I don’t know what is going on with Leigh Griffiths but for me the best place for him to be right now is back at Lennoxtown.

I would have to stress that I offer my view as an outsider so I have no knowledge of just how Leigh is or where he is in terms of dealing with the issues that caused him to take leave from the club.

But it has been almost four months now and the longer you are away the harder it is to come back.

I don’t mean that there should be any pressure on the boy to come back and get back to work but more so that the daily routine of getting up and getting to Lennoxtown and being around the squad would probably do him the world of good.

There is everything he could possibly need access to at Lennoxtown in terms of nutritional and physical advice and that in itself can also be a help.

But just being around the squad and the camaraderie of it is something that I think would work in his favour. There is some respite to be found in concentrating on doing a little bit of work and that is not to diminish from what was obviously some really serious issues that Griffiths was dealing with.

The other thing to it is that he knows Neil Lennon. He is not walking into a club with a new manager. He knows Lennon and Lennon knows him – and knows how to get the best out of him.

None of us are privy to what is going on behind the scenes and I am reluctant to tell people what they should be doing but it would be in everyone’s best interests to have him in and around the club.

I am not sure if he is working on his own in terms of physical work but that sense of isolation can become heavy.

Being back amongst it could offer him a gradual pathway back into the team because ultimately he still has a contract at Celtic.

I think we have seen this season that Odsonne Edouard has established himself as the first choice striker but Celtic have been short up front. I don’t know whether Leigh would be in a position to play again this season having been out for so long, but even a cameo before the end of the campaign would be of benefit.

And I think he can be sure of a pretty warm reception from the Celtic support whenever he does make his return.

There will be Champions League qualifiers again this summer and I think we are all accustomed to the early start to the season for Celtic. So at least if he was up to speed and in there for the beginning of pre-season then he would not be playing catch up with the rest of the squad.

And I strongly suspect that it will be Neil Lennon who is leading Celtic into those qualifiers.

You would have to think that if he is successful in getting the treble over the line that it is pretty difficult to dislodge him from the position.

And I think that from his perspective he is doing the right thing in planning and preparing as though he is in the job for the long term.

The fact that he sat down and discussed what areas need to be strengthened and began the job of identifying players to come in is something that is in the best interests of the club.

Whether it is Neil or someone else who takes it on, the fact is that there is very little time to work in order to have things clarified and ready to go for what is a part of the season that lays down the foundations for the rest of the campaign.