The Celtic support once loved their former Premier League-winning goalkeeper so much they unveiled a giant banner to honour him on the final day of the season. “Super Joe Hart” it said, with an image of the former Manchester City and England regular in his yellow Celtic top with one gloved hand raised to the sky. Hart looked across as play continued against St Mirren that day, waving and acknowledging it, and was emotional when he subsequently discussed his relationship with the Celtic fans.
Hart had already announced that he was retiring: “It’s a sad day but it’s the right time.” He felt fine, he felt strong, but at 37 he sensed his career had reached a natural end. He wished to close on a high and on his own terms. From day one he spoke with nothing but respect and affection for Celtic and he remains highly popular with supporters. Even Hart might feel surprised by the strength of the connection which developed.
When Brendan Rodgers sought a substantial goalkeeper to replace him in the summer of 2024, step forward Kasper Schmeichel. The continuity candidate. High profile, proven, vastly experienced, liable to fancy one last hurrah with the prospect of trophies and adulation, sprinkling a little stardust around the place, Schmeichel ticked all the boxes Hart had. He started well and in due course became so popular that one fan outlet produced a range of T-shirts which said simply “Kasper Saves”. Last season, his first in Scotland, he won the Premiership and the Premier Sports Cup and was in PFA Scotland’s team of the year.
All of that must feel so distant to him now. His Celtic career has soured in a way Hart’s never did, to the new low of being booed by his own supporters whenever he was on the ball in the closing stages of Thursday’s 4-1 Europa League defeat to Stuttgart. The first of Bilal El Khannouss’s two goals was a low shot from distance, lacking power, which beat Schmeichel to his left. The third goal was another long-range finish from Jamie Leweling which found its way past him to his right. Even his distribution caused problems. Then the jeering began when he collected pass-backs, seeming to start in the Lisbon Lions Stand behind his goal and spreading elsewhere, happening often enough to remove any uncertainty about the target.
Had there ever been prolonged booing of a Celtic player by his own fans? The night became excruciating. When he made a save from Stuttgart’s Nikolas Nartey there was exaggerated, sarcastic cheering.
How did it get from “Kasper Saves” to this? The answer may originate in Lisbon 11 months ago. In a Nations League game for Denmark against Portugal, Schmeichel suffered an injury to his left shoulder in a challenge with the late Diogo Jota. All their substitutions had been used so he finished the match but missed the next six for Celtic. There is a widespread school of thought that he has never looked the same goalkeeper since, especially when required to make saves to his left. In the Scottish Cup final, his third game back after the injury, Kasper saved Aberdeen, making a dog’s dinner of a cross and gifting an equaliser with an own goal seven minutes from the end.
Aberdeen sent all of their penalties past him to win the shoot-out, and three months later little Kairat Almaty sent all of theirs past him to win another shoot-out and hand Celtic a devastating defeat in this season’s Champions League qualifiers. There is no hiding place for a Celtic goalkeeper, especially one with Schmeichel’s reputation and salary. Scrutiny and criticism grew, all of it concluding that at 39 he was nowhere near the levels he reached at his peak. Celtic have conceded goals when Schmeichel made a despairing dive without getting close, or didn’t commit to coming for a cross, or couldn’t move his feet quickly enough. In a home defeat by Braga he flapped at a hopeful, swerving long-range shot from Ricardo Horta, misjudging the flight. He should have managed a save when Rangers’ Mikey Moore shot across him in the last Old Firm game and looked slow and immobile when a header floated over him from Kilmarnock’s Joe Hugill last weekend. Then came Stuttgart. For plenty in the Lisbon Lions Stand, it was the final straw.
Opta data confirms the eye test belief that he is having a poor campaign, especially in Europe. Opta measures xGOT, expected goals on target, in other words where an attacking effort goes at the goal and whether it ought to be saved. Schmeichel’s numbers are broadly in line with last season in the Premiership but in the Europa League the figure is 14.11 (goals he would have been expected to concede) when the actual number is 19. Defenders must take their share of the blame, too, but he has kept no clean sheets in nine Europa League games. Against Stuttgart, he faced an xGOT of 2.1 but conceded four.
Dropping him now is not as straightforward as it sounds. Schmeichel is a big figure in the dressing room and taking him out may upset the team chemistry. Martin O’Neill has still to show his hand in terms of understudy Viljami Sinisalo, the 24-year-old Finland international he has barely used. The league race with Hearts and Rangers is so tight that every game is like a cup tie, and obviously any remaining ties in the Scottish Cup literally are. Pulling Schmeichel out of games now effectively finishes his Celtic career.
It still would be a surprise if he is not in goal when Celtic play Hibernian today. O’Neill was at pains to defend him after Stuttgart, correctly pointing to a fabulous save against Feyenoord in Rotterdam. He might also have mentioned a crucial late save against Alexandros Kyziridis in last month’s draw at Hearts. When Schmeichel had dips in form before, said O’Neill, he always came roaring back. But Schmeichel was a younger goalkeeper then. He was not playing in the aftermath of the shoulder injury which does look as if it still inhibits his movement and decision-making.
The booing was brutal and unfair — he isn’t picking himself in this Celtic team — but he has suffered worse. Elements of the Danish media turned on him when he conceded five in that Portugal game, criticising his weight, calling him a coward and making a tasteless comparison to disability. Understandably, fellow players and the Danish players’ union rallied around to offer support.
As a Premier League and FA Cup winner with 120 caps, Schmeichel has been too successful and classy to deserve an ending like this: jeered, mocked online and accused of coasting and not looking after his physique. He will be out of contract in the summer and back in November he said there was an understanding that he would speak to the club “quietly, in February or March” about his future. Celtic need a younger, better goalkeeper now. Schmeichel should read the room and accept his Celtic chapter is over. Feelings were raw on Thursday night but if he times his departure properly he can still leave with the applause and appreciation he deserves.
Stuttgart v Celtic
Europa League
Thursday, 5.45pm
TV TNT Sports