Leigh Griffiths big interview: Celtic striker on personal situation, pundit talk and Hibs goal being his favourite

Think Leigh Griffiths and Hampden and thoughts will forever turn to that extraordinary free-kick double he conjured up against England three years ago.

Leigh Grififths celebrates with Ryan Christie celebrates after scoring to make it 3-2 in the 3-3 draw a week ago with an Aberdeen the Scottish Cup holders will now face in the semi-final of the competition (Photo by Alan Harvey / SNS Group)

Ask the Celtic striker to think of a favourite club moment at a national stadium where he has earned six winners medals in the past five years and his impishness and admirable honesty comes to the fore. “Probably David Gray scoring that header against Rangers …” he said, a reference to the 114-year-ending 2016 Scottish Cup final victory for his beloved Hibernian.

Yet, as much as Griffiths wears his heart on his sleeve over his footballing first love, there is no ‘if’ when it comes to his knowing Celtic’s history, or questions over the 30-year-old’s desperation to continue playing his part in rewriting it. “I want to be remembered for my goals I’ve scored here,” said Griffiths.

And he will. He only needs one more goal - no.118 - to move into the top 20 in Celtic’s all-time scoring list. That is down to the fact that no-one netted more league goals for the club across their nine-in-a-row run. The desire to plunder more to help reel in an historic tenth, doesn’t blind him to the position he finds himself in over the more immediate target - overcoming Aberdeen in the Covid-19 delayed Scottish Cup semi-final that would move Celtic to within a quadruple treble.

Odsonne Edouard’s return following his positive test for the virus and the starting role given to Albian Ajeti in the past week - both players sharing the striking duties in Thursday’s 2-2 draw in Lille - means Griffiths is in the position of being an impact sub at the moment. It is a role he has performed with aplomb courtesy of game-changing goals against Aberdeen, last Sunday, and St Johnstone on his return to action in mid-September.

Following his well-publicised weight gain during lockdown and the calf strain that subsequently sidelined him, the Scotland striker isn’t agitating for starts. He just wants to do his bit, as best he can, to make good on the backing he has received from the club in dealing with mental health issues and more recently from his manager Neil Lennon after he let himself down with his conditioning work during football’s hiatus.

‘My time will come’

“I don’t just owe the manager. I owe the team,” he said “They’ve stuck by me through thick and thin. I’m trying to repay them as best as I can. It’s up to the manager and what he sees in training [whether I start]. If he thinks I’m sharp enough and my fitness levels are doing well then it’s up to him. But if I’m not selected in the 11 who start, I won’t be too disappointed as I know my time will come and I’ll wait on that chance coming off the bench to try and help the team.”

Amidst all else, it has passed by most observers that Celtic’s pursuit of last season’s Scottish Cup has particular currency. No club has ever won the trophy four times in succession, as the Parkhead club are attempting to do in looking to bank a 12th straight domestic honour. Griffiths maintains the drive to extend their domestic domination intensifies rather than dilutes as the trophy-snaring sequence has moved into uncharted territory.

“The desire does increase,” he said. “We’ve won three straight trebles, now we want to make it four. But we know every year the challenge gets harder and Aberdeen will make things really difficult for us on Sunday. We’ll need to turn up with the right attitude and make sure that everybody’s on point and that by the end we’re in another final.

“We’re going for our own history. If [four straight Scottish Cups] has never been done then that’s another incentive to make sure we go and get the job done. Again, though, I’ll reiterate that Aberdeen will come down and want to make the job hard for us. They have their own objectives to make the final.”

No bragging

Griffiths has claimed 13 winners’ medals with Celtic since his £850,000 move from Wolves in January 2014. It may be a mighty haul, but he is modest about his place among the most decorated servants of the club.

‘If you look at guys like James Forrest and Scott Brown, they’ve got something like 19 and 21 winners medals although these guys have been here a lot longer than I have,” he said. ‘Whether we’re going for our eighth, ninth, tenth trophy on the bounce, or it’s boys who are going for their first, we want everybody to be a part of it and to be successful.”

The fact the club goes into the game on the back of a four-game winless run - their longest spell without a victory in six years - has had the naysayers going to town on Lennon’s employment prospects and the potential for Celtic to be knocked off their peerless perch. In typically forthright fashion, Griffiths holds back over those who have sharpened their knives on the back of the 3-3 draw at Aberdeen a week ago, and the losses to AC Milan and Rangers that preceded the loss of a closing seconds equaliser at Pittodrie.

“Listen, we don’t take any notice of what pundits or ex-players want to say about us,” he said. “I think they just want to stay in jobs, they want to give their 50 pence worth. Every club in the world will go through a difficult time at some stage. It so happens, ours is just now. But, we’re only two points off what we were last season, so to call that a crisis? ... We’re all fighting for the same cause, so anybody wants to disrupt us, well they can try and try and try – it’s not going to affect us. We’re a great squad and a tight-knit group. Everybody plays for the badge, everybody’s fighting for the same cause.”

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