Celtic shot-stopper Vasilis Barkas believes he needs some more time to get used to Scottish football after some needless criticism.
Whisper it quietly, but Barkas has now kept three consecutive domestic clean sheets against Dundee United, Motherwell, and Ross County respectively. In all of those matches, the new Hoops first-choice has had to be alert.
However, he showed his worth most notably in Dingwall on Saturday. Barkas made three stunning stops whilst being composed in his distribution as Celtic strolled to success in the Highlands.
And amid criticism from the likes of Kris Commons and Andy Walker, Barkas feels he’s coming on nicely as he urged the need for more time to adapt to the Scottish game.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Barkas said: “It was not so easy for me because I was coming from another country and the football here is different. There is more heart here amongst the players.
“Also things like a lot of the matches have rain, sot he pitches are faster and that is something which you have to adjust to. These are the things you start to find out, so that’s why I say that game-by-game I can get better because I will get more and more used to the different situations which will come to me.
“I have tried to find what the coach wanted from me and I tried to find what my team-mates want from me and, with every game, I start to feel better and better. Game by game I feel that it gets better, but I’m sure I need more time to see what Scottish football wants from me.”
Barkas doesn’t need to defend himself
You can tell he’s aware of the criticism.
Kris Commons said in the Daily Mail (31/08, The Verdict, page 12), that he’s “not convinced at all by Vasilis Barkas”. Andy Walker was next to have a dig, telling the Sky Sports transfer window podcast that “in all honesty, I haven’t seen him make a big save yet.”
Only this morning, 67HailHail launched a staunch defence of Barkas after his first handful of games in a Celtic jersey. So we won’t go into it all again.
But it’s a shame that Barkas clearly feels the need to explain that he’s still adapting to life in Scotland. It’s worth remembering that he’s come from a totally different climate and footballing culture in Greece. You can’t expect him to just pop over to Scotland and be given no time to adjust.
Then again, that’s life at Celtic. If you’re not an outstanding performer instantly then you’ll come in for criticism from certain pundits. It’s always been the case and continues to be so.
We’re still learning about our new number one, and that will be the case for some time yet. But Barkas should take comfort from the fact that many Hoops fans are impressed by the early signs.
In other news, one Premiership star couldn’t hide his admiration for Celtic’s quality – labeling them “fantastic”.
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