Former Celtic striker Frank McGarvey believes that Leigh Griffiths can surpass his goal tally from last season under new manager Brendan Rodgers.
Griffiths netted 40 goals for the Hoops last year playing for the vast majority of the season as a lone striker in Ronny Deila’s favoured 4-2-3-1 formation.
If it wasn’t for the former Hibernian hitman’s contribution, McGarvey believes that the tentative Celts may not even have won last season’s title.
With new Celtic gaffer Rodgers ready to loosen the shackles though and introduce his own trademark brand of attacking football, McGarvey insists that hot-shot Griffiths can hit the back of the net with even greater frequency next term.
“Leigh Griffiths has done magnificently well and has done more than what was asked of him,” McGarvey said.
“If it wasn’t for Leigh, Celtic would have struggled to win the league in the last two seasons, which is a crazy thing to say given the resources they have over the opposition.
“It would be great to see what Leigh could do if he had a partner up there with him, even to take a bit of the pressure off of his shoulders.
“When I played for Celtic I had Charlie Nicholas up there with me, and while he didn’t make many goals for me directly, he would take the pressure off by scoring a goal himself and contributing in that way.
“Leigh doesn’t have that, and he has had to do it all by himself. He deserves immense credit for the way he has played and for his goals. He’s dug Celtic out of countless holes.
“It will be interesting to see how many goals Leigh can get playing in a side that is set up to create lots of chances.
“I think he will go on and score even more goals next season.”
The arrival of former Liverpool boss Rodgers has got McGarvey’s - and his fellow Celtic supporters’ - juices flowing.
After years of dwindling attendances at Celtic Park as fans were turned off by former manager Deila’s style of play, McGarvey is excited by the prospect of seeing a full stadium enjoying the spectacle of attacking football once again.
“I think that Brendan will opt for a more attacking approach,” he said. “He gets the club and he knows the style that the fans want to see.
“It’s shaping up to be an exciting season for Celtic.”
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