Neil Lennon has come to the defence of Celtic’s Vasilis Barkas after the goalkeeper’s indifferent start to the season, reports Glasgow Live. Barkas started in the defeats against Rangers and Milan, and he could have done better with Conor Goldson’s opening goal for the Ibrox side in the 2-0 defeat.
He wasn’t really to blame for any of Milan’s goals in the 3-1 loss, but there will always be concerns over a goalkeeper at Celtic when he concedes five goals in two games. However, Lennon has stood up for the summer arrival from AIK.
“Unfair to single anyone out”
“I’m not criticising him. He will improve as he goes along. I think it’s unfair to single anyone out when you’re going through a difficult spell of games. I think it’s unfair and I’m not going to do that” Lennon said, as quoted by Glasgow Live.
It is fair to say that perhaps Barkas’ time at Celtic started that well. He has been involved in the losses to Ferencvaros, Rangers and Milan. That is not the kind of start that a new signing wants to make. However, a lot more experienced Celtic players were involved in those defeats as well. The likes of Scott Brown and Callum McGregor, for example.
Arguably they deserve more criticism than Barkas, as they have seen and done it all for Celtic, and should have made more of an impact in those important games.
Hoops are having a tough time at the moment
It is true that Celtic are going through a very difficult set of games, and the squad being affected by Covid-19 hasn’t helped with that.
Therefore, it is time for everyone at Celtic to pull together and unite, to get 10 in a row won. Who knows, maybe Neil Lennon privately isn’t impressed with Barkas’ performances. However, he isn’t going to say that in public, and rightfully so.
He is going to defend his player, to try and build his confidence ahead of a massive game against Aberdeen.
In other news, Chris Sutton was impressed with Rogic and Laxalt against Milan.
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