Joe Hart has lifted the lid on a major misstep from the now-Tottenham boss during his time in Glasgow’s east end
Former goalkeeper Joe Hart admits Celtic “disrespected” Bodo/Glimt under Ange Postecoglou.
Kjetil Knutsen’s side made history by becoming the first Norwegian side to compete in a European semi-final when they faced the Australian’s Tottenham Hotspur side in the Europa League.
However, it’s not the first time Postecoglou has pitted his wits against Knutsen – having been on the end of a Conference League humbling during his time at Celtic.
Hart couldn’t prevent the Hoops tumbling to a 3-1 first leg defeat at Celtic Park before the Norwegian side completed the rout in 2022 with a 2-0 victory on home turf.
Since then, Bodo have made a firm impression on the European stage – and former Spurs and England international Hart admitted Celtic were left stunned by the side.
Asked what has made Bodo/Glimt so good in recent seasons, Hart told TNT Sports: “You know what, it’s their organisation.
“Their presence. The manager and the players fully believe in what they are doing.
“They are on a ride, they are on an upwards curve and they are really making progress ever since I played them and experienced what a top team they are on.
“Not much surprises me in football, especially in my latter years, but that Bodo/Glimt team really surprised me.
“We played them at home, we dropped out of the Europa League – we finished third and at that point you dropped into the Conference League.
“We feel pretty strong, we drew Bodo/Glimt, a Norwegian team – ‘what are they like, oh they are pretty good on a plastic pitch’ – that is all we knew.
“Obviously we do our analysis, very professional in the modern day – and I don’t feel confident saying it – but we professionally took them lightly, and we disrespected them.
“We weren’t quite ready for the game, and they came with this game plan and this energy.
“We were playing under Ange at the time and playing flowing football – we weren’t being crushed at the time.
“We were very confident – and we went over to Bodo and we were out of the tie. I have kept my eye on them ever since.”
Since seeing off the Glasgow giants, Bodo have sent huge clubs including AS Roma and Besiktas crashing out of Europe.
This season, they beat FC Porto in the league phase before running Manchester United close.
In their last game, the quarter-finals, they knocked out Lazio across two legs, the first of which was played amid deep Arctic snow
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