STAY AND BE A 10 LEGEND
But Griff’s intent on making a noise with tilt at 10
LEIGH GRIFFITHS insists Celtic’s status can keep Odsonne Edouard for “the biggest season in the club’s history”.
The Parkhead striker is desperate for his sidekick to be in place for what he describes as a potentially monumental campaign as they go for 10 in a row.
Griffiths and Edouard struck up a thrilling double act through the
BY CRAIG SWAN
LEIGH GRIFFITHS reckons it will be a new normal to pitch up at away grounds and not get pelters from the home support.
But the striker insists he and Celtic can still be stylish in silence while putting themselves on the path to becoming history makers.
Griffiths and his team-mates will naturally miss the passionate backing of 60,000 inside their own stadium when the campaign starts.
Restrictions on the easing of the coronavirus lockdown mean fans will initially take in matches through virtual season tickets.
However, at least the 29-year-old’s ears will get a rare rest when the champions go away from Parkhead.
Few in Scottish football take more stick from opposition supporters than Griffiths.
In fairness he thrives off the pressure and spotlight. The frontman can deal with the dissenters.
Nonetheless, as he contemplates the prospect of heading into rivals’ stadiums knowing he’ll be met with silence instead of snidey sniping, the notion of some short-term relief makes him smile.
He laughed and said: “It’ll be strange going to some stadiums away from home like Ibrox or Tannadice or wherever and I won’t be getting any stick. It’ll feel weird and I’ll be feeling quite good!”
While Griffiths jokes at his own expense he does realise the absence of fans is a serious issue for the game.
Across the country revenue streams are going to suffer, while having to harness motivation for top-level matches will be a fresh test for players and management.
Griffiths, though, believes the Hoops will handle it.
Neil Lennon’s side will gather at Lennoxtown next week for the start of pre-season training and the importance of the 2020-21 campaign will again be laid on the line.
The players do not need to be told. They know they stand on the brink of something special. And it’s the potential prize at the end of it all – 10 in a row – that Griffiths believes will ensure standards do not slip.
He said: “We’ll find our ways to deal with whatever happens.
“We’ll go back next week into training, we’ll have a massive meeting about how big next season is and everyone will know.
“The fans are excited for it and so are the players. We know it is going to be tough and teams will want to stop us, especially Rangers.
“But it is just about what we do and we’ll concentrate on our own game.
“I’ve been watching the Bundesliga and there is a part of it I am struggling to get my head around. The players
are in contact training each day, they are then in contact throughout the 90 minutes of games – yet the subs are sitting two metres apart. That’s the bit I don’t get. It’s weird.
“But, listen, there have been some really good games and I think everyone is just looking forward to getting matches back on to the TV.
“It’s the guidance and as long as everyone complies, sport will come back quicker than if they don’t.
“The quicker the fans get back to enjoy their teams playing football the better.
“The game is all about the fans and, regardless of whether it is a home game or an away game, you want people there.
“There are often more Celtic fans at our away games than there are for the home team.
“We want them back but we need to comply with the government and we know our fans will be behind us even if they are not inside the stadium and are watching on the TV. If you see practice matches at training it’s usually 11 vs 11 with coaches standing at the side of the pitch – so it’s not going to be totally unusual.
“Of course it will be different but it is just going to be about going out and playing the games.
“It’s about getting three points or getting through to the next round of a competition. That’ll be the outlook and that’ll be the focus. Hopefully at the end of the season we’ll be history makers again.”
Griffiths intends to be razor sharp for the restart.
Having returned to Lennon’s side in style for the second half of last season the hitman does not want his run to end.
Although there have been no games for almost three months he has barely given himself a day off.
Griffiths said: “I can’t wait to get going. You never, ever get three months off as a squad. But I wouldn’t actually say we’ve had three months off because we have all been cracking on with our own training ourselves.
“I gave myself two weeks in the middle but straight away I didn’t feel the way I wanted to and decided to get straight back at it.
“You need to be really fit to play in this Celtic team and you need to be available for every training session.
“I need to be training nearly every day. If I have a sustained period of time out my fitness levels drop considerably. It’s easier to lose fitness than gain it.
“I was one of only a couple who completed the whole of last preseason and did every single session.
“I want to do that again this summer and make sure I am available to the manager from the start. As long as I don’t sustain any bad injuries I feel as though I have a long, long time to go in the game and hopefully it’s at Celtic.”