JOE Hart hasn’t just been in the way of Celtic’s opponents trying to score goals in recent years – he’s also blocked the pathway for Northern Ireland goalkeepers.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell is still at Burnley, where Hart and current Newcastle United star Nick Pope were both ahead of him in the pecking order. More recently, Hart became first choice with the Bhoys, a factor in Conor Hazard going out on loan to Finland with HJK Helsinki.
Peacock-Farrell probably remains first choice on the international stage, under the returning Michael O’Neill, who gave him his debut in 2018, but he’s still second choice at Turf Moor under Vincent Kompany.
There’s a certain twist that Hart was moved on from Manchester City by Pep Guardiola because he wasn’t deemed good enough with the ball at his feet – only for Ange Postecoglou (now the new Spurs boss) to ask the Englishman to play a very high line with the Celts.
Peacock-Farrell takes inspiration from Hart’s adaptation in Scotland, and also from Hazard’s move abroad, as he thinks about his own career with the Clarets having stormed back to the English Premier League.
On Hart, he comments: “Yeah, exactly. It shows how good he is and how much of a top keeper he is. He played at City for a silly amount of years. Then to have that period of going here and there, when it might not have quite worked out, then to go to Celtic at Harty’s age and play that type of football, and show that he can do it, is just a good achievement for him, for sure.”
Former City captain Kompany Burnley transformed Burnley’s style of play, from the long ball game they were notorious for under Sean Dyche.
Bailey made eight Championship appearances (three off the bench) and was Burnley’s ‘Cup goalkeeper’, getting eight games, and he feels he adapted well to playing out from the back:
“I enjoy it. It took the whole team a little bit of time in pre-season to get used to the patterns and the way the manager wants to play. As a whole I think we have managed quite well. You’d rather be doing this than being the opposition and chasing the ball.”
He’s keen now to make his mark in the Premier League, having only made four appearances there with Burnley in the 2020/21 season:
“Yeah, I played there a couple of years ago and obviously that was really good. To try and do it again in a different style of football like we are playing now would be great. I think we have a really good chance of doing well next season.”
The big question is whether he can displace Burnley’s first choice, Kosovo international Arijanet Muric, who Kompany signed from Manchester City.
He’s not old for a goalkeeper, but knows he’s coming to a fairly important stage of his club career:
“I am in a role where you can either get a lot of games or absolutely none. I’ve been quite happy that I got the amount of games that I have.
“We had really good Cup runs and I played the back end of the season as well as a couple of games at the front. Overall I could have done with a few more games and I like to play every game but it certainly wasn’t a bad season.
“Obviously you would like to be playing regularly every single season, that’s certainly the aim going into next season as well.
“I’m 26, in that middle to older group while I’m away here [with NI], which is quite strange to say – didn’t think that would be the case. I’ve 37 caps, I’m one of the older heads, which is quite funny. In terms of first team club football, we’d all want to be playing regularly, that’s for sure.”
As they head to Copenhagen to take on Denmark in a Euro 2024 qualifier on Friday night, he expressed admiration for Hazard’s move to another Nordic nation:
“You don’t see it a lot, and to do that when it will be a different way of playing as a goalie, and a different set-up, it’s paid off and he’s had a good year. I think he feels better for it, so a massive well done to him for taking that gamble.
“He could easily have stayed at Celtic or gone to one of the other leagues in Scotland, but he’s taken that risk and in the long run I think it will stand him in good stead.
“It really fascinates me. I’d really like to play in any of the leagues in Europe at some point. I wouldn’t be saying ‘no’ to anything like that in the future but we’ll see what comes up if that time ever comes down the line.”
