Leigh Griffiths would love to score at Ibrox to silence the trolls and snipers who revelled in his personal problems.
In December Brendan Rodgers announced that the striker would be taking time away from football, within 24 hours videos appeared on social media of fans in Vienna gleefully singing that ‘Leigh Griffiths won’t be playing any more’.
Griffiths goal scoring record and personality have always made him a target for opposition fans- especially at Ibrox and Tynecastle- which he has fed off with regular goals at both grounds.
While his personal problems has brought him some sympathy pulling on a Celtic shirt at either of those stadiums is likely to bring a particularly hostile reaction from the natives.
Griffiths spoke to the media yesterday about his issues including the trolls that delighted in his problems with the Daily Record opting to print the words of one chant.
Griffiths told how son Rhys feared his dad’s career was over after hearing Rangers fans taunting the troubled striker with a terrace chant.
The Light Blue legions have been heard singing “F*** Leigh Griffiths, he won’t be playing football any more”. And Griffiths said mum Gloria was worried about her boy after internet trolls claimed his spell on the sidelines was due to him being a debt-ridden drug addict.
The 28-year-old spoke out as he continues his road to full recovery following seven months out to battle mental health problems. And Griffiths said: “My son watches videos on YouTube and he heard Rangers fans singing I wouldn’t be playing football any more.
“I went up to see him one day and he asked me ‘dad – are you going to be back playing football?’ I said – ‘of course I will. Why?’ He’s like ‘I was watching YouTube and I came across a video where people were singing that you won’t be playing football any more.’
“So I told his mum just to keep him off it as he’s going to do himself damage watching stuff like that. My kids are a massive motivation because football isn’t a long career. I could break my leg tomorrow and be finished, with another 40-50 years to live and a family to provide for.
“That’s a big influence on my life – I need to get as much out of the game as I can for them so I can give them a better life. My kids weren’t at the game last week – even though it’s the school holidays, it’s still difficult for them to get to the night games but they were watching at home but he watched the game last Wednesday and was probably more delighted than anybody to see me back on the pitch.
“It’ll be interesting to hear what they sing when I play against Rangers. It’s rivalry and people sing about opposing players; I’m just glad to have had minutes under my belt and, the more that happens, the less they’ll sing about me.
“They can sing about me if they want. If they do that then they’re leaving someone else in our team alone so that doesn’t bother me. Would it make it sweeter to score against them this season? My record against them isn’t bad, to be fair, especially at Ibrox.”
Griffiths made his competitive return to football last week against FK Sarajevo and is expected to be involved in tomorrow’s Champions League qualifier against Nomme Kalju.