Celtic podcaster Chris Sermanni has recently been talking about Leigh Griffiths and has delivered his verdict about the striker.
Sermanni was a guest on the latest episode of The Cynic podcast. While the panel talked about many things involving the Parkhead side, Sermanni talked about Griffiths and the fact that the striker has not flown to France with the rest of the squad.
It was recently reported that the striker has ‘incurred the wrath’ of Neil Lennon as he had returned from lockdown in an overweight condition. As a result, Griffiths has been requested to work on an individual training programme while the team plays some pre-season friendlies in France.
While talking about Griffiths’ current situation, Sermanni said: “I’m sure I wasn’t alone in thinking that he probably wouldn’t have played to any sort of level for us again after he had been away with his mental health problems and things like that.
“It just seemed as if it was awful hard for him to get through them and he hadn’t played for us for so long. I think quite a lot of us had doubts he would ever come back, so one thing I wouldn’t do – given the contribution he made after Christmas this year – is write him off.
Will Griffiths bounce back from this setback?
Absolutely!
Not at all
“It’s not very professional if it’s true that he’s been overweight and he’s not come back in condition. You see some of the other players in the videos they were putting online and things like that, but Griffiths has got a habit of when the chips are stacked against him, it looks as if he’s able to draw strength from that and go and prove his doubters wrong.
“Now, there’s a lot of clubs and a lot of managers that might have taken a look at Griffiths and said ‘nah, your time’s up, you’re done’. But, when you’ve got a fully fit Griffiths, we know that he’s a quality player and he’s had a number of chances at Celtic. I just think it’s part of the make-up, part of the baggage sometimes with Leigh Griffiths.”
Sermanni clearly thinks that while what Griffiths has done isn’t good, he’s just the sort of player who brings that sort of ‘baggage’ with him. He also feels that the striker thrives when he’s having to prove detractors wrong.
TIF Thoughts…
Griffiths, who is valued at £1.44 million (as per Transfermarkt), had taken a break from playing in the second half of the 2018/19 campaign. He had revealed later on that he took that break to deal with mental health issues (via Sky Sports).
His injury record in recent seasons isn’t the best. He had missed a number of games early on in the 2019/20 campaign due to injury. In the 2018/19 season, he had suffered a knee injury and a calf injury. Even in the 2017/18 campaign, the Scotsman had missed 13 games due to a calf injury (via Transfermarkt).
But the striker was in great form in 2020, as he found the back of the net seven times in the Premiership and also racked up three assists. He also grabbed a hat-trick against St. Mirren (via Transfermarkt).
This shows that he indeed knows how to make a comeback after multiple setbacks. Celtic fans can only hope that he bounces back from this setback as well.