Former Celtic striker Frank McAvennie has given his backing to current Hoops forward Leigh Griffiths after criticism of his preparations for the new season, The Scottish Sun reports.
Manager Neil Lennon did not hold back with comments on the Scotland international last week, telling reporters in France that he wasn’t happy with how things have panned out with the player over the summer (The Daily Record).
Lennon has been left annoyed by Griffiths’ lack of fitness and by his social media posts.
Fans have largely backed Lennon’s stance and have appreciated his candour on the issue.
McAvennie has played down the dispute today, however, feeling that Griffiths will find a way to be involved with the Hoops first-team by the time competitive action rolls around next month.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “Leigh Griffiths will be fit and ready for the start of the season — make no mistake about that. The Celtic striker was left behind to concentrate on his fitness while the rest of the squad flew to France.
“His boss Neil Lennon didn’t miss when he slaughtered him the other night but I’m sure he’ll be ready when the serious stuff starts.
“We faced unprecedented difficulties in lockdown and trying to keep super-fit while being told to stay indoors can’t have been easy. We all know that Leigh has faced more demons than most in recent years and keeping mentally as well as physically healthy will have been a challenge during the pandemic.
“Let’s cut him some slack — he knows what he has to do and I’m confident he’ll be raring to go when it matters.”
Time will tell whether McAvennie is correct or not, though it has to be said that at the moment Griffiths looks a distance away from making it into Lennon’s plans.
The manager has forged ahead with game time for Patryk Klimala, who started last night’s match against Lyon.
Ideally, the club would look to bring in another striker between now and October to compete for places.
The doubts surrounding Griffiths and Vakoun Bayo’s lack of progress means that there isn’t much depth behind the main man Odsonne Edouard.
Whether or not our resources allow for that with other areas in the team also needing strengthened remains to be seen.
In other news, Celtic’s goalkeeping hunt is said to have turned to the continent.
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