Robert Snodgrass has slammed Kris Boyd for his OTT criticism of Leigh Griffiths.
The former Kilmarnock striker has been on the case since the start of the season using his various media platforms. At the start of December he told Sun readers that Griffiths had four weeks to rescue his Celtic career.
Fortunately Neil Lennon had more faith and patience with the striker. Griffiths failed to score during Celtic’s packed December fixture card, he never made the 18 for the League Cup Final at Hampden but since the turn of the year the goal touch has returned.
After scoring away to Kilmarnock at the end of January Griffiths’ celebration was dedicated to the 36-year-old in the Sky Sports commentary box.
Boyd has his own charity foundation to deal with mental health issues but it seems that no allowance was given to the Celtic striker who took six months out of football to deal with his own issues.
Snodgrass told the Daily Record:
No disrespect but the reason Kris Boyd and others were having a go was because they know Leigh is better than what he was showing at that time but what no one knows is what Leigh was having to go through, whether it was injuries or problems in his private life.
It did seem as if a lot of people were coming out and criticising him without taking any of that into account. It was like, ‘He should just deal with it because he’s a professional football player. It’s part and parcel of the job’.
He’s only human at the end of the day. He’s going to feel it when people are criticising him, just like anyone else would.
As a matter of fact, a lot of players start to feel it more as they get older. They have problem with anxiety, they get worried about their game, worried about injuries and worried that they are going to break down. It happens to a lot of lads.
So if you’re not taking care of yourself away from the park then there’s more of a chance these things will happen.
Leigh probably feels as he should get a lot more respect for his goal record than he actually does but the lads who were criticising him know what he’s capable of of and they know we need a No.9 right now for the national side who is scoring goals week in week out.
So it’s great to sit back and see Leigh Griffiths fighting fit and scoring goals again. He’s put his injuries behind him and he’s in a good place right now so we should focus on all the good things he brings to the party rather than try to find the negatives.
Boyd will be on Sky Sports duty on Sunday at Ibrox.