Neil Lennon has launched a blistering attack on Leigh Griffiths- revealing details about his Lockdown actions in comparison to other Celtic players.
Back in 2014 Lennon bought the striker from Wolves with Griffiths going on record with his thanks when the Irishman returned on a permanent basis five years later.
The two men seemed to have an understanding and respect for each other but after a disastrous season for both of them the fault lines are out in the open.
Griffiths told Radio Scotland that he had been ditched because of one bad 45 minutes against St Mirren in January but Lennon returned fire in spectacular fashion.
Picking up on his interview this morning, The Sun reports Lennon saying:
He let himself down. He’s on full pay for the three months of lockdown and he comes back, totally out-of-condition and a stone overweight, when he couldn’t afford to be because he hadn’t played much football in the previous 18 months to two years.
We had worked really hard with him to get him back on track and before lockdown, he was in the team and back scoring goals and doing absolutely fine and then he comes back completely out-of-condition, way, way behind any of the rest of them and for me, that was totally unacceptable.
During the lockdown, the three months off, we opened the training ground. You couldn’t come into the building but my fitness coach set up fitness training for the players everyday. So you would come in, in groups of two and train for an hour a day – fitness work, everyday.
Callum McGregor, Scott Brown, James Forrest, Greg Taylor, Jonny Hayes – all the lads that lived in Scotland, the foreign boys were away, but all the boys in Scotland came in. Leigh didn’t come in one day, not one day during the lockdown.
Leigh’s trying to make it out that it was alright [the way he let himself down] and it’s not. He’s saying, ‘I’ll prove people wrong’ – he hasn’t proved anybody wrong.
He’s not at the level of being a Champions League player, he didn’t get picked for Scotland, you have to ask why.
He’ll say he didn’t play enough games, towards the end of the season, I wasn’t there, John obviously felt that he wasn’t in the right frame of mind or condition to play for Celtic, which is a very high standard and I don’t think Leigh got anywhere near those standards over the last year or so.
??'He's on full pay for the three months of lockdown and comes back totally out of condition'
Neil Lennon on Leigh Griffiths ?
Listen live ??? https://t.co/Xnic9U36BA#BBCEurosBreakfast pic.twitter.com/udq06JIICP
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) June 24, 2021
Should Postecoglou offer Leigh Griffiths another contract?
Yes, no brainer, best striker in Scotland
No way, he's had too many chances
Griffiths is out of contract next week but after a phone call from Ange Postecoglou seems confident of getting a new deal, so far he hasn’t been pictured back at pre-season training at Lennoxtown.
