ian1964 10,761 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 ..., the gulf between Celtic and Rangers couldn't be bigger. Leigh Griffiths has told Dave King he is talking nonsense after the Rangers chairman claimed Celtic should be further ahead of his Ibrox side. Toppling Brendan Rodgers' rampant Hoops proved a task beyond every Scottish side last year as the Parkhead men completed their 47-game domestic season unbeaten. Celtic's 'Invincibles' wrapped up their first treble since 2001 and finished an astonishing 39 points ahead of their rivals from across Glasgow in the Ladbrokes Premiership. Yet King claims Rangers' Old Firm foes are not "as far ahead as they could have been". The Ibrox chief, who has provided boss Pedro Caixinha with funds to bring in eight new players this summer, was reported by several newspapers as saying: "Given that we were in the wilderness for four years I don't think Celtic did as much in that four years as they could have done. "We are clearly behind them squad-wise but I really would expect to give them a run." But that sparked a stunned response from Celtic frontman Griffiths. He said: "What was the gulf, 30-odd points? How big does he expect it to be? "They were touting at the start of this year that they were going to win the league and this and that. Joey Barton was coming up to be the best player in Scotland. "He only lasted a few months. The first game they got hammered 5-1, they got hammered 5-1 in the last game of the season. The gulf couldn't be any bigger. "They will be trying this season to bridge the gap but for (King) to come out and say we should be further ahead is ludicrous really. "Thirty-odd points is mad and if you said to somebody at the start of last season that Rangers would finish that far behind, they'd be raging. "We just want to concentrate on our job and that is to defend that title." Fired-up Griffiths was speaking at the official launch event for the new Ladbrokes Premiership fixtures. His side will kick-off their quest for seven-in-a-row at home to Hearts on August 5. Caixinha's new-look Light Blues will get their first chance to prove they have cut the gap to their bitter foes when the first Old Firm clash takes place at Ibrox on September 23. But Griffiths fully expects his team to dominate once again. "Rangers, Aberdeen, St Johnstone - they are all tough games," he said. "Ultimately it's about what we do and if we're at our best no-one in Scotland can live with us. "That's the be all and end all. "Yes there will be difficult games - away to Rangers, away to Aberdeen, away to Hibs, away to St Johnstone, away to Hearts. They always are. "But we proved last year we can go to these places, win and win comfortably." The Hoops striker kicked off last year expecting to be Rodgers' main man up front having netted 40 goals in Ronny Deila's final campaign in charge. But a combination of injuries and the explosive introduction of Moussa Dembele left the Scotland frontman frustrated as he spent most of the season on the bench. However, buoyed by his stunning free-kick double against England earlier this month, Griffiths is determined to win back his slot and help fire the Hoops to the Champions League. "First and foremost it's all about the team but you want to be selfish as well and I'm no different to anyone else - I want to be playing week in, week out," he said. "I just need to do my job on the training ground and take my chance when it comes. "I don't like playing second fiddle but anyone who does shouldn't be playing the game. However, I understand the manager's decision and whatever he decides I'll just need to take it on the chin. "I've never had any doubts about my belief. Last year was frustrating because I was injured but when I did get a chance when Moussa got injured, I took it. "This season I'm hoping to be injury-free and become even fitter, even stronger." http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/sport/15367915.Leigh_Griffiths__Dave_King_is_wrong__the_gulf_between_Celtic_and_Rangers_couldn_t_be_bigger/ 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little General 80 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Lee Griffiths is a despicable racist bastard. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian1964 10,761 Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Lee Griffiths is a despicable racist bastard. Convicted racist as well as a despicable human being! 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darthter 542 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Ceptic SHOULD have been 30-odd points ahead of 2nd place every season since we dropped the league's....they SHOULD have had at least a couple of trebled...but that wasn't the case!!! Granted, they made the Champ league group stages, but ultimately ended up as canon fodder. Let's see what they do next season.... 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trublusince1982 243 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 One good season! Watch yous don't aim to high now???? should have been trebles every year!! If things where the other way round I would see the past 5 years as a complete failure. Kind of highlights why we need to keep our nothing but winning mentality. If we don't we could end up like them. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEARGER 1,830 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Griffiths is not the brightest bulb in the house. He has not read what King actually said, and has given some newspaper hack a quote after being asked a twisted question no doubt. But who cares either way what that racist thinks? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little General 80 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Convicted racist as well as a despicable human being! He should stick to stealing Lucozade. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranger_syntax 4,422 Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 "We just want to concentrate on our job and that is to defend that title." So focused, in fact, that Griffiths is flapping his jaw to the press. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete 2,499 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Thankfully they don't see it. They were shit. We were shitter. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
der Berliner 3,807 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Thankfully they don't see it. They were shit. We were shitter. That is essentially it. What they and loads of Scottish sports reporters and experts clearly seem to miss is that we were just being promoted, had a team full of freebies (average fee was 150 to 250k, with Garner taking up most of any fee paid at all), lost a couple of important players early on, a manager halfway down the season, and played at time diabolical stuff, yet still toiled our way to third spot in the league of 12. That is not dissimilar to what RB Leipzig did in their first season after promotion to the BL, leaving established BL sides like Dortmund, Leverkusen, and Schalke in their trail. So if a toiling and ailing Rangers team "struggles" to third, what can we expect of one fired up and loaded with much more quality? As for the racist, he is just anoher example of your archetypical Yahoo. No dignity in defeat, no dignity in victory. Maybe things will change, but after such a glorious season and trumpets sounding all over the Scumhut about their 40m striker et al, two months on no-one has taken an interest in their SPFL-pummelers and "insiders" say that Scum FC would sell Dembele at 25m! Well, we shall see. Then again, why bother? Instead of reading about this "Here, look at me!" stuff, we can concentrate on our own upcoming campaign, who promises to be an exiting one. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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