BRENDAN RODGERS has re-assured Leigh Griffiths of his importance to the Celtic manager after a few days where there has been a hint of frustration coming out in the comments from the Celtic number 9 who simply wants to be our main striker.
Rodgers appreciates the sentiment and the fierce ambition that is apparent every time Griffiths speaks about his football, but the manager knows too that it is a squad game these days and that he needs to have adequate quality available for every position if he is to succeed in his own job.
Last season’s Celtic’s goals scored tally was significantly down on the previous campaign and it was Scotty Sinclair – who wasn’t even selected for the the majority of the games later in the season, who ended up as our top goalscorer.
And NONE of our three strikers got into double figures in the Premiership so there is clearly room for improvement on that front in the new campaign.
Griffiths had just ‘carried’ Celtic to the league in the season before Brendan arrived,scroing 40 goals in a remarkable campaign. That though was noted straight away by Rodgers who thought it unwise to rely so heavily on one striker.
Since then he has added genuine quality to the Celtic striker’s position with both Moussa Dembele and Odsonne Edouard arriving to join the squad alongside Griffiths as the Celtic strikers.
All three had injury woes last season, none more so than Griffiths but if all three remain fit, it is going to give Rodgers a selection headache in the new season – a nice problem for him to have!
“Leigh is a very important player for our squad when he is fit and available,” Brendan said.
“You can’t go through the season, playing the games we play with just 11.
“It really is a squad game and Leigh is a very important part of it. Strikers will want to play in every single game but they can’t.
“I have always said to Leigh that as long as I am at Celtic I want him to be here.
“I now have three strikers and they are three different types, very good in their own right.”
Griffiths is close to signing a new contract that will keep him at Celtic for effectively the rest of his career. He said last week that it was 85% agreed and should be signed shortly.
