Football should be furthest

Parkhead hitman Griffiths has made a brave move admitting he has problems – but he has to deal with them head on

THE first thing I would like to say about Leigh Griffiths is that this time away from the game is not about football.

It is not about Leigh Griffiths the Celtic player. It is not about scoring goals or pulling on a pair of boots.

This is about a young man and the rest of his life.

This is a man with five kids. He is only 28. There is a whole lot of living ahead of him. And if he can get the professional help that he needs just now then that life will be a whole lot more fulfilled. He will be at peace within himself, he will feel cleansed and light if he gets his head down and really gets to work on the issues that have brought him to the point he finds himself at now.

If he can get to the point where he can come out of the other side of this in a far happier place then everything else will take care of itself. And I have every confidence that he will come out of it.

The goals will come back because he is a talent. The football will fall into place if his head is cleansed and refreshed from whatever issues that are weighing on him at the minute.

I speak to Brendan Rodgers all the time and I’d like to think we have a good friendship.

We discuss things that will remain private but he knows that he can turn to me and I will help him and I can help Leigh. Brendan and I first spoke when he got the Swansea job and I was living down there. I was one of the first people he called and we have enjoyed a very good relationship ever since then – and he knows that what we discuss stays between us.

But he knows Leigh’s qualities and I don’t think the lad could have a better manager to guide him through this.

Brendan is educated enough in the field to be considerate and supportive and he wants the best for him. He knows that there is a life when you stop playing.

I suspect that he will also think that if Leigh can go and get the therapy he needs that he could come back as a really top-class footballer, too. If he can score the goals that he has while really struggling then what could he do if he was mentally in a really good place?

The most important thing is that Leigh finds peace within himself.

‘‘ I know Leigh well. I like him a whole lot. And I know that he lives and breathes football. He will probably feel scared and nervous without the routine