Seemingly-new Celtic number one Scott Bain has admitted that he didn’t expect to be entrusted as the club’s main stopper this season after being down the pecking order last term.
Bain found himself behind Fraser Forster and Craig Gordon in the Parkhead ranks last season, and it was clear his role in Glasgow was simply to provide cover when necessary.
However, reminiscent of his 2019 run, Bain’s renaissance in recent weeks has been a surprise. Taking advantage of a poor run of form by new goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas, Bain has now started in each of the club’s last four matches.
He’s the hot favourite to start once again this afternoon at Fir Park in what will be a must-win Premiership encounter against Motherwell. Yet Bain has humbly stated that he had “no expectations” of being the number one this season.
As quoted by the Herald, Bain said: “I knew the club would be looking to bring in a goalkeeper in the summer. I’ll be honest, I came back with no expectations of playing given where I was the year before.
“I just kept my head down and worked away, waiting for an opportunity to get in the team. In training, as it’s always been here, myself and Vasilis push each other and work to the best of our abilities.
“I wouldn’t say a defeat on Sunday is unthinkable because it’s still early in the season. We’ll just go into it knowing that if we apply ourselves properly and play to the ability we know we all have, then we’ll win the game.”
Bain not doing enough to suggest he’s the answer
As great as it is to see a genuine Celtic supporter in Bain between the sticks, he isn’t truly doing enough to keep the position for the long-term.
Like Barkas, Bain simply isn’t saving enough. In the last four games since he’s come into the fold, Celtic have conceded nine goals. That’s not to say that he’s performing to a lesser extent than the Greek shot-stopper, but it still isn’t the required standard.
Yes, Bain has been horribly exposed at times by a backline that looks like shipping goals every week. But the goalkeeper hasn’t helped himself either. He’s made some poor mistakes against Lille, Aberdeen, and even at times against Sparta Prague he didn’t look great either.
Even the clean sheet he bagged against Aberdeen last week, that was more to do with the fact he had very little to do. When he’s been tested, it’s fair to say he’s disappointed.
It’ll be intriguing to see what Neil Lennon does in the long-term with the goalkeeping position. We need more than what we’re getting from both of our senior stoppers. Neither has been good enough this season, and too many shots are flying into our net that really should be saved.
Comparisons to Fraser Forster remain unfair for either goalkeeper, but there has to be a middle ground. We were never going to upgrade on Fraser, but the performances put in by Barkas and Bain this season are symbolic of a level of downgrade that simply isn’t acceptable.
Bain looks likely to keep his place between the sticks for today’s trip to Motherwell. But he, just like the rest of the defence in front of him, could desperately do with a clean sheet. At the very least it would be a start of some sort.
In other news, the Celtic supporters want to see Lennon hand one of the club’s youngsters a start today in place of an experienced veteran.
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