STAYING POWER
Parkhead pair told to resist riches of England
CELTIC stars Stuart Armstrong and Leigh Griffiths should ignore the lure of English Premier League gold — and savour the priceless thrill of playing in front of 60,000 fans every week.
The Scotland pair have both been the subject of transfer speculation this summer, with Armstrong yet to sign a new contract — and Griffiths attracting serious interest following his spectacular free-kick masterclass against England.
But former Celtic and Scotland striker Darren Jackson believes the midfielder and the forward should count their blessings.
‘Stuart is at a wonderful place in an incredible team just now with a fantastic manager,’ said Jackson.
‘Could he go down south and get more money? Obviously — but that’s not the question. It depends where he would be going.
‘You can’t put a price on playing regularly, being happy, playing in front of 60,000 every week and winning trophies. That’s what you’ve got to weigh up.
‘I don’t think there will be any talk about Leigh leaving, although there may be about Moussa Dembele leaving.
‘In the way commentators such as Gary Neville were speaking about him (after the England game), people maybe sit up and take notice.
‘However, if the wee man is in the Celtic team then I don’t think he wants to be anywhere else.’
Asked if Griffiths would feel confident of displacing a fit Dembele from the Celtic starting XI, Jackson — who was the striker’s agent for a while — said: ‘He backs himself to be better than anyone.
‘He says: “If you’ll play me, I’ll score goals”. He has never been arrogant or blase, he just has belief.
‘Brendan Rodgers knows the score. You need at least two or three good strikers.
‘He’s got two exceptional ones there and I think he’ll be desperate to keep them.
‘If Leigh is playing, he doesn’t want to be any other place than Celtic.’
Meanwhile, Jackson insists Rangers boss Pedro Caixinha’s continued pursuit of Scottish talent will be key to creating the right atmosphere as Rangers look to halt Celtic’s march towards a seventh straight title.
‘I don’t think Rangers will be thinking about Ten-in-a-row just now,’ he insisted. ‘They just have to get back to where they should be. They can worry about Ten-ina-row later, it’s not there yet. They just have to get back to the Rangers that we know.
‘But can a team gel that quick? Pedro had to make a lot of signings. He had to bring in his own players, guys that he trusts.
‘So they are mostly foreigners. Arsene Wenger likes to sign French players, because he knows them and knows what he is going to get out of them.
‘Pedro is obviously very confident that the foreign players he’s signed can come here and do it.’
The capture of Aberdeen’s Ryan Jack, along with bids to land Jamie Walker and Graham Dorrans, suggest that Caixinha — or assistant Jonatan Johansson, himself a former Rangers player — understands the need for a homegrown core.
‘I know Dorrans has been down south but JJ will know all the players in Scotland,’ said Jackson.
‘And I honestly believe you need it. People ask are the Scottish players good enough. Yes, they are. They can only add to the talent that he is bringing in.
‘I do think you need a core of Scottish boys.
‘I’m not comparing but, when you see Celtic with (Kieran) Tierney, (Scott) Brown, Griffiths, Armstrong, (Callum) McGregor, (James) Forrest and (Craig) Gordon, there is a core there who are very, very good.’