Joe Hart insists Celtic will always be hard working and humble. The keeper is clear the squad stays on the same page and maintains an unswerving belief. Hart says lessons are always being learned and the group will embrace any moments of education in a bid to keep striving and pushing forward.
There was a gap of almost one year between his words, but the Parkhead No.1’s sentiments were almost identical. Twelve months previously, Hart had stood at Livingston and promised Celtic would keep pushing and fighting in the one direction to get things right.
Ange Postecoglou’s team and the former England star did just that. In spectacular fashion. From that afternoon in West Lothian, Celtic didn’t lose another Premiership match in 364 days before losing to St Mirren at the SMiSA Stadium. Back in September 2021, Postecoglou’s team were mere title hopefuls. They were just at the start of their build. By now in September 2022, that construction work has made them champions.
Defeat in Paisley may have brought that near-year league run to an end, but their modest approach which brought success and their desire to stay honest to themselves and their philosophy hasn’t and won’t be in any way altered.
Hart typifies the outlook by using the same words as before. No excuses. No pointing fingers. No attempts to disguise the fact his team were second best against Stephen Robinson’s troops.
Instead, just as there was when losing that game to David Martindale’s team 12 months ago, a resolve to keep doing the right things, keep believing in their work and a desire to get it right every time they step onto the park.
When it was put to Hart that Celtic could learn lessons from Paisley, he nodded and then said: “Yep. But just like we learn lessons when we win. We are always trying to learn and keep moving.”
In the fact that humble and grounded approach is valuable in times of any setback, he continued: “It’s the only attitude that you can take. Who are you to think you are anything for winning a game of football? You’re not.
“You are here to do a job, we are here to represent an amazing fan base, the club. And the least we can do is put in effort. And whether we win, lose or draw, we do put that effort into it. It just was not to be against St Mirren.”
In offering proof that Celtic, for all their rich resources of talent, can be punished just like anyone else if they are off their game, Hart said: “Yes. But we don’t need to be told that. We know that.
“It’s not as if we thought we could just turn up for the St Mirren game and play half a***d and win the game. We never thought that. We never think that. You can see that from our attitude. But we just weren’t quite at the races with everything that we wanted to be. And St Mirren played a good game.”
Naturally, there are supporters and observers who feel the raft of changes made by the manager for the clash in Paisley contributed to the defeat. Postecoglou swapped six from the Champions League game against Shakhtar Donetsk.
Some, such as leaving out the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers were enforced. Others, such as omitting Jota from the starting line-up, were by his own design. But, again, Hart had no interest in hiding behind any theory that alterations caused the problems as he said: “No, no. No excuses. Whichever 11 or 16 go onto the pitch, there is full belief that we can play the way we want to play. We just got beat in the game.”
It was a first feeling for some of the squad, but no-one sat numb in the dressing room. Not when armed with a knowledge they got what they deserved from the display.
Hart explained: “It wasn’t startling [afterwards] because there was no surprise. It wasn’t like in the game we were knocking on the door and dah, dah, dah. It was a tough, tough game for us to get into and, as I said, St Mirren did well.
“We were poor. I think we have to hold our hands up. They played a strong game and we just couldn’t quite get the flow. It wasn’t through lack of effort. We made a few decisions that we don’t usually make and they took their chances, which teams haven’t been able to against us recently. But we are on it more often than we are not.”
Whatever the topic, the honesty in Hart’s words and assessments mirror the entire dressing room. They are perhaps the strongest indicators as to why there was such a yawning 364-day gap from that interview in Livingston to him or anyone else in Postecoglou’s squad to have to address the next Premiership defeat.
Celtic’s sequence is over, but the 38-game run is not scrubbed from history or memory. It remains as a barometer to how far they have travelled as a group and what they can achieve as they look to get straight back to winning ways after the international break when facing Motherwell.
Hart assessed the record and said: “It’s powerful. Look, we are proud of what we are doing. We are certainly proud of it. But we’d have loved to be going into a 365th day with it [record] still going, but we are not. We don’t want to rest on that. What’s gone is gone. It’s frustrating, but that doesn’t define us.
“Just like when we win 9-0, that doesn’t define us. Our hard work will stay the same and we are going to keep pushing. We are going to look forward to win the next games. We start again when we come back from the international break.”
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