Lennon tells Celtic fans Griffiths isn’t doing enough to get fit

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Celtic boss Neil Lennon has lifted the lid on a huge Lennoxtown problem as he revealed that Leigh Griffiths isn’t doing enough to get fit.

Griffiths came off the bench at Hampden to score a vital goal in Sunday’s Scottish Cup final. However, his sarcastic comments after the game raised a bit of an eyebrow.

After starting only one game all season, Griffiths said he needed more minutes. He revealed that Lennon had told him to get fitter, but then made the following remark (Daily Record):

“Well that green stuff, the pitch, I need to be on that to get match fit.”

And Lennon has tried to react jovially but has ended up sharing a big problem with Griff. Speaking in comments published by the Scottish Sun, the Celtic boss said:

“This isn’t him and I falling out over anything, but I think he can get fitter. Maybe he thinks he can get fitter by playing more of the games. But in between games or if he’s not playing as much, he can do a little bit more.

This doesn’t reflect well on Celtic star

Lennon may be trying to brush this off, but this isn’t good. In fact, it’s extremely poor from one of the club’s top strikers.

What the Celtic manager has pretty much said here is that Griff isn’t giving 100%. He isn’t showing enough application in training to get himself on the pitch more regularly.

Griffiths has scored in cameos against the likes of St Johnstone, Aberdeen, and Hearts this season. We’ve all wondered why he hasn’t played more regularly when you look at the impact he’s made. This from Lennon answers it, and he’s likely spot on too.

When you watched Griffiths come on for Scotland in Slovakia last month, he looked shattered. He was coughing after about 20 minutes on the pitch and generally struggled to get himself noticed. The warning lights were flashing at that point.

Lennon says it’s just a difference of opinion, but he’s the manager. It’s down to him to enforce his view on his player. If he thinks Griffiths can be given more then he needs to demand it of him. Not just ask him to do it.

Griff’s sarcastic message to Lennon at the weekend looked worrying enough. It was a touch cheeky in tone and it was always going to lead to a reaction from the manager. From the outside looking in, this looks like a big problem. It’s time for Griffiths to put everything into this. We need him sharp.

In other news, you can take a look at our predicted XI as we expect three youngsters to be unleashed tonight.