JOE HART will be encouraged to add his ball-playing skills to Celtic’s attacking outlook.
The 75 times-capped England international keeper, who joined the Hoops in a £1million three-year deal from Spurs in August last year, brought on a few moments of anxiety after straying out of his penalty area in the 4-2 win over Banik Ostrava in the Czech Republic in midweek.
There was an early scare when he was lobbed from inside the opposition’s half, but the ball carried wide of the post as the 35-year-old netminder scurried back to his goal-line.
ROARING SUCCESS…Joe Hart can’t disguise his joy as he gets a hold of the Premiership silverware.
Postecoglou, though, was not overly-concerned and said: “Joe and the keepers are getting used to our game plan.
“Last year, he came in pretty late and we didn’t have a chance to work on a lot of things. It depends on the context of the game.
“There were a couple of times against Banik when he almost got caught out, but that was because of our sloppy passing.”
The Hoops boss, speaking to the Scottish Sun, added: “There is no denying, we want to be an aggressive team. To do that, it means everyone needs to be a bit more aggressive – and Joe, or whoever our goalie is, needs to be a part of that.
“There is no risk when you don’t give the ball away. The risk comes when you give it to the opposition. If we stop it, the risk doesn’t happen.”
IN WITH A SHOUT…Joe Hart holds aloft the newly-won League Cup after the 2-1 victory over Hibs in December.
Hart’s consistency solved Celtic’s No.1 problem that had haunted them throughout the previous campaign when it became obvious £4.5million Greek international Vasilis Barkas was not going to be the answer in Fraser Forster’s absence after the fans’ favourite had performed an unexpected u-turn to return to parent club Southampton.
Scott Bain and Conor Hazard were also utilised without convincing anyone they were a long-term solution.
Hart provided that crucial part of the jigsaw and was a key component in the team’s Premiership success and Premier Sports League Cup victory.
And we know it will not be dull around the popular Celt in the forthcoming campaign!
