Chris Sutton didn’t hold back in his criticism of Leigh Griffiths after Celtic’s 4-1 Europa League humiliation from Sparta Prague.
The striker appeared as a second half substitute, sparked some life into the performance, scored a goal then saw his side collapse to a chilling defeat.
Griffiths has been in and out the dog house all season but has still to complete a full match even though he has earned a Scotland recall.
Neil Lennon savaged the striker during Celtic’s pre-season build up in France but turned to him at St Johnstone, Aberdeen and against Sparta Prague to bail his side out.
Griffiths possesses all the natural ability that a striker could wish for but his attitude and professionalism appears to be far from that of the 24 hour athlete expected of the modern footballer.
Picking up on his post match summary with BT Sport, The Sun reports Sutton saying:
I am a huge, huge fan of Griffiths as a player, I’m not a huge fan of his attitude. He is a brilliant finisher but he is overweight, he is out of shape, and he can’t play for 60 minutes let alone 90 minutes.
He’s a professional footballer, he’s not been picked for a reason. He’s not paid to come off the bench for a little cameo. He’s a brilliant player but he needs to get himself fit and he’s let his manager and his team-mates down with his attitude. Simple as that.”
Sutton is likely to be closely watched today for hints over the future of Neil Lennon.