Joe Hart makes brilliant claim about Celtic’s future plans

It is safe to say that everyone associated with Celtic must have been disappointed with the manner of their UEFA Europa Conference League exit. Everybody knew that the tie against Bodo/Glimt was a difficult one but even then, not many could have foreseen it being as one-sided as it turned out to be. The Norwegian champions walked out with a 5-1 aggregate win against the Glasgow giants.

It was a bit of a wake up call for Celtic as well, who have been flying high in recent months, having won the Scottish League Cup and gone top of the Premiership table, three points ahead of the Rangers.

It is clear though that this team still have a lot of work to do if they are to compete consistently with really top teams. And with 11 league matches still to be played, they cannot rest on their laurels for one second.

Hart has made a brilliant claim about what Celtic must do moving forward though. As reported by The Scottish Sun [25/02 print edition, page 68] (via 67 Hail Hail), the goalkeeper said:

"“Have you ever seen the manager look happy? That’s just his face. Of course he wasn’t happy. None of us were. But we’re certainly not going to get too down about it. We’ve got big stuff ahead.“Every game we play we have the intention of winning and playing our brand of football. We were beaten by the better team over two legs. Bodo deserved to win the tie. We haven’t done it tonight. What can we do? Nothing.“But we can move on to Sunday against Hibs and do our best to perform and win. There’s a bigger picture – and that’s the only picture. It’s really simple.”"

Hart makes brilliant claim about what Celtic must do moving forward

For Celtic, the aim has to be pretty clear. The Scottish Premiership is the priority and they need to find a way to win that. There is a Champions League spot up for grabs.

It is not going to be easy though. While the Rangers might have fallen three points behind in the title race, there are still 11 more league games to be played, including a couple of Glasgow Derbies, which could prove to be very vital.

In this situation, the experience of someone like Hart, who has played in huge games and been part of league-winning teams, will be important for Celtic. Their focus has to be clear for the next few months, and it has to be on winning the Premiership.