LEIGH GRIFFITHS likes to talk almost as much as he enjoys scoring goals. He just so happens to be outstanding in both disciplines.
Nothing is off limits in his interviews. Never once has he asked a reporter to turn off his tape recorder and rarely if ever does a question go unanswered. The Celtic player is doing his bit to preserve the newspaper industry and for that we salute him.
In sunny Maribor, the pretty Slovenian city where Brendan Rodgers has set up camp with his players, Griffiths was as open as always while discussing the new regime, the prickly topic of Rangers, the Champions League and, of course, Joey Barton, a man whose own contribution to the print industry should not be ignored.
Griffiths was ready to get a few things off his chest and so let’s allow him to do just that.
“The way the boys are thinking, and the way the manager wants to play, if it goes the way we want and comes off perfectly, we’ll just blow teams away,” he said when asked what the season might hold for Celtic.
“But that’s down to us players to execute that match plan. If we do that, we’ll really hurt teams. We need to be even more ruthless than we were last season. I’m sure the gaffer has said before that he’s inherited a very good squad. The quality is obvious. If he can add one or two that will make us a formidable force.”
Read more: Nir Bitton and Stefan Johansen edge towards Celtic exit
Blow teams away? That is quite the boast and what Celtic supporters want to hear and see over the coming months.
They had it with Ronny Deila’s unconvincing wins over teams with a 20th of their wage bill. Such results were as impressive as remembering your pin number after a couple of pints.
And now Rangers are back in line to be blown away. Griffiths cannot wait.
“Everybody is looking forward to those games, not just the players, but the fans, the management, the staff," said last season’s top goalscorer.
“September 10 is the first one (Old Firm fixture) booked in, so everybody will be fixating on that. But, first and foremost, we’ve got three league games before then – we need to win them and get off to a great start."
No Celtic striker can be considered even close to great unless they score regularly against Rangers. That’s just the way it is. Freeze in this game – too many did that in the cup semi-final - and your reputation is mud.
So this is why the club's current number nine wants to play in as many as these Glasgow derbies as possible - if Rangers can stay in the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership – because you know that is not always guaranteed!
“That is the aim. I’m here for another four years – and hopefully even more after that,” said Griffiths. “So hopefully, if Rangers are still in the league over that time, we’ll have 16 derbies in four years.”
And now to Barton a man who, if you believed his word to be gospel, is on his way to a fifth Ballon d’Or in a row. Griffiths has backed his captain, Scott Brown, to take the Scouser down a peg or three.
“You know, Joey Barton has obviously got a mouth on him,” said Griffiths. “But Broony being Broony, I’m sure he’ll just take it in his stride. It will be an interesting battle when they face each other at Celtic Park.
“How many caps has Joey got? Just the one for England. And Broony has 50 for Scotland, he’s the captain of his national team, won titles and competed in the Champions League.
“It’s up to Barton to say what he wants but look at Broony’s CV. Now look at Joey Barton’s CV and everything he’s done in his career. Compare the two CVs together. I’m pretty sure I know who I would pick.
“Scott has Champions League experience; he’s done it at the very top level of the game, for club and country. If Barton wants to come up here and disrespect him, Broony will take that in his stride."
Griffiths is right to some degree although Brown’s Champions League experience, while real, has not been something he or any other Celtic player has enjoyed much of in recent years.
It has to happen this season. The club really need to qualify for the group stages. It is why the board sanctioned an annual wage of £3.5million for the new manager.
“Those Champions League fixtures are a big focus – and we are all desperate just to do ourselves justice,” admitted Griffiths. “We know it’s going to be difficult again but the manager has stressed to us that it’s where we want to be.
“It’s the pinnacle of the club game and we’re working really hard on the training pitch to get everything right.
“I watched it last year wishing we were there. Especially after the disappointment of Malmo, then seeing the group they got drawn in (Real Madrid, PSG and Shakhtar Donetsk). It was frightening, really.”
Aye, but you get the sense Griffiths isn’t frightened of anything. Let the fun and games begin.
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