a 7-2 aggregate win, with Hart making a few key saves.

“He’s a top quality goalkeeper and he was there when we needed him tonight,” Postecoglou said after the game.

“Aside from that, he has a real presence around the place and he’s very motivated to have success and that’s the kind of people we need here.”

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Postecoglou, who took over at Celtic Park in June, has been criticised in some quarters since his arrival, not helped by crashing out of the Champions League in qualifying to Midtjylland and losing to newly-promoted Hearts in their opening league fixture.

However in Thursday’s win, Celtic adopted the Australian’s renowned possession-based style of play, which served him well in Japan with 2019 J.League champions Yokohama F. Marinos.

“It’s part of who we want to be,” Postecoglou said about their style. “We’ve got to be a team that shows no fear and tries to play our football and dictate the game.

“It’s not easy to do, to be fair, and I do put a lot of responsibility and expectation on the players to do that.

“The other side of that is that you do get great rewards if you’re prepared to be brave, and I think that these last two or three games, we’ve got our rewards for it.”