John Hartson knew a thing or two about defenders- he spent most of his career trying to knock lumps out of them.
The Welshman is revered at a number of clubs with supporters aligning with his honest graft seeing something of themselves in the way that he played the game.
Hartson used his bulk to the maximum, in the air few could compete with him with no central defender strolling around in slippers and cigar when they were facing the Celtic favourite.
Defending is having a desire to win headers. Compete strongly, concentration, forwards win you games but defenders win you Championships..
— John Hartson (@JohnHartson10) August 23, 2018
Celtic’s current defensive problems are a source of bewilderment for most fans, bread and butter demands such as tracking attackers and putting in challenges.
During Hartson’s days at Celtic he shared a dressing room with Bobo Balde, Joos Valgaeren and Johan Mjallby.
None of them needed to be told about defending with pride- being aggressive in the challenge was second nature to that trio.
They may have lacked some passing ability, they didn’t knock the ball across their own penalty box but they were effective and quickly put the ball into a midfield that included Neil Lennon, Stan Petrov and Paul Lambert.
With a week remaining in the transfer window Hartson will be hoping that some old fashioned defensive steel is added to the Celtic defence.
