Dundee boss James McPake has addressed the Leigh Griffiths situation as he admitted he’s “interested” in signing the player up permanently.
Griffiths has reportedly had his contract at Celtic ripped up. This was said to be due to the fact Dundee wanted to send him back from his loan spell. The Scottish Sun reported last night that the Hoops wanted to avoid that and didn’t want him returning to Lennoxtown whatsoever.
That effectively makes Griffiths a free agent come the end of the month if Dundee aren’t willing to keep him. However, the Sun reported yesterday that the Dens Park club were likely to keep him on until the summer.
And McPake appears to be interested in making Griffiths’ spell in Dundee a permanent one. He’s been speaking ahead of his side’s match against Livingston tomorrow, and said the following via the Scottish Sun:
“Leigh has trained over the past few days and has been working hard, he’s in the squad. When players like Leigh Griffiths pop up, you’re always interested, our focus as a club is on [the game] at Livingston. The situation is what it is, I can’t speak on behalf of Celtic, hopefully he goes and has a positive impact in our team.
“He’s showing a desire to kick-start his career of late with that free-kick away to Aberdeen and scored in a bounce game last week against Forfar. That goal against Aberdeen is something Leigh has done all his career, he’s a player that loves scoring goals and enjoying his football. When you get Griffiths scoring goals then you’re getting a good player and we need to add more goals into him in the second half of the season.”
Celtic taking swift action on Leigh Griffiths was the best thing to do
There is undoubtedly a dark cloud that has followed Griffiths due to everything that went on over the summer. That can’t just be avoided or ignored. When you play for Celtic you must uphold the highest level of moral values and be a player fans can look up to.
Taking swift action over Griffiths’ contract was the best thing Celtic could do. If this is a player Postecoglou didn’t want back, then we couldn’t have him back. It’s as simple as that, and who’s to say what kind of dynamic it may have created had he been allowed back.
Interesting though that Dundee are suddenly willing to take Griffiths back. Most likely on much lesser wages making it more affordable for the lack of productivity they’ve gotten from the player this season.
Regardless, it looks as though Griffiths is going to get a reprieve here and be given another chance to get his career back on track. That will be his only goal now. Ensuring he impresses and wins himself a longer-term contract at Dens or elsewhere.
The sad truth is that it’s just so disappointing how this has all turned out. With 123 Celtic goals to his name [Transfermarkt], Griffiths should’ve been leaving Parkhead a hero. A player respected for his efforts and one who left with plenty of acclaim due to what he won during his time here. But that’s just not the reality and we all know why.
Celtic and Postecoglou clearly had enough of him over the summer. Taking swift action to ensure there was no return was the sensible thing to do. It’ll still be interesting to see if he can make an impact in the second half of the campaign. If there’s one thing he does still have, it’s ability.
In other news, Celtic issue rallying cry to get Parkhead rocking tonight as supporters’ excitement levels peak
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