GIVE GRIFF A SMILE AND HE’LL GO THE EXTRA MILE
is better than what he was showing at that time.
“But what no one knows is what Leigh was having to go through, whether it was injuries or problems in his private life.
“It did seem as if a lot of people were criticising him without taking any of that into account.
“It was like, ‘He should just deal with it because he’s a professional football player. It’s part and parcel of the job’.
“He’s only human at the end of the day. He’s going to feel it.
“A lot of players start to feel it more as they get older. They have problem with anxiety, get worried about their game, injuries and that they are going to break down.
“Leigh probably feels as he should get a lot more respect for his goal record but the lads who were criticising him know what he’s capable of and we need a No.9 for the national side who is scoring week in, week out.”
At 32, Snodgrass is focused on extending his time in England’s top flight under David Moyes. Yet, no matter what his career may still have in store, it’s unlikely anything will top the day he and Griffiths almost brought the whole of English football crashing down.
Looking back at that epic 2-2 draw in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers he said: “If we hadn’t conceded the late equaliser that would have gone down as one of the greatest Scottish sporting moments in history.
“And that’s what Leigh has in his locker. He scores goals, he has done it since he was a kid, and I couldn’t be any happier to see him back with a smile on his face. You can see how much work he’s put in.
“I know he was paying a lot of money out of his own pocket to work with a fitness specialist down south. “But people don’t speak about that side of Leigh – about his determination to force his way back into that Celtic side. “The more people put an arm around him and give him a boost in confidence, the better Leigh will become.”