Leigh Griffiths has been a forgotten man at Parkhead since he decided to take some time off football in December because of personal and mental problems. Celtic went on to bring as many as three forward options in the January transfer window in the form of Oliver Burke, Timothy Weah and Vakoun Isouf Bayo.
Out of the lot, Issouf Bayo is the only one who has been signed on a permanent basis so Griffiths will have to step up in the next season when the other two strikers depart from the club.
Former England striker and Celtic legend Chris Sutton also feels the same way as he wrote a column about how Griffiths is still an integral member of this squad and the sooner he returns, the better it is for Celtic. However, Sutton also took a jibe at Celtic’s record signing Odsonne Edouard.
He was quoted as saying, ”Edouard has nabbed a couple of last-gasp goals away to Hearts and Dundee to win games but I’ve got to be honest, I haven’t seen anything which compensates or makes up for Griffiths’ absence. He’s a huge miss. Griffiths in full scoring form is the main man, and if anyone knows it, it’s Lennon.”
It seems to us that Sutton is suggesting to Lennon that he should use Griffiths as the first choice striker when he becomes available as the Celtic legend feels that the former PSG striker hasn’t done enough since he joined the club last summer. However, we think that Sutton is way too harsh on Edouard here and Lennon would be better off using the 21-year-old as the first choice striker even when Griffiths is back to his best.
It’s true that Edouard has been slightly inconsistent, but he brings a lot more on the pitch than Griffiths. The 28-year-old is more of a goal poacher whereas Edouard can create something out of nothing. The 21-year-old can use his physicality to protect the ball and bring his other team-mates into play as well.
Edouard missed a good chunk of the season due to injury, but he has still managed 18 goals and seven assists in all competitions. Moreover, he is still just 21, and there is a considerable room for improvement in the striker. Therefore we believe that Lennon shouldn’t heed Sutton’s advice on making Griffiths the main man when he becomes available and Edouard should continue as the first choice striker.
