BRENDAN Rodgers believes Leigh Griffiths would be worth £15million if he had a more exotic-sounding name and is so important to Celtic's hopes of Champions League progress that their Kazakh opponents Astana were desperate to get him banned from tonight's second leg third round qualifying tie.
The 25-year-old striker scored a priceless away goal as the Parkhead side gained a 1-1 draw in last week's first match against the Kazakhs only for the club to post footage of an alleged off-the-ball incident involving Griffiths and their Belarusian defender Igor Shitov on their website, urging Uefa to take action.
While the striker could also be targeted in tonight's second leg, Rodgers has been hugely impressed with Griffiths in his time at the club and says he plays best when he has an edge to his game.
"I always think that to be a winner, and to be the best, you need to be on the limit," said Rodgers of a player who has now scored in this last three games. "And Leigh plays on the limit, as a number our boys do. That’s what you want as a coach and a manager. If he had a different name – a more Latino name – this guy would be talked about as being worth 15 million quid, for sure. Luis Suarez played with that edge and he was alright!
"If there was anything really in it he would have been red-carded in the game," added the Celtic manager. "He obviously got a yellow card and what events since tell you is how much of a threat they see him as. They obviously respect him so much as a player they maybe want try to get him banned from the game. You can only assume that’s why they took the course of action they took."
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While Nir Bitton is definitely out of tonight's match after sustaining a badly swollen ankle in the 3-1 friendly defeat to Barcelona in Dublin on Saturday, Stefan Johansen returns to the squad following the birth of his child. Perhaps the biggest selection conundrum, however, comes in the centre of defence, where new signing Kolo Toure is in line to make his first appearance for the club. Rodgers hinted that the Ivory Coast international's experience may be of more benefit to his side from the bench late on in the match, rather than pitching him in from the start.
"His experience will be vital, whether it is from the start or in another part of the game," said Rodgers. "It will depend on what I feel the game needs. I’m happy enough with the other options in terms of what we’ve got.
"Kolo could start the game and last it but it’s one of those one when, as a coach, you are thinking it might be that second or final part of the game where you need that experience to close it out," he added. "He could, for example, play 60 minutes and have to come off. Then you have to put someone less experienced on. Actually, the idea could be to keep him on the side and then, when you need more height in the team to close out the game because they are playing direct, you can put him on."
While David Moyes, the Sunderland manager, confirmed on Monday that he had rebuffed the chance to come to Celtic this summer to stay in the Barclays Premier League, Rodgers said the positives of the job outweighed the negatives.
"I’m probably a bit younger than most, but there was no hesitation for me to come," he added. "To come to Scottish football in general was going to be exciting for me. I don’t know so much about it but I know it’s competitive and I know it can be tough.
"I can see where David is coming from if he spoke to the club but still felt he wanted to be in the Premier League. But for me, I’m different. I’ve got another 15 to 20 years as a coach and I didn’t want it all to be in the Premier League. I’m from Northern Ireland and moved to Reading when I was 16.
"I lived in Wales in Swansea, then in the north west of England. I hadn’t been to Scotland and was happy to come. They tell me the weather can be good and for me it’s a special experience. Everyone’s individual needs are different but for me I was open-minded when I spoke to the club – probably like David was – and I was honoured to be asked to take it on.”
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