BLOCKING OUT ALL THE NOISE
Lennon couldn’t care how Griffiths celebrates... he’s just thrilled to see him back doing what he does best
Leigh is a wee street-fighter. I like that he has a wee bit of devil in him
CHARLIE NICHOLAS was no stranger to a goal celebration during his two spells at Celtic. These days, Champagne Charlie prefers advising others on how
they should pop the cork.
Back in September last year, the Sky Sports pundit urged Odsonne Edouard to celebrate his strikes with a bit more oomph.
After a first Celtic goal in five months for Leigh Griffiths, against Partick Thistle on Saturday evening, Nicholas declared himself both ‘worried and saddened’ by how the Scotland striker marked the moment.
In a gesture of defiance towards those who had predicted his time at Parkhead was up, Griffiths stuck a finger in each ear. The message wasn’t particularly subtle but made for an unlikely target for Nicholas’ continued, and bizarre, fixation with inconsequential goal celebrations.
For his part, Parkhead manager Neil Lennon couldn’t care less how his troubled forward marks a goal. The bigger concern is that he’s back fit, firing and ready to build on small foundations against Kilmarnock tonight.
‘He is a fighter,’ said Lennon. ‘He is a wee street-fighter and has the rascal in him at times. I like that he has a wee bit of devil in him.
‘Most importantly, he knows how to play centre forward.
‘I think he is feeling good about himself, but we need to take it week by week and not think he is going to be the player he was two years ago tomorrow night.
‘We just let that happen naturally. The more he trains and the more fit he stays, the more chance he has of getting back to top form again.
‘I thought he did pretty well for the 65 or 70 minutes he was on at Firhill. I was just happy to see him scoring. That’s the main thing — far more than the nature of his celebrations.’
Slotting home his first strike since August 12, Griffiths showed an impeccable sense of timing.
The arrival of £3.5million Polish forward Patryk Klimala adds beef to a strike-force led by France Under-21 international Edouard.
At 29, Griffiths brings experience to the attack, even if one or two of the more recent ‘experiences’ threatened to derail his career once and for all.
Lennon is hopeful the striker is now over the personal issues which ruled him out for a year, adding: ‘It will do him good to start games and he’s got a good chance of starting again tomorrow night.
‘Leigh is 29 now and his experience and his goal record is as good as anyone’s. We want him to be a team player but we want him to do what he does best — score goals. ‘He’s got more maturity about him, but he’s not lost that will to win. There’s a quietness about him now and he just wants to get on with his business. ‘He can use the criticism as motivation. He’s been through it before, and it’s good motivation. ‘We’ll need all that going forward, allied with the quality and will to win. We have that in abundance now.’ When it comes to artificial pitches, Celtic tend to need all the quality and will to win they can muster. One of two defeats this season came on the plastic pitch of a Livingston team incapable of winning another game for three months. Two of their last three visits to Rugby Park, meanwhile, have ended in defeat.
Since the 2-1 loss to Rangers on December 29, Lennon has sensed some ‘doom and gloom’ amongst supporters, but insists it’s not shared by management and players.
‘The league is a priority,’ he continued. ‘We have worked on a few things today in training.
‘We will see if that comes to fruition tomorrow, but we are very positive.
‘There seems to be a bit of doom and gloom around the place. Certainly not here — but elsewhere.
‘We’ve got to ignore that and just come out of the blocks and be as strong as we possibly can be.
‘People say we staggered to a win at the weekend. I thought we were very comfortable.
‘I think after a defeat there is a bit of gloom malingering around the place. Not here, but in general.
‘It’s probably a modern-day phenomenon and you are only as good as your next game.
‘I thought we did well against Thistle, against difficult opponents and on a difficult pitch. I thought we should have won by more and
I am looking for the same at Kilmarnock.’ Asked why Celtic seem to struggle to play their usual game on an artificial surface, Lennon points to the natural tendency of teams with a fraction of his budget to drag the champions into a war of attrition. ‘They are not conducive at times to the way we want to play,’ he acknowledged. ‘But we won at Hamilton, although we obviously lost at Livingston. ‘You can’t use it as an excuse. We know we’ve got a challenge on Wednesday. We know how difficult Rugby Park can be. ‘Alex Dyer has gone back a little bit to the way they were playing under Steve Clarke and they had a good win in the cup at the weekend.’ Despite a previous reluctance to field Jozo Simunovic or Tom Rogic on the surface, the Northern Irishman wants to send out a strong team — and message — in Ayrshire.
‘I’m not a fan of artificial pitches — I never have been,’ said Lennon. ‘But that’s just me. I think the game should be played on grass.
‘At the moment, we have three teams in the top flight who play on plastic. We can’t keep using it as an excuse if we don’t play well or drop points.
‘In terms of elite football, you would always want to see the game played on grass.
‘By the way, we can lose on grass as well, so plastic is no different — but we have to take the surface side of things out of our thinking and concentrate on the opposition.’