Leigh Griffiths

I realise Lennon is hardly flavour of the month. I’ve probably been one of his most vocal critics here.

The one unarguable fact however, is that you cannot make someone fit. You can give them the best guidance, information and opportunity in the world, but it’s in them and nobody else to put in the time and effort.

If you are determined to get fit, nothing can really stop you (injury or illness being the exception). If you don’t have the determination to do it (and I reckon 3/4 managers now have alluded to Griffiths attitude being poor) then you’ll simply never get there.

 

That's true to a certain extent. However, there is absolutely no denying that there has been a seismic shift between the training and conditioning under Brendan Rodgers and the conditioning of the players now. That's down to Lennon and him alone.

However, Griffiths is a grown man who gets paid vast amounts of money. He absolutely should not have came back in the condition he did and more importantly, the conditioning he was in before the season ended. You could clearly see how overweight he was.

 

Had a bit of a shocker here bud

We've all had them though

 

I really don't think I have, people think Henke fell out his maw being world class, he didn't, Griffiths had bags of talent he wasted...it's a simple analogy.

I actually think it's an insult to Henrik to not acknowledge how hard he worked to be the best I've ever seen. The opposite goes for Griffiths.

Cast your mind back to 2015 and how everycunt was waxing lyrical about Griffiths and his technique and natural goalscorer ability...Scottish player of the year remember!....that wasn't repeated due to him and his desire and attitude, no * else. Now consider how Henrik came back from a horrendous leg break.

I'll fight my point till the end mate, you know that

 

Didn't come here world class but was a quality player who ended up an elite level player..

Griffiths started an average player and reached a decent player at his peak..

I hope you've got the headguard on

 

Lennon was wrong on almost everything last year, and he's hardly painted himself in a good light since leaving, but he's 100% right to be * off with Griffiths. Griffiths had a fantastic end to the 2019-2020 season, yet he comes back from that unfit? Absolute waster.

 

We roll with the blows amigo.

I don't remember people calling him average in 2015, don't know many people that could have scored those free kicks in that situation against England. He's better than average talent wise, but his attitude and dedication make him worse than average.

 

Probably a pedantic argument here aye.

I think a big reason he looked much better was as you said there, he had much better quality around about him. Thompson, Agathe, Sutton, Hartson, Lambert, Petrov, Lubo, all laying on service. A strikers dream playing with them in behind you.

He didn't have anywhere near that quality in 97/98. Donnelly, Brattbak, O'Donnell, Mahe, Boyd, Burley.

 

Let's go

I've never thought he was great. Even in his best season here..

I think his linkup play and first touch are criminal more often than no. He can hit a decent set piece and finish at time's granted..

He's weak
No that clever
No that quick
Bad attitude

I can't wait til he's out the door

 

Me too! My point is the exactly that....if he had the right attitude he would have worked on all these things to compliment his natural talent.

Get him to * man!

 

Amen.

 

Don't back down from your original point mate.

 

Now I'd say Messi had more natural talent, but Ronaldo has had to work on it and spend a decade on Herbalife whereas Griffiths has been more into Herbalfags.

 

Not that my opinion counts for anything, but here’s my 2p’s worth.
Griffiths isn’t without blame, it’s his career and he was happy enough to accept very generous wages. The least he could do is stay fit in return, ready for action when required.

But....
Lennon-Celtic are also equally to blame.
They knew Griff has mental health issues, and should have been on top of his fitness from the moment lockdown started, tracking his mental and physical condition. Him arriving overweight after lockdown, should not have been a surprise and should have been avoided.

As an example why didn’t the club, send the trackers (players wear in matches) home to monitor Griff’s fitness, with financial penalties if he didn’t reach certain targets on time and distance.

Once again Griff has to share his share of responsibility, but it highlights to me just poor the overall management under Lennon was, particularly when compared to Rodgers.

 

I have no doubts that the medical and fitness side of the club fell off a cliff when Rodgers and his team left.

However the only person to blame for Griffiths coming back unfit and overweight is Griffiths. Even when Rodgers was in charge, he was still regularly unfit and picked up niggling injuries.

The club shouldn’t have to treat Griffiths differently, in terms of sending him a fitness tracker etc. That’s pandering to someone who is too * lazy and unprofessional to do some running.

 

Lennon criticising anyone should be taken with a pinch of salt, remember this is the guy that to this day thinks he done a fantastic job and was harsh that “a new type of fan” cost him his job at Celtic. The * more deluded than me trying to argue a point

 

Pretty obvious to me, or anyone with an ounce of empathy in their soul, that Griff is the type of character that needs constant guidance. It's easy for us to sit and condemn the guy for his failure to stay motivated during lockdown. I know I didn't, it battered me mentally and it took me over a month to feel decent again after going back to work.

Aye I'm just a construction worker and not a professional footballer, but it's part of my character that I need to be out and about with people keeping me on my toes, for me to stay productive. It's a wholly human thing and it's something I've tried to remedy so many times over the years.

I don't think Griff was the only pro footballer who struggled in that * up few months last year, not even the only Celtic player. But he was the one who got publicly shamed by the manager, and some of the hatred in thus thread is the result.

I'd wager that Lennon himself drank himself stupid during lockdown, and that kind of comment is something I'd never usually throw out there. So him belittling any * gets my blood boiling like I can't believe.

So my point is this; Griff is not the type of character that is professional to a high level, and needs constant mentoring in order for his talent to shine. That along with mental health issues, and a world wide lockdown where no one knew what the * was happening one day to the next, clearly knocked the guy majorly off course.

What he needed was a quiet word in his ear...stay behind and get yourself up to speed, because we will need you at some point. What he got was utterly humiliated by his so called manager, which led to a large portion of fans actively hating the boy. All because he couldn't handle a forced 3 month lock down during a worldwide pandemic.

It's a * ball buster of a situation, and I know I like to poke the fire a wee bit about it sometimes, but honestly am just glad to see that * Lennon gone and Griff finally trying to focus on the positives and move forward. I hope the boy keeps it up and gets back to scoring goals, wherever he ends up, because he is * lethal on his day.

 

I vaguely remember Lennon stating every player had an individual training plan and had to report what they had done. Don't know if a GPS tagger was used for anyone, but even with that, Griffiths could still have been doing the bare minimum and eating poorly, which is possible due to the fact he turned up out of shape.

 

We should never have been in this position, where a guy as unprofessional as Griffiths cannot be let go because we have so little options up front. Because that is exactly why he's getting a new deal.

We simply don't have enough strikers and we are incapable of identifying and bringing alternatives in.