John Hughes has said he is surprised by the decision to renew Leigh Griffiths’ contract as he questions whether the player is good enough to take Celtic to the next level. The decision, which reduced Griffiths’ wages for the 12 months, was taken by Ange Postecoglou and former Celtic defender Hughes thinks that his past issues would have been a red flag to the new boss.
Speaking to BBC Sportsound, Hughes admitted that he understands why Postecoglou would want a goalscorer like Griffiths in the squad but confessed that he was surprised that the 30-year-old had earned fresh terms due to his very public fitness concerns.
“It surprised me a little bit. There’s no doubting he’s a natural goalscorer.
“That year he scored 40 goals, you think its going to be there every year, but that is never the case
“All the problems Leigh has had over the years – with the mental problems, and all that stuff, but mostly the indiscipline problems in terms of the fitness levels and stuff. That would have been a red flag for me.
“I can understand why [he has been offered a deal]because he is a natural goalscorer but I just feel maybe you would be looking to keep moving it forward.
“Does it mean another striker is going? Edouard, maybe, could be on the cards to go so they need Griff?
“There’s no doubt if you give him game time he will get you goals but will he take you where you really want to go?.
“They have to do Rangers and they have to get better in Europe and I don’t think he is up to that.”
The ex-Hibs and Wolves striker has scored 123 goals since joining Celtic in 2014 but in the last couple of years, he has suffered from fitness woes and a very public weight issue last summer. Although, this year, Griffiths has tried to shift the narrative, publicly displaying him hard at work doing pre-season work himself.
Hughes believes that Griffiths has no one to blame but himself for coming back out of shape and that he wonders if Griffiths might be on the wrong side of 30 to really influence Celtic going forward.
“Scottish society, we all like a beer and we all like our food, but you cannot come back a stone overweight.
“And if you are, you cannot blame anyone else, you have to look at yourself.
“It is Glasgow Celtic we are talking about, you have to come back spot on, ready to go and there was too much noise coming out of Parkhead last year. And there wasn’t a whisper coming out of Ibrox.
“If we could get a Leigh Griffiths back to that [his goals against England]you have got a player but father time catches up with everyone.
“Nothing against him, he is a great kid, I know him personally and he is a lovely lovely lad.
“But I am saying to myself, should Celtic be going for better than that?”
Overall, what Hughes says is probably spot on if you are thinking about replacing Odsonne Edouard with Griffiths; however, the player is more than likely going to be a second/third striker at the club. He will need to work away, taking opportunities that Postecoglou offers him and try his upmost to prove to the supporters and the staff that he can still offer the club quality and that they were justified giving him another year.
