It’s a genuine end of an era for Joe Hart at Celtic.
The legendary England keeper arrived at Parkhead in the summer of 2021 amid a massive rebuild under a new manager and captain and he delivered the goods almost from the first day he stepped into the building.
Having to replace Vasilis Barkas was top of Postecoglou’s list and acquiring the experience of someone like Hart for £1m has paid off hugely.
Out in the cold at Spurs and looking like his career was all but over, Hart came to Glasgow with a point to prove. And didn’t he just?
Picking up seven trophies out of nine, Hart was key to the Ange Postecoglou rebuild and now Brendan Rodgers has a job on his hands to replace him after taking off his Celtic gloves one last time at Hampden on Saturday.
Joe Hart ‘went out with a real bang’
After the final whistle went at Hampden on Saturday, the reality that he was leaving Celtic really hit home for Joe Hart.
Voted The Celtic Supporters’ Association’s Player of the Year, Hart leaves the club with the fan’s best wishes and with a healthy trophy haul.
And it was the number of medals that Hart won that impressed Jeff Stelling and Andy Townsend on talkSPORT as they summed up his career and time at Celtic this morning.
Stelling: “Well, he’s signing off at the top, isn’t he?
“He’s 37, keepers do go on for longer but he’s got a heck of a career when you look back to where he started out.
Townsend: “He said it’s a brilliant career. He had that funny little spell, didn’t he when Pep [Guardiola] came in and decided that he wanted something else in goal at [Manchester] City and then he moved on.
“He was out on loan at Torino and one or two others? He was, I think, at Burnley. He popped up at Spurs and he went to a few different places, Joe, and he never looked like he was ever really going to grab the shirt on a regular basis anywhere again until he ended up at Celtic. So credit to him.
“He’s had a very, very good career. A long career and it’s always a difficult one knowing how long to keep on going when you get to that point.
“For some people, it’s an instant decision. I knew when I wanted to pack up Jeff, absolutely, that you know that your body can no longer do what you were doing.
“And so it’s just the right time to do it. But sometimes when you’re still feeling good, you think you can carry on and waiting for it all to gradually start to fall away.
“I don’t think so. I think Joe’s done absolutely the right thing. Finish at the top, go out with a real bang and he’s done that at Celtic.”
With over 20 years in the game, Hart will never have experienced anything in football quite like what he has at Celtic.
The legendary keeper took the club and the fans to his heart and the feeling is absolutely mutual. And as the Celtic fans look to next season without Hart between the sticks, at least they can look back with fondness at the memories he helped create over the last three seasons.