SENTINELCELTS

Morning,all. 

Today sees Celtic embark on the quest to reclaim another of our trophies so casually frittered away last season. We start off against Alloa at The Indodrill Stadium-no,me neither-against a team managed by Barry Ferguson. He will be hoping to follow the lead of another former TrifCo player from 2006,which I only mention to remind everyone mwhat can happen in this tournament. 

After all,this was our fourth departure to “did” teams in a decade,and we must be on our toes early,keep the cooncentration levels high and our eye on the ball. 

This is,however,an opportunity for AP to have a look at Matt O’Reilly and Yosuke Ideguchi,along with bringing on players from injury. To maybe jazz up the team selection. But also without taking his eye off the big picture. I’m looking forward to the match,of course,and I don’t want this article to sound as though I am running scared of Alloa,not at all. After all,they are in a relegation battle,desperately trying to avoid the drop into the bottom division. But you know,that “Alloa,always cheating” video still makes me laugh. 

And I wouldn’t want it to come back and bite me on the arse!

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One player who might be playing in his last ever Scottish Cup match is Leigh Griffiths. In ten days time he will find himself without a club. Celtic don’t want him,and neither do Dundee. It is all so sad,and I genuinely mean that. He joined us eight years ago and scored a very respectable 123 goals in 261 games. Who can forget his forty goals in season 2015-16 in RD’s final season? He virtually won us the title that year on his own!

But it all went downhill for Leigh when BR arrived,and the change in formation to one up front-who wasn’t usually Leigh!- put him on a slippery slope. One which eventually led to where he is now,despite the perseverance and faith placed in him by the club. 

A wonderful 67 goals in 106 games in his first two and a half seasons,and he’s not even the first pick? Well,I can understand his nose being out of joint. But 25 goals in 79 games in his final three seasons-while still a reasonable return-is not the return of a fired up footballer,desperate to impress and playing the game with a smile on his face. 

Griff has not been a happy camper for quite some time,and while I sympathise with much of the problems that he has faced,I doubt that he has truly overcome them. He needs to,and quickly. He shouldn’t be looking back in,say,ten years and saying-“What if,Griff?” He should,rather,be basking in the glory of about a dozen years with Celtic,and a goal haul of around 300,comfortably placing him in the top three of our record goal scorers and on a par with Bobby Lennox. Sadly,that won’t be the case,though I’ll always have very fond memories of him at his best,the “real” Griff. 

I think it is well known that he didn’t settle in England earlier,it just wasn’t for him. It is unlikely that he will take up any offers from there which may be forthcoming-though a lot of teams could do worse. Maybe an offer from Sunderland might materialise,close enough to Edinburgh to be manageable. But two teams in Scotland are probably better options for him-and for them. 

He is a Hi-bee,which we know. And he had great success with them about a decade ago. Going back to the club he loves might just spark in him once more a love of the game,a love clearly long lost. The second option is Motherwell,local to his current home in Bothwell. Motherwell have recently lost the league’s top scorer,Tony “more clubs than Jack Nicklaus” Watt to Dundee United and could certainly do with the firepower that Griff just might be able to provide. 

This is not the first time I have stated this on these pages-I really hope Leigh Griffiths wins his battle with his demons. I hope he regains his love for the game. I hope he joins a club who will appreciate him the way we did at Celtic,at least for his first five or six seasons 

An on-song Griff is a reason why we love football. And an on-song Griff is just what a lot of clubs need. 

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Above article by BMCUWP