Joe Hart deserves immense credit for the job that he has done since arriving at Celtic. A lot of people had questioned the club’s decision to sign the goalkeeper, after he had not been a starter for years. But the Englishman came in and proved a lot of critics wrong, establishing himself as the number one between the posts as well as a leader in a team that needed one, after finishing without a trophy in the previous campaign.
That is all great and Hart has earned the respect of the Celtic fans. At the same time though, one cannot overlook that mistakes that he has been making in recent times.
The goalkeeper made a disastrous mistake vs RB Leipzig as he played the ball straight to one of their players, to put the German side through on goal, and they made no mistake putting the ball in the back of the net.
Speaking to BT Sport after the game, Hart did admit that he was at fault but then gave his thoughts on the style of football as being a factor as well:
"“I’m at fault for the second goal but that’s the way the manager wants us to play so that’s how we play.”"
Celtic boss needs to make tough Hart decision after major error vs RB Leipzig
It is safe to say that Hart’s ability with the ball at his feet has never been considered as one of his strengths.
In fact, it was one of the biggest reasons that he was shown the exit door at Manchester City after Pep Guardiola arrived.
And it was a very interesting decision on the part of Ange Postecoglou to bring him in as the starting goalkeeper, considering he wanted his side to play possession football as well, like Manchester City.
It is pretty clear though that Hart is going through a bad run of form at the moment. He had his part to play in the own goal that Josip Juranovic scored in the game vs Motherwell as well.
Thus, it might be time for the manager to give Benjamin Siegrist a few opportunities. The Swiss is a very goalkeeper himself, and if nothing else, it will act as a wake up call for Hart.