Joe should set his Hart on a switch to Celts
Legend Shilton insists Parkhead is a perfect platform for star to find his England form again
Joe Hart has used lockdown as a time for self- reflection and admits it has refuelled his desire to get back to the top.
And England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton reckons Parkhead can provide him with the platform to fulf il his ambition.
It’s only f ive years since Ita l ian g reat Gianlu ig i Buffon rated Hart as one of the top three shot-stoppers in the world.
Wayne Rooney put him at the very top in 2012 after his then Three Lions team- mate’s outstanding display between the sticks for Manchester City in a Champions League clash against Borussia Dortmund.
But the Premier League champion and former England No. 1’s career has taken a spectacular nose-dive since he was jettisoned by Pep Guardiola at City following a disastrous Euro 2016 campaign.
A move to Torino was the first of two loan spells after that. But the Italian club’s president Urbano Cairo said of his Serie
A spell: “Hart made a few mistakes, especially when coming out for the ball.
“We probably didn’t expect so many mistakes from an England international.”
A further loan spell at West Ham United followed before a move to Burnley following his Etihad exit but he has found himself on the bench at the Lancashire club and his contract won’t be renewed.
That has alerted Neil Lennon who is looking at back-up if the S c o t t i sh P remi e r sh ip champions can’t negotiate a deal to bring Hart’s former England team- mate Fraser Forster back to Parkhead.
Hart hasn’t featured for the Clarets in the league since Everton stuck five past him at Turf Moor on Boxing Day 2018 but England’s most capped player Shilton is convinced a move to the Hoops would help him recapture his form.
The 70 - yea r - old told
All goalkeepers have their own style and Joe had his but like all goalies you’re judged on mistakes and in the last couple of years Joe’s made more than at his peak ... Celtic are the top side in Scotland just now and this move is just what he needs
MailSport: “The last two or three years haven’t been great for Joe but hopefully if he goes to Celtic it will be the start of him coming back and establishing himself again.
“All goalkeepers have their own style and Joe had his but like all goalkeepers you’re judged on mistakes and in the la st couple of years Joe has probably made more than in his peak.
“But hopefully if he gets a move to Celtic then that would be the boost he needs as they are obviously the top side in Scotland at the moment and it might be just perfect.”
Hart – capped 75 times for his country – started his career at hometown club Shrewsbury
Town a nd the
League One club made an ambitious move to take him back to New
Meadow.
But , in an interview last month, the keeper admitted he still has the belief that he can play at the top level and predicted plenty of offers coming his way.
After just three appearances this season in cup competitions, he said: “This lockdown has made me realise how much I want to play football.
“It [ my desire] has got stronger. I understand I’m not going to be part of Real Madrid.
“I don’t think
I’ve lost the ability but I know how football works.
“Al l
I want to do is be a big part of something. I just want to be a big part of a club and give my all to them. That hope burns through me.”
“I believe there will be clubs who want to sign me. But they all need to work out exactly what the hell is going on [with the coronavirus pandemic].
“I like to think I’m a good catch. I’m on a free contract, I’ve got experience and real hunger. The Premier League has been great for me but I’m more than wil ling to spread my wings.
“I just want to play at the highest level I can. In England, I don’t feel I am going to be able to do that. It is certainly my lowest point – I’m sad I’m not playing, but it is a challenge rather than a dark cloud.”
In an interview late last year on Hart’s demise, fellow former England goalkeeper David James ins i s ted hi s old team-mate had time on hi s side to rediscover his best.
James was three years older than Hart – who recently turned 33 – when he lost his place in the England team but batt led back to become the oldest ever World Cup debutant at 39 yea r s when Fa b i o Ca p e l l o recal led him for South Africa 2010.
And he said: “One thing I know about having worked with him very briefly at Manchester City is that this is a guy who will fight all the way.
“He has talent and he’s young enough. I was in and out of the England squad for 13 years.
“Steve McClaren dropped me from the squad when he took over and I thought that was my England career finished.
“Then all of a sudden, at 38, Fabio Capello calls me back in a ga in. I k now Joe ha s confidence.
“You can be more confident ata some times than ata other times but I don’t doubt that heh is trying every whichw way to get himselfh in the right position.p
“And if he gets thet chance to play I just hope that he takest it with both handsh and puts h ims e l f in a positp ion where heh is the number oneo again.
“It must seem likeli a very distant v iew for h im becauseb he’s not playing first-team football but he can come back and be as good as he was before.
“Obviously he needs to play. If he still has aspirations of playing for England then he needs to be playing at the highest level.”
If Joe goes to Celtic it will be the start of him coming back and establishing himself... it’s the boost he needs