Celtic

Celtic: Frank McAvennie shares his thoughts on Celtic signing Vasilis Barkas

|
Image for Celtic: Frank McAvennie shares his thoughts on Celtic signing Vasilis Barkas

Ex-Celtic forward Frank McAvennie and Scottish football journalist Tam Cowan joined host Kenny Macintyre on a recent edition of the BBC’s Sportsound Scottish Football podcast to discuss the latest goings-on in Scottish football and the panel spent some time talking about newly-signed Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas during the show.

As per the BBC, this bonus prior to the season starting is that the Hoops have signed Barkas from Greek side AEK Athens for a reported £4.5m transfer fee.

1 of 10

Starting with an easy one- apart from Paris Saint-Germain, which other French club did Edouard play for?

At the beginning of July, it was reported that Fraser Forster, who had been on loan at Celtic from Southampton and featured in 28 of Celtic’s 30 Scottish Premiership games last season, was not set to return to Parkhead for the 2020/21 campaign. It may be fair to say that Forster’s departure is a blow for Celtic heading into the 2020/21 season, considering that the Englishman kept the joint-highest number of clean sheets in Scotland’s top tier last season, helping the Hoops to win their ninth straight Scottish Premiership title.

During this recent edition of the BBC’s Sportsound Scottish Football podcast, McAvennie shared his thoughts on Barkas and talked about what will be expected of him this coming season. He said: “Who knows what that guy’s like? It’s going to be a baptism of fire for him, isn’t it? I always thought the boy [Scott] Bain was a No 2 anyway.

“No disrespect to the boy, but I wouldn’t be happy if he was in all season. So, you need a number one, a big man who’s going to command like Forster did and [Craig] Gordon before that.”

Are you confident that Barkas will be a good replacement for Fraser Forster?

YES

YES

NO

NO

TIF Thoughts…

Judging by his comments about Barkas on this recent edition of the BBC’s Sportsound Scottish Football podcast, it appears that McAvennie doesn’t know a lot about Barkas, but he expects the Greek goalkeeper to be put under pressure quite quickly following his arrival at Parkhead.

McAvennie mentions former Celtic ‘keepers Forster and Gordon – both of whom departed from the club this summer – and explained that Barkas will have to follow in their footsteps and will be expected to “command” like they did, so the ex-Celtic forward seems to think that the 26-year-old will need to bring an authoritative presence with him to Celtic if he is to succeed.

Share this article