We can probably all agree now that Vasilis Barkas has had a poor start to life in Glasgow and hasn’t settled in as quickly as we would’ve liked.
There have been more than a couple of moments now where eyebrows have been raised at certain goals that have been let in. You can pick any of Ferencvaros’ two at Parkhead, or Connor Goldson’s first for Rangers in the recent derby. Perhaps even Livingston’s second at Celtic Park in September’s 3-2 win.
We won’t go through them all, but it’s clear the Greece international isn’t performing to the level we all hoped he would’ve when we splashed out £4.5million on him from AEK Athens (Scottish Sun).
A recent injury, or perhaps that should be “injury”, kept him out of Celtic’s 3-3 draw at Pittodrie. In came second-choice Scott Bain, who would then go on to face Lille in the Europa League four days later.
One penalty save later, Lennon was out admitting that Bain has a chance to stake his claim for the number one spot (Scottish Sun). This was fuelled by the fact that Barkas was actually on the bench in France too. He was available, but Lennon didn’t select him.
And now all eyes are on who Lennon picks for today’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen at Hampden. Bain or Barkas? Well, despite the fact Bain did fairly well in France, it sends out the totally wrong message if you don’t choose Barkas in the long-run.
If Lennon allows Bain to be the number one before 2020 is out, it sends a telling confession. It confesses to the support that we didn’t recruit appropriately in the summer with the former Athens stopper. It’s an admittance that he isn’t good enough to keep his jersey and has disappointed.
Stand by Barkas; the investment has been made
That really isn’t the level of support Barkas should be getting. Yes, it’s taking him longer to adapt than many, but don’t tell me this isn’t a good goalkeeper. He’s a stopper who managed 61 clean sheets in 111 appearances for Athens. As well as that, he has international experience, Champions League experience, and title-winning experience too (Transfermarkt).
The idea that Barkas came in only to drop the jersey to Bain several months into his Celtic career wouldn’t have been the plan here. If it was we wouldn’t have spent so much money on the Greek.
Sure, you can say that Barkas was injured and Bain simply seized on a chance, but two things on that point. Firstly, Bain has hardly been superb in his last two games. He was poor for Aberdeen’s second goal and arguably for Lille’s first. He also spilled a routine cross into the box on Thursday night that should’ve resulted in another Lille goal.
Secondly, would we have said the same if it was Fraser Forster in goal who was injured for a game? The idea of Bain challenging him would’ve been stupendous. I’ve never liked comparing Barkas to Forster as I’ve always felt it to be totally unfair to a player arriving in a totally different footballing environment and culture than what he’s used to. But in this case, it defeats the idea that Bain simply took his chance.
Selecting Bain regularly also simply wouldn’t send the right message to Barkas either. Yes, you can argue that it would let him know he’s in a fight for his jersey, but he looks like a personality that needs an arm around the shoulder as opposed to a boot up the backside.
If Bain starts today for one reason or another then fine, but Lennon must put his faith back in Barkas before too long. This is too big of an investment for the club to just sweep down to the subs bench.
In other news, one of Celtic’s transfer targets has provided a positive social media message after being hit with a crushing injury blow.
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