Kris Boyd has admitted that he got it wrong with the stats that he used to slate Leigh Griffiths on Wednesday night.
The Sky Sports pundit has been predicting the demise of the Scotland striker with some glee but with two goals in two matches since the winter break Griffiths has disrupted that script despite the signing of Patryk Klimala.
After scoring against Kilmarnock the Celtic forward enjoyed a very personal celebration aimed at the Sky studio where Boyd was watching alongside Stevie Clarke.
Celtic’s win, Griffiths goal and his reaction had Boyd rattled as he came back on air after the final whistle.
Keen to have a go back at the Celtic scorer Boyd managed to get hold of some statistics but under pressure he delivered the stats the wrong way round and overlooked the key detail that Griffiths was out of football for a long period to deal with personal issues.
In The Sun Boyd writes:
I used some stats on the TV the other night that were actually wrong? — I meant to say games STARTED when I said games played.
But my point still stands. Why hasn’t Griffiths played more football for Celtic in the last few months? Could it be he’s not working as hard as he should be behind the scenes?
As a club, Celtic stood by him brilliantly when it became common knowledge he was finding life hard. For that I give enormous credit to Peter Lawwell and Celtic’s hierarchy.
But Leigh seemed to think it was a good look to shout up at me in the TV gantry at Rugby Park on Wednesday night — when the Scotland manager was sitting right beside me. If he thought he was impressing Steve Clarke, he should think again.
Impressing Clarke is far down Griffiths’ list of priorities as he gets his life and career back on track after a very challenging time during 2019.
Boyd spent the majority of his article defending his appearance on Sky Sports which has resulted in hundreds of complaints going into Ofcom.
Some stats that Boyd will know without checking are that he scored just one career goal against Celtic during his record breaking career. Griffiths has scored three times in the Glasgow derby, once at Hampden and twice at Ibrox.
In five Champions League appearances Boyd never scored a goal, similarly in 11 matches in the UEFA Cup he failed to find the net. CLICK HERE for the Boyd statistics.
Boyd’s admission he got his stats “wrong” hardens my suspicions that his Griffiths attack wasn’t a spontaneous ad lib.
His rant sounded planned- a script & selective stats prepared in advance?
But he strayed off-message,then rattled, fluffed his lines.
Anyone smell a vendetta?— Brian McNally (@McNallyMirror) January 24, 2020
Boyd admits in his column the stats he used on TV to try & belittle Griffiths were bollox.
“I used some stats on the TV the other night that were actually wrong? — I meant to say games
STARTED
when I said games played.”
But no apology over his blunder.Typical lack of humility.— Brian McNally (@McNallyMirror) January 24, 2020