Chris Sutton has defended Vasilis Barkas after the goalkeeper received criticism for some of his early Celtic displays, writing in his Daily Record column.
Barkas has only played five times since joining from Greek side AEK Athens but the pressure is already being put on him from some quarters.
Pundit Andy Walker was one of those to raise doubts about his signing this week, speaking on the Sky Sports Scottish Football Podcast. He made a point about how Barkas hadn’t made a big save yet and that fans were right to question him.
Sutton though has taken a more measured approach, understanding that it can be difficult for a new signing to settle down and play at their best.
As quoted by The Daily Record, the former Bhoys striker said: “I’m not overly concerned about Vasilis Barkas, despite some criticism of the keeper creeping in. He hasn’t done a lot wrong and his biggest problem seems to be he’s not Fraser Forster.
“The fact Southampton are now saying Forster can go out on loan is meaningless. Celtic needed him a month ago and that ship has sailed. Would Forster have saved the goal against Ferencvaros? Maybe.
“But we’ll never know and it’s pointless to even guess. There were a good few reasons why Celtic went out to a Ferencvaros side they should have been able to beat. Fingers can be pointed at all levels of the club but the keeper getting done at his near post is way down the list.
“It’s especially hard for a keeper as the role is completely different at Celtic and Rangers. You can have little to do some weeks and that might be a change in mentality. Celtic have invested heavily to get him and he deserves time to find his feet.”
Barkas definitely needs our support and confidence right now. It’ll do nobody any good to put him under the microscope when the reality is he hasn’t had much to do anyway.
Big moments will come for the Greek international and hopefully he can rise to the occasion. As it stands, there’s not much to take from his first handful of matches.
I certainly have more faith in him than Scott Bain and the fact long-serving goalkeeping coach Stevie Woods wanted him at the club speaks volumes when it comes to his ability.
We need to keep the faith on this one and hope he shows his true value to the team in the weeks and months ahead.
In other news, some Celtic fans have pleaded with Neil Lennon to hand a Hoops teenager his debut.
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