Kris Commons fears that a confession from Leigh Griffiths will come back to haunt the striker.
Celtic returned to pre-season training in mid-June last year following Lockdown but when they moved to a training base in Loughborough the former Hibs striker was left behind. In France Neil Lennon was scathing about the player’s lack of professionalism.
As part of his rehabilitation Griffiths owned up and described himself as a disgrace before he made his way back into Lennon’s plans.
A dramatic winner coming off the bench at St Johnstone in October was followed by a Scotland recall the following month with Griffiths scoring in the penalty shoot-out success over Serbia.
Scoring in the Scottish Cup Final against Hearts and again in the shoot-out seemed to suggest that Griffiths had pulled off another rescue act but one goal in 2021 and one starting appearance since the end of January paint another picture.
Last week it emerged that Celtic have until the end of this month to take up a 12-month option on the striker’s contract, otherwise he becomes a free agent at the end of this season.
Commons was a team-mate of Griffiths under three different manager but writing in the Daily Mail he feels that it is all over for the 20-year-old at Celtic.
The Daily Record reports:
Griffiths admitted that he was ‘a disgrace’ when he came back from the initial lockdown unfit and overweight last summer. Any new manager coming in at Celtic, whether it’s Eddie Howe or someone else, will look at those comments and think: ‘No, not for me’.
Griffiths has never been able to catch up from that episode last summer. He was branded unprofessional, with Neil Lennon hammering him in the press.
It’s important to separate his personal problems when talking about Griffiths. I’ve got nothing but respect for the way he has fought his way back after suffering from some very serious off-field issues.
But that’s not what we’re talking about. We are talking about what ought to be the peak years of his career. At the moment, he is drifting into obscurity.
He needs a spark and a fresh start. Come the summer, he will only have 12 months left on his contract. A parting of the ways might be the best solution for all concerned.
It seems that Commons has completely missed the fact that the final year of Griffiths’ contract is in Celtic’s hands. A further year could be agreed at a reduced rate or pay-per-play deal but with no manager in place everything seems up in the air at the moment.
