LEIGH GRIFFITHS yesterday added fuel to the fire ahead of the visit to Ibrox on 29 December, as speculation continues to grow that Celtic will not be taking any tickets for the match due to concerns over the safety of The Celtic support under the new circumstances created by the Ibrox board.
Whether Celtic go there with the 800 supporters or not, it is going to be a volatile and hostile place for The Celtic players to play and the pressure will be on the Rangers players to get something from the game – something that they have failed to do against Celtic in any match this year.
Griffiths has always been good value in winding the Rangers support up – his ‘Beat it, yer club’s deed mate,’ retort to a heckling Zombie at Glasgow Airport remains a classic.
His actions in wrapping a Celtic scarf around the Ibrox goal-posts after winning there annoyed the life out of them – so much so that security guards were briefed in advance and ready to block any further attempts by Griffiths.
“I got into bother at Linfield then unfortunately for me they had two stewards on the posts. It’s probably the closest I’ve been marked at Ibrox!” the Celtic striker joked yesterday,
“It was very difficult to put another one there. But listen, it’s a bit of banter at the end of the day.
“Guys have short memories. I read somewhere that Rangers did the huddle at Celtic Park in 1999.
“Celtic fans had to endure that so it gets us a little bit of payback.”
That is going to go down well across the city. He is of course right in what he says but surely we don’t need to inflame them even more ahead of this game. Winning will do surely, then celebrate – or as Leigh pointed out, that too is now banned!
“Listen if you sent a DVD of every single home showing what we do at the end each time they’d see that we do that after every game.
“The gaffer has already touched on that. Win, lose or draw we go around and show our appreciation.
“It’s one thing they’re going to moan about especially if we win. We take it on the chin and continue doing what we do,” Griffiths said.
The striker is aware that there remains a doubt on whether the 800 Celtic supporters will be in attendance. Speaking for his team-mates, he revealed that they want the backing of the Celtic support on the day.
“We hope they go, although everyone seems to be cutting allocations now.
“You always want your supporters there to make a bit of noise and to give the team a bit of backing.
“It would feel weird at Ibrox but there will be a great atmosphere and the ground will be rocking.
“We do what we do on the pitch. We don’t do our talking off it. We go there, we do our job professionally and get three points.
“Regardless of whether we have 10 men or 11 men, 7,500 fans or 800 fans, we will go there and be competitive, be professional and do our talking on the pitch.”
