The war of words between Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths and former boss Neil Lennon has continued.
The pair have been at loggerheads with each other since Lennon left the club. During the Northern Irishman’s time in charge, Griffiths was a regular on the bench. Back in June, Lennon accused Griffiths of returning to pre-season out of shape as he expressed his anger in him [BBC].
Griffiths had always maintained that he needed game-time to build up his match fitness [The Scotsman]. However, in the end, he failed to get it and has now went to Dundee on loan whilst Lennon left the club back in February.
But Griffiths has now reacted to Lennon’s most recent blast on the BBC. And as he showed clear animosity between the pair, he claimed the former boss is simply trying to stay relevant.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Griffiths said: “I don’t want to keep talking about him because he is going to come back and he is going to have his bit to say. I don’t want to go tit for tat. I’ve said my piece, he’s said his. I just want to leave it there.
“If I ever see him in the street, we will probably have a couple of words to say to each other. But I am not going to keep battering him in the press because I don’t want it to be all about what Neil Lennon says to keep him in the loop.
“He is out of a job now and is trying to keep himself relevant. For me, it is about my time here at Dundee and making sure I am playing well, scoring goals and helping the team hit that top six.”
Leigh Griffiths ready to end Neil Lennon saga
It’s difficult from a fan’s perspective to take either’s side in this one. Both men dealt with last season horribly, and neither can look too favourably upon themselves when it comes to how they performed last season.
Neither have much of a future at Celtic Park either. So it’s fair to say that the Celtic supporters have very much moved on from both.
However, when it comes to this spat, both can feel they have strong arguments.
Lennon is spot on to say Griffiths was wrong to come back to pre-season out of shape. It was one of the biggest blows of last summer, and considering what was at stake, it was incredibly poor from the Scotland international.
Then again, whether he should’ve been in the wilderness for as long as he was is questionable. He played some crucial cameo roles under Lennon last term but couldn’t find his way into the starting line-up no matter what he seemed to do as a sub.
Of course, not much would’ve changed had Griffiths featured regularly last term. There were a lot more issues on our plate than not playing the now Dundee loanee.
Hopefully, this brings to an end the public bickering between the pair. Everyone is ready to move on.
In other news, Catholic United thank Celtic supporters for surge in followers
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
