We all respect what Leigh Griffiths has done at Celtic in the past, but Scotland boss Steve Clarke has done the right thing in not picking him for Euro 2020.
I’ve been one of Griffiths’ biggest backers. When he wasn’t getting call-ups at the start of the season I was as perplexed as anyone. After all, Griffiths is, on his game, a much better player than Lyndon Dykes. About 4 times the player Oli McBurnie is. And Che Adams? Come on – we know who’s better when they’re in form.
But the problem is Griffiths has had yet another massively disappointing where he’s let himself and the club down. Don’t talk to me about him getting no opportunities to impress or that John Kennedy made a mess of his chances. Griffiths has been working under Brendan Rodgers, Neil Lennon and Kennedy in recent years. All three have struggled to put any trust in him.
Was Neil Lennon just deciding to sabotage his own managerial career because it was a laugh not playing Griffiths? No. He didn’t like what he was getting from him in training. Especially after he turned up to pre-season with a dreadful level of fitness. That was a massive slap in the face ahead of the 10-in-a-row season.
Celtic have given chances to all of their forwards this season. Albian Ajeti, Patryk Klimala, and Griffiths have all had differing runs of game-time. Not one of them has been impressive.
Leigh Griffiths shouldn’t be rewarded for failure with Euro 2020 spot
The argument for Griffiths will be that he’s always worthy of a goal. That he is. But he hasn’t EARNED a spot with this Scotland side because he hasn’t shown much in the way of predatory instinct this season at all.
In fact, in his last start against Falkirk in the Scottish Cup, he missed three or four glorious opportunities. You can’t turn around and say he’s the best finisher in the country when he’s no longer proving it. Or that he’s a 40-goal-per-season striker when the last time he managed it was five years ago.
If Griffiths was performing behind-the-scenes, he would’ve been involved under Lennon. The former Celtic manager always maintained that Griffiths needed to work harder in training [Glasgow Times]. It’s become pretty clear that never actually happened.
Maybe his Scotland snub will give him the boot up the backside he needs ahead of the summer. If we have Eddie Howe coming into the club, Griffiths will have a lot to prove. His place here next season is far from guaranteed. However, there’s time for him to get himself back up to speed and force his way into Scotland reckoning again for Qatar 2022.
But he won’t find too much in defence of him from the Celtic supporters either. Many of us are now ready to acknowledge that he simply didn’t deserve a spot this summer, and it’s all down to the player himself:
“Only person to blame”
https://twitter.com/caImcIe/status/1395103255395454977
https://twitter.com/marcmcardle1/status/1395102273882279943
https://twitter.com/hanszargow/status/1395069502421876747
In other news, Ryan Christie has reacted to his emotional November Scotland interview.
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