HOW THIS JACK THE LAD HAS BECOME STRACHAN’S GO-TO MAN THANKS TO TRANSFORMATION
FOUR years have passed since Gordon Strachan gave Leigh Griffiths his competitive debut in a Scotland shirt. The distance travelled by the Celtic striker, though, is almost immeasurable.
‘Beyond belief’ is how the national coach describes the change enacted within the 27-year-old since that June evening in which he led the line in a 1-0 World Cup qualifying win in Croatia and made way for Jordan Rhodes midway through the second half.
Certainly, Strachan sees few similarities between the lad who ran around tirelessly, if not always profitably, that night and the man he will invest so much of his faith in when Slovakia come calling on Thursday.
Griffiths had just finished two years out on loan at Hibs from Wolves ahead of that trip to Zagreb in 2013. He would be sold to Celtic by the Molineux club the following January. However, it took Ronny Deila knocking a bit of sense into his head and Brendan Rodgers then getting his hands on him to craft the potent, rounded attacker who has breathed fresh life into a Scotland team written off not so long ago.
‘From the Croatia game, when we won 1-0, he is a different person altogether, a different man altogether,’ said Strachan, who still remained unconvinced Griffiths was the answer to his striking problems until the current qualifying campaign came close to flatlining 12 months ago.
‘He is not the same person. There’s been an incredible change in him.
‘That is like his not-so-good twin brother that was playing up there in Croatia. He gave it his best in terms of what he had physically, but what he knows about the game and how he’s developed since then is beyond belief.
‘Fair play to him because he was a man who, two-and-a-half years ago, was going to go to Hibs on loan again. I keep saying, for all the coaches he’s had and everything else, most of it is down to him.’ Griffiths enters Thursday’s match having scored his first goal in the Champions League proper against Anderlecht. He is still on a high from those incredible freekicks against England in June. His all-round game continues to develop. As a personality, Strachan sees him as fairly similar. It is purely as a player where he appreciates all the key differences. ‘I still think he’s a lad that just keeps himself to himself and doesn’t bother anybody. When he’s on the training field, he’s good and then he spends his time on his own after it,’ he said. Griffiths earned his place in Tartan Army legend with that summer double against Joe Hart, but his workrate and attitude have won him many admirers since becoming part of the starting line-up. As that Hampden meeting with England showed Strachan, it is not only through his goals that Griffiths can gee up a crowd. If Slovakia are to be met with a
wall of noise, the Celtic forward is likely to be one of those capable of striking the right chord with the public. ‘It is like gooing to a musical,’ said Strachan. ‘If the musical’s not very good, you don’t get up and dance about and sing and tap your feet. ‘But you go and see Mamma Mia or something like that, you’re dancing away because it is good quality stuff. I know it’s not a classic musical, but it is good fun. We have to give the crowd something. And it is amazing what turns the crowd on. Is it a shot at goal? Yeah, that does it. Is it a header at goal? There are simple things like somebody chasing someone 30 yards. ‘I remember Griff doing it a couple of times against England and the crowd going: “Wooahhh”. Somebody going for a tackle that they shouldn’t win and coming out with the ball. Brilliant.
‘Somebody chasing somebody back 35 yards to toepoke it out for a throw-in. That turns the crowd on.
‘There are days when you might have the shot, might have the header, but there are days not as good as that and you come in chasing somebody back, going for a tackle, closing the goalie down.
‘Everybody can add to that one way or another. It doesn’t have to be with great football.’
It might not be a vintage encounter if Slovakia coach Jan Kozak is to be believed. He insists he will be travelling to Glasgow intent on securing a draw.
‘If that is exactly what he has said then that will be fine,’ said Strachan. ‘We will be prepared for a team that wants to do anything. We will have plans for everything.’ The absence of Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong should not be underestimated, but Strachan possesses confidence because he seems to have settled on an identity and a way of imposing his intentions on the opposition. ‘When you are weaker, you have to try to make sure you have a team that is not going to get beaten for a period of time,’ he said. ‘We are getting to the stage now where we think we can play a certain style that will suit us against most. ‘We changed against England because we think that they are top, top quality. This is a right good side and they are probably a goal behind England in quality — as you saw — but we don’t have to think too much about the opposing side because of performances. Sometimes in football, and in life, too, a clear picture is good because you just get on with it. We can’t disguise it. We go for wins.’