In every Celtic team, there always seems to be a scapegoat.
In the current side, the scapegoat can be Greg Taylor at times. James Forrest and Daizen Maeda have also come in for criticism from Brendan Rodgers' crop of players. And then there is Joe Hart, who has so often been targetted as a weak link.
Last season in particular, Hart came in for a lot of criticism from Celtic supporters, and whilst he may not have helped himself with some of his performances, for the most part it was blown way out of proportion.
This season, however, Hart has been rolling back the years and has arguably been one of Celtic's most important players. His heroic performance at Hampden Park against Aberdeen yesterday was the latest in a long line of top performances where Hart has saved the win for Celtic.
The English stopper is retiring at the end of the season, and his commitment to the cause for Celtic cannot be understated. A keeper who has seen success virtually everywhere that he has gone in his career, he will be doing everything in his power to ensure that his final season in professional football is a successful one.
20 years on from his senior debut for Shrewsbury Town way back in 2004, Hart received the acclaim of the audience with the crowd chanting, "Joe, Joe, Super Joe", and those chants were most definitely warranted.
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During the 120 minutes
It may be hard to justify a keeper's good performance after he has just conceded three goals, but this argument can be made for Hart's display yesterday when he could not have done much about any of Aberdeen's goals.
He got a hand to Bojan Miovski's opener but the powerful effort was too much for him to keep out. The 37-year-old then provided an exceptional save to prevent the Dons from retaking the lead just before half-time; a moment in the match that could have been game-changing had Celtic conceded.
In the second-half, Celtic dominated for the most part, but Hart was still involved in the game as he showcased some good distribution, an aspect of his game that is so often criticised.
Junior Hoilett had a golden opening in the second-half but Hart did very well to close down the angle and make the chance far more difficult for the Canadian, who eventually spurned the opportunity.
Ester Sokler and Angus MacDonald's equalisers were both goals that Hart had no chance of saving, with the Englishman having to point the finger at some poor defending that allowed the Dons back into the game.
Hart had some big moments that prevented Celtic from losing inside the 120 minutes, but a manic penalty shootout was still to follow.
Penalty heroics
Celtic supporters would have been left stunned when Joe Hart stepped up to take the fifth penalty in the shoot-out. Following the miss by Ryan Duncan, Celtic's goalie had the opportunity to win the game for the Scottish Cup holders.
Unfortunately, Hart was unable to recreate his iconic penalty for Manchester City in a pre-season friendly almost a decade ago, as his Hampden effort cracked the left post.
The veteran keeper went from zero to hero, however, when he made the decisive sudden-death save to deny Killian Phillips and ensure Celtic's passage to the final.
His celebrations were underplayed, perhaps acknowledging his earlier error that could have been costly, but the acclaim of his teammates and the supporters certainly wasn't curtailed as the Englishman produced another big moment in what has been his best season yet in a Celtic shirt.
James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie