There was very little sympathy for Leigh Griffiths last night when it was reported that his Celtic contract was being terminated.
At the age of 31 the striker should be rewriting the record books. Christiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were smashing it well into their thirties, in the far less demanding Scottish game Griffiths could have been scoring for fun.
In season 2015/16 Griffiths scored 40 goals in all competitions including 31 from 32 appearances in the SPFL Premiership- since that season his return has been in sharp decline with a variety of factors put up in his defence.
There was one final hurrah, kicking off two years ago when he teamed up with Odsonne Edouard to power Celtic to 9-in-a-row for the second time but what happened during Lockdown 1 only the player can explain.
Excluded from Celtic’s pre-season training camps at Loughborough and in France he had ample time to get his mind and body in shape.
Last season he came off the bench to take a penalty in Serbia to take Scotland to the European Championship Finals then did likewise in the Scottish Cup Final including the third goal in the 3-3 draw with Hearts followed by a shoot-out victory.
Why Celtic offered a 12 month contract in July and who made that decision is likely to remain another mystery, typically the chance was blown but Dundee boss James McPake offered an escape route to his former team-mate.
An incident with a firework has been followed by two goals in 14 matches, with his Celtic deal cancelled and McPake unimpressed Griffiths is fast running out of options at just 31-years-old.
EXCLUSIVE! Leigh Griffiths released by Celtic with Dundee future uncertain as Parkhead club cut ties with strikerhttps://t.co/ygvXcTDY01 pic.twitter.com/GlQD76hOxm
— Daily Record Sport (@Record_Sport) January 15, 2022
??? been saying this for ages
— ??? (@Mark_cfc84) January 15, 2022
Good luck, gave us some special moments and some not so special, a troubled individual, but a talent nonetheless ?
— Big Pat. (un)comfortably numb (@PatrickMcglon13) January 15, 2022
No other outcome
— Siobhean ? (@SiobheanG) January 16, 2022
Great player on his day, but he stopped having days over 2 years ago.
— GE92 (@GerardEdelsten) January 16, 2022
Or the juniors
— Neill McGinley (@neilly1987) January 16, 2022
Respect Celtic for supporting a player during mental illnesses, balanced with at times didn’t help himself
— dangermouse (@feemackenzie) January 15, 2022
It goes down now his legacy as ‘He could have been great if….’
Unfortunately Leigh ran out of ifs— Luboatm (@AtmLubo) January 16, 2022
Wasted his career. Once was best striker in Scotland. Now he can’t find a club.
— Kyogosleftfoot (@kyogosleftfoot) January 15, 2022
Great striker, could have been a legend if he had the right attitude. Lost the fans and a sad way in which to end his Celtic career.
— Neil Paterson (@njkp14) January 15, 2022
Its easy to be critical, but he was a talent with deep problems. Thanks Leigh, your games for Celtic lifted me on many occasion.
All the best for the rest of your career.
This guy had it in abundance. Under Ronny top goalscorer. Rodgers preferred the frenchies. Lennon ?well say fck all about him he was just me me fckn me. Although he brought a good deal on himself I think he could’ve been handled better. Dont know were he will end up but I hope it ain’t in the premier as he will come back to haunt us. All the best Leigh.
Was a big griff fan, really saddened by that. But at end of day, he was not professional, he stopped playing about 3 years ago. I wish him well though .
Silly,silly boy.He had it all at his feet.But how many chances can you give a man.Great talent(In his day).