ANGE POSTECOGLOU revealed Joe Hart started his Celtic career so quickly because the Englishman INSISTED on flying straight over to meet the squad in the Czech Republic ahead of their tie against Jablonec on Thursday.
The team had already flew out when Hart’s deal was finally confirmed and the hoops gaffer revealed he gave Joe the choice to settle in Glasgow or come over and meet the team. Without a second’s hesitation Joe was on the next flight out to join up with the club.
“I’ll see how Joe feels. He’s been training well with his club and he was also really keen to come in straight away.” Ange Told SunSport.
“I gave him a little bit of an option that he could stay back in Glasgow.
“But Joe made it pretty clear he wanted to come across and join in training immediately.
“I believe I have an exceptional player and an exceptional person.
“He was really excited about the prospect of signing for Celtic, which is important to me.
“He wants to prove to people he can still play at the highest level.
“Scott Bain and Vasilis Barkas, in particular, I just think they had a really tough year last year.
“Having someone like Joe around will help them as well, because he’s a player who’s played at the highest level for a long time.
“I’ve been at pains to say we need to bring players in, and we’ve been working hard to do that.
“It’s a real bonus with these two guys. They are both experienced, accomplished players who have played at the highest level for a long time.”
We were reliably informed by sources close to the first team that Joe and the squad hit it off straight away and his presence has given everyone a boost.
Celtic have lost a lot of dressing room characters over the past few years; Mikael Lustig and Scott Brown being two major dressing room generals who have moved on. Hart has the pedigree and the seniority that he has instantly gained the team’s respect.
Joe could be as much a help on the field as off it going forward. The more comfortable he gets at Celtic the more his defence will know all about it when they leave him exposed. He’s not a goalkeeper who stays quiet if things aren’t going well.
He will help push us on in the coming months.
