DON’T BE DAFT
Gap couldn’t be any wider, Griffiths tells ‘mad’ King
LEIGH GRIFFITHS has spectacularly hit back at Dave King — telling the Rangers chairman he was ‘mad’ to suggest Celtic should be further ahead of the Ibrox club at this juncture.
Despite seeing Brendan Rodgers’ men finish 39 points ahead of his side on route to an undefeated Treble, King this week claimed the Parkhead outfit had failed to make the most of his club’s four years in the ‘wilderness’.
But, speaking on the day that Celtic confirmed they would not be taking tickets for the prospective Champions League qualifier with Linfield in Belfast on July 14, Griffiths pointedly reminded King of the gulf that separated the clubs last season — and advised him to get his own house in order before worrying about anyone else.
‘How much further away does he want us to be?’ said Griffiths.
‘Thirty-nine points, two 5-1 gubbings — one at home and one away — beaten in a semi-final of a cup. Can you ask for a bigger gulf than that?
‘They finished third and were touted at the start of the season to win the title.
‘Last season they had Joey Barton saying he was going to be the best player in the league, but he only lasted a few months. Then he vanished back down the road.
‘We just carried out our business professionally and respectfully and, at the end of the season, we reaped the rewards with a domestic Treble and remaining unbeaten.
‘If he thinks we should be further ahead, then he’s mad.’
Asked if King should be more
concerned with addressing his own team’s shortcomings, Griffiths added: ‘Instead of talking about us, he should be concentrating on them. ‘He’s got a new manager and he has his own mindset that he wants to bring in players. The chairman should be focusing on that rather than us — focusing on bridging the gap between us and them.’ Meanwhile, Celtic yesterday confirmed they would not be taking up their allocation of tickets for the likely trip to play Linfield in Belfast next month.
The Northern Irish champions will face Rodgers’ men if they first see off La Fiorita of San Marino. With the game scheduled to take place in the same week as the traditional Orange Order parades on July 12, the match has been an organisational headache for all parties who eventually agreed a date of Friday, July 14. Celtic were in line to receive up to 6,000 out of 18,000 tickets, but yesterday outlined the reasons why they have opted to turn the allocation down. A statement on the club website read: ‘Earlier this week, Celtic were drawn against Linfield or La Fiorita to open our UEFA Champions League qualifying campaign, with the away leg due to be played first, on 11 or 12 July, and the home leg to be played at Celtic Park on 18 or 19 July. ‘Following security concerns raised by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Celtic has taken part in discussions with Linfield and the PSNI. ‘While there can be an option to reverse the fixtures if both clubs agree, Linfield made it clear during discussions they did not wish to reverse the tie and they wanted play their home leg first. ‘In addition, Celtic’s football management team wished to play our away leg first so that we could benefit from the advantage of playing the second leg at home in front of our supporters at Celtic Park. ‘Following the discussions, it was agreed among the clubs and PSNI and has now been confirmed with UEFA that, should Linfield progress, Celtic’s UEFA Champions League match against Linfield will take place at Windsor Park on Friday, July 14, with a 5pm kick-off. ‘No tickets will be available for Celtic supporters for the match. The safety of all Celtic supporters travelling and attending matches is of paramount importance to the club.’