HAIL THE HART STOPPER
JOE HART will be the man in possession of the gloves when Celtic embark on another Champions League quest.
The 36-year-old 75 times-capped England international keeper has surely answered his critics with his recent displays, particularly his sound and near-flawless performance in the 1-0 win at Ibrox on Sunday.
The shotstopper utilised all his experience to coax Swedish new Bhoy Gustaf Lagerbiekle through a difficult derby debut in front of 50,000 partisan fans without a friendly voice to be heard.
The £3million recruit from Elfsborg had never witnessed anything like it in his novice career at this level, but Hart was there with well-timed runs off his line to clean up behind Lagerbiekle and Liam Scales, the Irishman also sampling the rarefied atmosphere of this confrontation for the first time.
Hart doesn’t always get the credit he deserves, but to discover his true worth to the champions you only have to listen to his colleagues as they extol the virtues of cash well spent.
In a summer when the club wrote off the £4.5million that was spent on Greek international Vasilis Barkas, the Parkhead team’s most expensive-ever keeper, it surely emphasises the astute business that was done to bring Hart on a three-year deal from Spurs for a mere £1million.
Brendan Rodgers will have no hesitation in putting his trust in the Englishman for the forthcoming clashes with Feyenoord, Lazio and Atletico Madrid.
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The Hyunjun Yang rapid rise continues and Celtic may have a star on their hands
Celtic attacker Hyunjun Yang’s rapid rise continued on Thursday as he made his debut for South Korea.
The speedy winger joined the Hoops from Gangwon in late July, signing a five-year deal in Glasgow. Since then, he has made just one start. However, he has generally impressed in a Celtic shirt and seems to have a lot to offer.
That view appears to be shared by his international boss Jurgen Klinsmann. Earlier in the week, we brought you some interesting quotes from the former Germany forward. Klinsmann spoke mainly about Hyeongyu Oh but also referenced Brendan Rodgers saying good things about Yang and Hyeokkyu Kwon.
That was backed up on Thursday evening as Klinsmann gave Yang his first taste of senior international football. The winger came on for the final ten minutes of South Korea‘s 0-0 draw with Wales in Cardiff.
Yang replaced Mainz man Lee Jae-sung on his debut with Celtic forward Oh not brought on in a fixture that was refereed by Willie Collum.
It may not seem like a huge development but it is surely evidence that Yang is seen as someone who can contribute at full international level.
