It’s been reported that the team and Joe Hart are in talks to sign a new contract, and I must say that this surprised me.
Although Joe is still an excellent custodian, I believe it’s safe to say his greatest days are behind him. He will be 37 at the beginning of the following season.
The majority of Celtic fans, like me, believed that this would be his final season. This was especially true given that the squad was rumoured to be trying to add a younger custodian to the first team, with Real Madrid’s Andriy Lunin being considered.
Since Joe is regarded as leader material and a significant voice in the dressing room, it’s possible that the strategy is to keep him under wraps. To be honest, that wouldn’t be the worst idea.
Perhaps the team is just reflecting on the events of 2020, when they let go of Craig Gordon and we were left with the £4.5 million acquisition of Vasilis Barkas. It was a terrible idea to sign the Greek tragedy and not to have experienced cover in case things didn’t work out.
December 26, 2021: Vasilis Barkas of Celtic warms up at McDiarmid Park in Perth, Scotland during a Scottish Premier League football match between St Johnstone and Celtic.
Perhaps they don’t want to be burned again and believe that locking up Joe Hart to a new contract would provide some kind of safety net in the event that our desired targets don’t pan out. That may be the case, but Joe Hart will be fully aware that we will eventually need a new man in goal, and he will be the one to make that decision.
We will support Joe if he is given a new contract, but let’s not forget that we still need a fresh face in goal. It is not an option to ignore that. Additionally
Given his prominence in the locker room and the fact that a new keeper will be joining the team for the upcoming year, it seems sense to have Joe Hart serve as his mentor and backup.
As he has always stated, Joe enjoys playing football. He would be content to finish his career at Celtic as the backup custodian or to play for a different team where he would still be the starting custodian. He might, however, determine that he can and will fight for his spot at Celtic, and that any new recruit will need to outperform him in Lennoxtown in order to unseat him from the first team uniform.
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