CHRIS SUTTON absolutely hammered Leigh Griffiths and believes there are problems in the Celtic dressing room after the Glasgow Derby defeat at the weekend.
The former Celtic striker has failed to really point the finger at his old team-mate Neil Lennon and has been instead aiming his criticism at the Celtic squad. One man who got it in the neck when Sutton spoke to Record Sport was returning striker Leigh Griffiths.
Sutton thinks Celtic would be in a better place if Leigh had kept up his fitness regime during the lockdown. The fact he came back so unfit and having to play catch up until now denied Neil Lennon a viable option for the derby.
“Leigh Griffiths has killed Neil Lennon in many respects. That period when the season shut down for Covid where Leigh Griffiths let himself go and was out of shape, and then he was left out of the mini pre-season.
“A fit Leigh Griffiths would give Celtic a much better option when Odsonne Edouard is out. The fact he can only play a few minutes of games isn’t good enough. He’s a player who needs to have a good long hard look at himself and think had he actually conditioned himself better, had he actually looked after himself better, Celtic could be in a far better place.
“You have to say there are issues in that dressing room. The fact Neil Lennon is pointing fingers at leaks, it’s a big problem for him. He needs to start getting a grip of the dressing room and there be harmony about the place.
“It looks, at this point in time, like everyone is pointing fingers. There’s a blame culture going on. It’s everyone else’s fault.”
The manner of Celtic’s derby defeat was deeply concerning. It was such a toothless display from a team who should have done much better.
Neil Lennon has a big part to play in the team’s failure; before the game, we had been playing the same way but just about managing to get results. The defeat was the natural conclusion to a team without an identity. Right now, we have no direction, and it’s up to the manager to put that right.
Chris can blame others, but the buck stops with the manager.
