Brendan Rodgers sounds happy with the contributions of Joe Hart as speculation continues about his future at Celtic.
Some observers and supporters consider the goalkeeping position to be one that can be upgraded during this summer transfer window. Hart was criticised for performances in pre-season and the opening Scottish Premiership match against Ross County but, to his credit, was far more solid at Pittodrie last week.
Added to that, Celtic were reported to be interested in Dinamo Zagreb goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic, contributing to a seemingly neverending debate. Rodgers sounds pretty relaxed about the situation for now and based on his comments this weekend, it would be a surprise to see the club push the boat for a new number one goalkeeper.
The Celtic manager said [Glasgow Times]: “I’ve had a couple of good chats with Joe. Listen, Joe came in here a few years ago and everyone wondered how it would work out, and he has done fantastic.
“The players are still adapting – all of them – to what I am asking them to do, and that is going to take a wee bit of time. And then in that time, I get the chance to see it. There is absolutely no question about his personality. He is a great guy, a very, very humble man. At 36, to see his hunger and desire every day, it’s absolutely first class.
“I have a really good relationship with him, and if there was ever any change to that, he would be the first one I would speak to. The type of keeper he is, is the type of keeper he’s virtually always been. He’s a brilliant shot stopper, a big presence in the goal, a great communicator, really good in the changing room.
“There are aspects of his game that he’s tried to develop with his feet and accuracy of passing, he’s tried to do that. He can play the simple passes, it doesn’t need to be complex. But as I said, he’s at that stage of his career where I just know he’s enjoying it here. He probably thought this had passed him by, the big club mentality, and all of a sudden he is here and he’s had a great ride for a couple of seasons.”
Rodgers is not committing long-term to Hart, far from it. In fact, in subsequent comments he notes that Hart lives apart from his family based in England there could be future considerations on and off the pitch with regard to a stay beyond this season.
For now, however, it seems that Hart will remain as a firm fixture as the recruitment team focus on other areas of the squad. With a few key positions needing added quality, Celtic may well play a waiting game with the goalkeeper before pulling the trigger on a viable star replacement.
In other news, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers gets rough media treatment in Sunday morning paper.
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