BBC journalist Tom English has recently given his verdict about the comments that Neil Lennon made about Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths.
English was recently present on the latest episode of the Scottish Football Podcast and the panel talked about multiple issues in the Scottish game. English focused on Griffiths and the comments that Celtic boss Lennon recently made about the Scottish striker.
Griffiths was excluded from Celtic’s squad that travelled to France for their pre-season friendlies. This was because the striker was overweight. Lennon then criticised Griffiths publicly, saying that it would have been ‘pointless’ to take him to France, but following Celtic friendly against Hibernian on Monday, Lennon ended up praising Griffiths, saying that he now ‘looks great’.
When talking about Lennon’s comments, English said: “I thought Neil’s initial comments on Leigh Griffiths were really brutal. He could have dealt with it privately. He could have given him a rollicking in private. He decided to go public, decided to humiliate him in public. That was all deliberate. That’s him sending a message to Leigh Griffiths, but it is also him sending a message to the other Celtic players and to the whole Celtic support – we are not messing about here. We are as focused now as we were for the one in a row. That was a very strong message.
Was Lennon right to publicly criticise Griffiths?
Yes, he did the right thing
No, he shouldn't have done that
“What Neil has said now is he’s got nothing but praise for Griffiths. That’s a bit odd. Nothing but praise for a player who has now managed to get himself to a basic level of professionalism that he could train and he could do his job. None of our employers will say ‘I have nothing but praise for you for turning up for work today’. It’s odd, it’s very odd.”
English believes that Lennon should have kept the criticism of Griffiths private and finds it ‘odd’ that he has now praised the striker.
TIF Thoughts…
With Celtic now looking to win their tenth Premiership title in a row next season, Lennon would want some of his best players to be fit and firing. Griffiths was a crucial player in the second half of the 2019/20 season. He found the back of the net seven times in the Premiership in 2020 and this included a hat-trick against St. Mirren. He even racked up three assists during that time (via Transfermarkt).
Lennon would want a goalscorer like Griffiths to be fit enough for the upcoming season and his initial comments seem to have worked, considering that he is much happier with Griffiths’ fitness now. Celtic fans should only hope now that the striker keeps his fitness levels up and scores some crucial goals next season.