Alex McLeish has decided to go public about his delicate relationship with Leigh Griffiths.
In a clear effort to paint himself as the good guy the Scotland boss has revealed that the Celtic striker has ignored his attempts to phone up to explain the current striking position with the national side.
Last month Griffiths was given the thankless task of playing solo against Belgium then watching from the bench as Steven Naismith and Jonny Russell were lauded in the 2-0 win over the nobodies of Albania.
Rubbing salt into the wounds of the former Hibs striker McLeish decided to name wee Naisy as a starter for the Nations League tie with Israel. Perhaps Griff might get his chance to shine in the friendly against Portugal at a near deserted Hampden Park?
McLeish had four days to explain his thinking to Griffiths at the last international get together but preferred to make a phone call then go gushing to the newspapers painting the Celtic striker as the bad guy in the situation.
“I haven’t spoke to Leigh since the last game. I tried to call him, but he blanked me,” the Scotland boss told The Sun.
“I’ll see him when he comes here. Something the Scottish public has been craving for years is a top striker, a top goalscorer. Hopefully, we’ve got two or three on the cusp.”
Rewriting history McLeish added: “I didn’t say to anybody after the last international, ‘You’ll definitely be playing in the next game’.
“You give yourself a chance and that’s all you can ask for. What I saw in Leigh’s final sentence was, ‘It is up to us to prove that we’re good enough’. Then he goes out and bangs in three goals.
“That’s great. That’s the kind of positivity we’re looking for and the type of reaction. We want to see that kind of mentality coming to the fore.”
The international break is followed by Celtic’s vital SPFL clash at home to Hibs.
While managing Rangers (IL) a decade ago McLeish received £1.7m in disguised remuneration which wasn’t declared to the SPL, SFA or HMRC.
Like Campbell Ogilvie big Alex is a right nice guy.
