The Scottish mainstream media have managed to come out with an absolutely nothing story today and have somehow turned it into a big deal.
Yes, Vasilis Barkas will be returning to Celtic Park in the summer.
What a shocking revelation.
A player will return to his parent club in the summer once his season-long loan spell has ended.
Who’d have thunk it?
In fact, Utrecht already told us several months ago that they were not able to afford to make Barkas’ loan deal permanent, so it was not expected that he would be signing for them permanently. There is also no option or obligation to buy for this reason.
A few games was all it needed for Big Ange to realise that this guy was not up to the job as a Celtic No.1 and never would be.
The Celtic support already knew this after watching his horror shows under Lennon.
Anyone who thinks Barkas will be coming back to Celtic in the summer and Big Ange will give him an opportunity are very mistaken.
Remember, Ange not only saw this guy as not being good enough to be Celtic No.1, he saw him as not even being good enough to be our No,2, hence the reason why Scott Bain was always on the bench as backup last season, domestically and in Europe.
Joe Hart has one year left on his current deal and I believe he’ll see it out, and if we do get a new keeper in the summer to be our No.1, Hart will be our No.2, but I think most likely Hart will remain as No.1.
Ange has already brought in Ben Siegrist to be No.2 behind Hart. Scott Bain also signed an extension under Ange to keep him at the club until 2024.
Yes, Barkas will come back to Parkhead in the summer, but as soon as a club offers to take him off our hands, whether permanently or even on loan again to save us paying his wages for another season, he’ll be out the door.