Griff: 400 fans more nervy than 60,000
The Celtic manager is relishing the visit of a player he guided from being a talented teenager at Liverpool and transformed into the £ 49million machine currently inspiring Man City.
But after losing his way last season and failing to live up to the weight of the price tag around his neck, the 21-year-old is back with a vengeance under new boss Pep Guardiola.
Rodgers, though, had little doubt that would happen as he prepared his side for part two of a Champions League story likely to be as precarious as episode one in Barcelona, against a side with nothing but wins in every competition all season.
The Hoops boss said: “Raheem is back to where he was at with me – and I’m not saying that in any other way but him finding his level again.
“He has drifted for the last wee bit of time since he left Liverpool but he’s back now playing as the player that he is. You can see he’s being coached and he’s playing to what his strengths are.
“When I saw him last season I sent him messages on it and what not, it’s just making sure he plays what he is. He’s a one-v- one winger that works from the outside in. He’s dynamic. He’s fast. He’s aggressive.
“He can play on the sides, he can play as a No.10 but he needs to be clear in the role. Very clearly you see him now in a position and with a focus where the game is simple, he’s a top young player.
“I sent him a message at the start of this season as well about getting back – ‘ Don’t forget who you are, don’t try to be something that you’re not, but you better not perform against us!”
Rodgers’ feelings for a kid he threw in at the deep end are clear in the way he speaks about his former charge.
And he refutes the suggestion made at the time that the winger’s departure from Liverpool soured their relationship.
He said: “He was a young player who had so much enthusiasm and was so dynamic as a kid. He came into that team when he’d just turned 17 and he was a breath of fresh air.
“For two years he was up there with the best young players in the world. He was sensational in every aspect.
“We played him in di f ferent positions – left side, right side, No. 10. We played him through the middle. He was brilliant and what people don’t realise is that he’s a real good boy as well. This kid gets a lot of stick when he travels around the country but he’s one of the nicest you will ever come across.
“He loves football, rarely misses training, wants to be a winner, wants to improve and made a step up as a kid out of London to come up to Liverpool. He gave his all for Liverpool Leigh Griffiths claims he’s more worried about entertaining 400 Celtic fans on stage than he is about playing in front of 60,000 of them on the park.
The Hoops No.9 is fit again after a month out with a calf problem and came off the bench to score in yesterday’s win over Kilmarnock.
However, he knows he might need to bide his time for a place back in the starting line-up after Moussa Dembele’s fine form continued with a double against Killie.
In the meantime though the striker has a different set of pre-match nerves to deal with after agreeing to host ‘An Evening with Leigh Griffiths’, regaling the crowd with anecdotes.
He laughed: “It’s only £40 as well – that’s cheap! I’ve no idea what will be happening but Celtic asked me to do something and I duly obliged. It will be good to see everybody but I’ll be more nervous at that than playing Man City!
“Having 60,000 people watching you play football is fine. But standing on a stage in front of 400 folk not knowing what’s going to happen next – that’s much worse! Have I lined up clean jokes? I don’t have any!”
One thing Griffiths has been deadly serious about in the past month is his recovery.
Fighting against the kind of quick comeback which set him back last season, he insists he’s 100 per cent ready to go again after four weeks of rehabilitation.
Griffiths said: “Unfortunately I have missed two very big games but the season’s not long started and I have the rest of the campaign to go if I stay clear of injuries.
“I want to take my time coming back because I want to make sure that I’m fit.”