Former Scotland international Alan Hutton believes that Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas could be given another opportunity at Parkhead if a new manager comes in.
Lifeline for Barkas?
The 26-year-old arrived at the club in the summer from Greek side AEK Athens for £3m and found himself heavily scrutinised by the Parkhead faithful.
Barkas started his team’s first nine Scottish Premiership games and has only featured four more times since December, averaging just 1.2 saves per game and a match rating of 6.49 (Whoscored).
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Speaking to Football Insider, Hutton believes that Barkas could be back in favour at Parkhead under Kennedy’s reign.
“If a new manager comes in and he likes him and he has a good pre-season then things can change,” he said.
“Everybody starts with a clean slate with a new manager. If Neil Lennon was still in charge, it looked to me like he had already made his decision.
“It’s been a costly one, they paid a lot of money for a goalkeeper. He’s made a lot of mistakes, he’s been in and out.
“He had big shoes to fill in (Fraser) Forster, it was always going to be difficult. When you’re making those kinds of mistakes regularly, it’s always going to be highlighted.
“If Lennon was still in charge, I think they’d try and move him on, recoup some of that money. It would be nowhere near what they paid.
“If somebody else takes charge, then the door may be open.”
Transfer Tavern Verdict
Hutton is spot on here. The slate may be wiped clean with Barkas and could be given the chance to right his wrongs of the past 12 months.
High expectations are on the shoulders of Barkas and if given another chance, it might be his final one, at least in the eyes of the fans, to re-capture the Scottish Premiership title.
Time will tell who takes over from Lennon and what their plans are with the Greece international.
In other news, Sky Sports journalists names surprising contender to potentially replace Neil Lennon at Celtic.
