Vasilis Barkas admits Ras Ange Postecoglou relationship divulged
The stopper opened up on a recent podcast back in his homeland
Vasilis Barkas said his mental health was ‘tested’ whilst at Celtic as the goalkeeper admits he had no urge to turn up for training.
The Greek flopped at Parkhead after making a hefty £4.5million switch from AEK Athens. He was signed at the height of the Covid pandemic and found it hard to make the No1 position his own. Poor performances derailed his progress under both Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou before finally, after three years of struggles, he was sold to Dutch side Utrecht after an initial loan spell last season.
Barkas gave an honest account of his time in Glasgow on a recent podcast in his home country and said him and his family endured a difficult few years. He fell out of love for football but despite this, had good things to say about Postecoglou and his man-management skills. Thankfully for Barkas, he is now enjoying his career again with Utrecht.
Barkas said: “Of course. I try to forget that period at Celtic. My family and I had a hard time. I was at a huge team, but in a difficult situation with Covid. Everything was difficult, the weather, everything. Now I have found the joy of playing football, I am happy, I enjoy it. I reached the bottom in Scotland and now I appreciate everything. I said to myself that I didn’t want to have a hard time again football-wise and on a human level. I want to see my family happy, too.
“I was tested for my mental health, of course. We footballers are blessed because we are basically making our childhood game a profession and supporting our family from it because we get good money. But I got to the point then in Scotland where I treated it like a job.
“I was saying ‘I don’t want to go to training’ and ‘why is this happening to me?’ I wasn’t enjoying it. At some point, I said I had to set a goal to start enjoying it again.
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