Chris Sutton makes massive U-turn about Celtic star

There’s a lot of Celtic credit due following Scotland’s EURO qualification. Enough for Chris Sutton to do a 360 degree switch and praise one of them.

Whether it is David Marshall’s saves, Ryan Christie’s goal, or any of the other former and current Celtic players involved, there are plenty of stories and comments about the important part they and their Scotland team mates played on Thursday and in the other qualification games. Chris Sutton covers all that and more in his Daily Record column.

But let’s reflect back to the aftermath of Celtic’s horrible defeat at home against Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa League. At the time Leigh Griffiths looked like a wonder sub coming on around the hour mark and scoring a goal in his first 5 minutes on the pitch.

Back then Sutton talked about Griffiths phoning him up as reported by 67 Hail Hail.

Sutton revealed that he had received a phone call from Griffiths while speaking on BT Sport 2 and as reported by 67 Hail Hail:

"“I’m not going to divulge. It’s a private conversation.“It’s a crime when you have that much talent and you can’t be bothered. And that’s what’s happened.“My advice to Leigh would be to do his talking on the pitch.”"

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Pretty hard and cutting advice, though you can understand the background and thinking, Griffiths does need to keep working hard and scoring where it matters. So with that sort of relationship and comments between the two, it takes and probably means a lot for Sutton to offer credit where it’s due and well deserved.

Sutton has recognised what a huge moment it was for Griffiths to come on in the dying moments of Scotland’s match against Serbia and with barely a kick of the ball to warm him up. He strode forward to take that first of 5 perfect penalties to take the team through.

That’s massive for any player. for Griffiths with all the ups and downs in the past, it’s enormous. But with that penalty and of course those free kicks against England a couple of years back, the Celtic striker has shown he is ready for the big moments with Scotland too.

Sutton was full of praise for Griffiths on this occasion in his Daily Record column:

"“I know we have had our run-ins recently but credit to Leigh Griffiths. He came on at the end and had the bravery to step up and take that first penalty.“That takes guts because it’s such a crucial moment in a shootout. Miss that one and it’s an uphill struggle – but he smashed it and showed his big-game mentality.“Celtic will get the benefit of that kind of boost”"

Let’s hope that the strong Celtic involvement in Scottish Football’s success helps turn a corner for the Hoops and for Griffiths himself. As always, the player has it in his hands (and feet!) to make the difference.