LEIGH GRIFFITHS should QUIT Celtic and join Hibs on loan for the remainder of the season – that’s the advice of former Hoops striker Craig Beattie.
The fans’ favourite has scored only three goals this season after his well-publicised problems with personal issues in the previous campaign where he finished with a mere six strikes.
Griffiths scored his comeback goal in the 5-0 Champions League qualifier at Parkhead on July 24 with a trademark free-kick – much to the joy of the Scotland international and the support.
He also netted in the 7-0 Flag Day victory over St Johnstone on August 3 and flashed in another in the 5-2 triumph over Motherwell at Fir Park the following week.
But any hopes of Griffiths returning to his old goalscoring form hit a brickwall after that game and he has been firing blanks in his recent appearances from the substitutes’ bench. He has had 18 outings – with only four starts – in a frustrating campaign.
However, Beattie believes the solution to help the 29-year-old forward rediscover his lethal touch would be a move away from the champions.
Speaking on Clyde Superscoreboard, he said: “It’s going to be a massive couple of weeks for Leigh Griffiths, but his problem is that when he comes back he has Odsonne Edouard, who is probably the first name on the Celtic teamsheet, so he’s going to struggle for minutes and the match-sharpness we talk about.
“He’s getting 10 or 15 minutes here and there which is not going to get him where he needs to be.
“Now obviously the club have looked after him and what I’m thinking is that if Celtic do strengthen in January in that department maybe the best thing for Leigh Griffiths would be, and this is completely hypothetical, but if he went to Hibs on loan and got game after game to get back to where he needs to be.”
Griffiths is a boyhood fan of the Easter Road club and is still a hero in Leith where he grabbed 38 goals in 78 games during an extended loan spell from Wolves.
That led to his move to Parkhead where he claimed over 100 strikes for the champions, but the last season and a half have been a write-off for the player.
