Celtic hero, Chris Sutton, is the latest to slaughter Leigh Griffiths after the troubled striker reported back for pre-season overweight and out of condition.
Speaking to The Daily Record, Sutton has criticised the forward after having such a successful 2020 but backs his former teammate to get the best out of him once again..
So what has Sutton said?
When asked to reflect on Griffiths’s actions during the lockdown, he said:
“Everyone knows the hard yards you need to go through in lockdown – there are no excuses. It was vital to maintain focus and stay on top of fitness. The players would all have had programmes.
“It’s just stupid. Neil Lennon will feel let down. If I was a team-mate I’d feel hacked off.
“Griffiths had a huge part in Celtic winning the title. He got a lot of credit the way he came back from his problems and rightly so. To have fitness issues at this stage though is just unprofessional.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if he managed to get Griffiths back to a level again.“A lot of that will now be down to him.
“He has to work his backside off. Griffiths has to be careful. Celtic spent a lot of money on Patryk Klimala and at some point he will get opportunities.
“There is Vakoun Bayo there as well. If there are doubts about the fitness of Griffiths though, Lennon will be thinking about buying a striker.”
So is Sutton correct?
Absolutely, Griffiths has had plenty of support and understanding from the club in the past but this time Lennon had no option but to lay down the law, there is no reason why the Scotland international should be given preferential treatment for failing to follow club orders during the lockdown.
Celtic spent £3.5million on Patryk Klimala and he has – if anything – come back in better shape than before the enforced cancellation of football in Scotland and will be dying to get a prolonged run in the first-team, something that the form of Griffiths this year prevented.
Having secured the return of Mohamed Elyounoussi, and despite “interest” in Shon Weissman, Lennon will be unlikely to spend big on any forwards whilst he still has four on his books, but how many more chances Griffiths gets will be entirely down to the Parkhead gaffer.