Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Boss has got our backing GRIFF INSISTS BHOYS HAVE BREN FAITH
LEIGH GRIFFITHS last night insisted his goal celebration in Perth proves the Celtic dressing room is united behind boss Brendan Rodgers.
The Hoops striker sprinted half the length of the pitch to hug and high-five his gaffer after scoring the goal that booked a Betfred Cup semi spot and took some of the heat off the Ulsterman after a poor start to the league campaign.
Griffiths knows Rodgers rejected a megabucks deal from China to stay at Parkhead and is convinced the manager can keep the good times rolling despite the dodgy start to the campaign.
He said: “If you get an offer from China, I’m guessing it would be big bucks.
“But you know the gaffer’s love for the club, the way he wants to do things and the way he goes about his business.
“There’s always going to be talk about him but we have shown we’re unified, we’re together fighting for the same cause and we have three trophies to defend this season. We want to go on and win them again.
“Running to the manager was a show of unity. There has been a lot of talk this week about a divide in the camp but we wanted to show everyone we’re still united, we’re still fighting for the same cause and we are together as one.
“People are always going to talk, especially when we get a bad result but it’s how we bounce back and that boys have that bouncebackability to go and show why we’re a top team.
“We might not always play the best football but we’ll always show our character and we got a win and a clean sheet. Everyone loses games. All right, the manner of the loss last Sunday wasn’t great.
“Then it starts that we’re boring and this and that. I guarantee you the people who say that don’t play good football every week.
“They’ll want to win ugly games. It wasn’t pretty at times at Perth but you have to grind out the win.” If Celtic want an example of patience and perseverance they need only look to their talisman.
Ever since he signed for Celtic, Griffiths has been doubted.
He has had managers talk about his lifestyle, abilities and what he can’t do as often as what he can.
Yet nothing keeps him down. Even before scoring his 103rd Celtic goal in midweek to win the clash against St Johnstone, he had to suffer before he succeeded.
Griffiths missed a hat-trick of outstanding chances but refused to hide. When the fourth came seven minutes from the end, he was still in the right place at the right time to make it count.
Griffiths said: “I missed a couple of chances but knew I’d get one more towards the end of the game and thankfully I tucked it away.
“As a striker you are going to miss chances but you need to be there to miss them.
“I’ve never been one to worry about it. I’ll miss chances all the time because I’ll be in the right place to miss them.
“I just keep plugging away and the more I get, I just need to take them. I should have had more but I got one, the team got a win and we went up the road happy.
“As a striker I’m going to get judged on goals and, so long as I keep putting the ball in the net, I’m doing my job.”