“The special, special, special football club,” Joe Hart on Celtic disharmony | OneFootball

Joe Hart, still much loved at Celtic, is showing no sign that his own affinity for Celtic is fading after a few years away. His punditry work at Celtic games is exceptional and he’d have enjoyed last night as much as any of the travelling supporters in De Kuip who certainly made themselves heard from start to finish.

Benjamin Nygren of Celtic celebrates scoring his team’s third goal with teammates during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Feyenoord and Celtic FC at De Kuip on November 27, 2025 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

Benjamin Nygren was talking afterwards about the players being well aware of the support that they were getting from the top corner of the stadium which had the other side completely closed, reducing the capacity by 10k and denying the Feyernoord players their own ultras, supporters that always make the most noise.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic reacts as a flare falls onto the pitch during the UEFA Europa League 2025/26 League Phase MD5 match between Feyenoord and Celtic FC at De Kuip on November 27, 2025 in Rotterdam, Netherlands. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos Getty Images)

You wonder what UEFA are going to make of the fireworks recklessly being fired onto the pitch after Feyeroord opened the scoring, or indeed to Feyenoord fan with the laser who Joe Hart commented on during the match.

But that empty stand, without Feyenoord’s most vocal supporters, meant that the noise was coming from the away support and consequently the Celtic players were able to take encouragement from that.

It follows that Celtic – by imposing a ban themselves on the Green Brigade – run the risk of the same kind of thing happening in our next Europa League match against Roma on 11 December, with the Italian supporters being heard more than they should at Paradise.

Roma inflicted a first defeat of the campaign on FC Midtjylland last night, while the Danish team comfortably defeated Celtic in the previous match. So Roma are going to be a tough challenge and it’s arguable that Celtic need the entire support to be there for this game and to be in full voice.

And by removing the current ban – even for just common sense football reasons – it may just be an olive branch towards the unity that for instance Callum McGregor has been talking about. The Celtic support is splitting into two camps, sack the board versus back the board, and no-one knows for sure which is the bigger group. Let’s not argue about that now.

The Celtic support at Easter Road earlier this season. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

The Celtic Fans Collective has been formed and has asked questions of the board amid ongoing protests, including another planned for Easter Road on Sunday. Some of Celtic’s behaviour in recent months has been questionable to say the least.

There is a real uneasiness about a lack of nature justice over the incident at the Falkirk game and the video of the child being held by the scruff of his neck is extremely concerning, as is the claim that Celtic have failed to communicate with the boy’s parents despite them being in touch. Ross Desmond’s remarks on behalf of his father were provocative to say the least and certainly did nothing to calm the waters or ease the tensions.

Something has to give if there’s a chance of unity and with our new manager Wilfried Nancy coming in at the start of the week, this would be something worth thinking about. Build bridges with the supporters who do have genuine concerns and certainly feel that the club doesn’t listen.

Joe Hart and Kasper Schmeichel of Celtic ahead of kick-off Crvena zvezda v Celtic, UEFA Europa League, Football, Rajko Mitic Stadium, Belgrade, Serbia – 24 Sep 2025Belgrade Rajko Mitic Stadium Serbia Photo Nikola Krstic Shutterstock

Joe Hart last night picked up on this disharmony at the club, maybe not quite a civll war but heading in that direction, and he pointed out he has friends on both sides of the argument. Speaking during commentary on TNT Sports the former Celtic goalkeeper outlined his thoughts on the Celtic turmoil.

“Hard. I’ve obviously got friends on both sides of this civil war that you’re talking about. Ultimately what’s suffering is Celtic, the football club,” Joe Hart said on TNT Sports.

“The special, special, special football club. The one that I got to play for. Travelling united together, pushing in the same direction. That’s not quite there at the moment. A lot of different versions. I’ve got some friends who, you know, support the club with all their heart and with all their passion.

“I just hope it gets resolved one way or the other. But I feel for the players at the moment, doing a good job domestically, trying to get themselves back into it. Martin O’Neill doing a fantastic job filling in.”

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