Podcaster Chris Boud believes that Neil Lennon is right to exclude striker Leigh Griffiths from the club’s pre-season matches.
Boud was a guest on the latest episode of The Cynic podcast and the panel was talking about many things involving the Parkhead-based side. One topic of discussion was Griffiths and Boud said that Lennon is right to exclude the striker from the club’s pre-season matches in France.
Griffiths is now set to remain at Lennoxtown and will miss Celtic’s French tour. The Daily Record had reported that Griffiths reported back out of condition and was over the optimum playing weight.
Boud addressed this situation and talked about whether Lennon is right to make this decision.
He said: “I don’t think it does anyone any favours if he brings him along and he’s literally not in shape. If he’s not ready to play full games – and they might not be competitive games, but they are against a very high-quality opposition – and if he’s literally going to embarrass himself by playing, or isn’t up to it, it’s not going to do him any favours.
Is Lennon right to exclude Griffiths from pre-season friendlies
The right decision
No, he should have included him
“So I think if he’s at that point where his physical fitness isn’t where it needs to be, he should be working on that. So I think that probably is the right decision from Lennon.”
Boud clearly believes that Griffiths shouldn’t be playing in the friendlies in France and that Lennon was quite right to not take him along for the pre-season games.
TIF Thoughts…
Griffiths has had fitness issues in recent years and had missed some games early on in the 2019/20 campaign as well. So it shows that this isn’t quite a one-off incident and he’s had to struggle with his physical and mental health issues in the past as well.
Griffiths had contributed to a total of 15 goals in all competitions in the 2019/20 season, scoring 11 times and picking up four assists on the way (via Transfermarkt).
It shows that despite all the issues, the Scotsman can still be an important player for the Hoops. And, he can be a valuable player for them next season as the club looks to win their tenth Premiership title in a row. So, in our opinion, Griffiths should focus on getting his fitness back on track as soon as possible.