Neil Cameron: Leigh Griffiths gets my sympathy but why does he make his life so damn difficult

For example, had I been raised in the Amazon Basin instead of directly across the road from a pub, would my genius, the right word, trick of flicking up a beer mat and catching it with the same hand before it hits the table ever have been discovered?

There are a select few blessed with such incredible talent that it elevates them above almost all of the rest, an ability which even in an elite field marks them out as someone truly special.

Leigh Griffiths is one of them.

This is someone possessed with a ridiculous amount of natural talent for kicking a ball with a left foot which could double up as a wand. He should have been one of Scotland’s all-times greats.

Many years ago, I took a trip through to Edinburgh to write up a feature on Hutchison Vale, the football club which boasts a ridiculous number of ex-players who went onto play professionally.

John Collins, Darren Fletcher, almost everyone who has ever played for Hibs, and Allan McGregor are just some of the graduates. The list goes on and on.

While there, I asked who was the most naturally gifted player to ever darken the door of Hutchie Vale, thinking it would be Fletcher. The answer I got has never left me.

A coach said that it was the young lad who then had only just broken through at Livingston, and was scoring goals for fun, who beat Collins and Fletcher, two modern greats of Scottish football.

It was put to me Leigh Griffiths was the best that club had seen but there was a problem. He was something of a lad. Easily led and prone to distraction.And I’m putting it mildly.

Just the other day someone I respect in football said to me that Griffiths should be playing for a team at the top of the English or German league. He’s that good, this man said and he knows what he’s talking about.

But with Griffiths there is always a but.

He denied this week he is a gambling addict, insisting his problem is with mental health issues. If this is 100 per cent true, and I suspect it is not, I sympathise. I suffer from depression and know how much it can affect the life of anyone. I wish him well.

But – that word again – this fragile and complicated character who while deserving of our best wishes is really pushing Celtic. I am beginning to think he’s played his last game for the club.

Griffiths has been warned time and again to live properly, live better, get fitter, and to an extent he has done. But it’s not nearly enough.

He should not have been at a Newcastle Racecourse in a bight red ‘look at me’ jacket seemingly putting on bets. He shouldn’t have been posing for pictures. Not right now, not when he is off for “ongoing issues” while being paid handsomely by his club.

It may seem like I’m kicking a man when he’s down, please believe me that’s not the case, but the last thing someone in his position needs is more hassle, which of course he got online. He responded which only added to the initial regrettable headlines.

How many chances is he going to get? Not every penny has dropped. The heid has never been fully screwed tight. The next piece of silliness was never far away. It’s as if he’s as good at self-sabotage as he is at scoring goals.

Griffiths is troubled but has a good heart. It’s just that he is man seemingly incapable of dragging himself clear of chaos. He’s the pal who can get into an argument and then a fight while putting out a milk bottle. Trouble finds him and this now 28-year-old has to take a lot of responsibility for that.

Griffiths loves Celtic. But maybe it is time for him to leave. Neil Lennon and he get on well and it seems to me that a move to his beloved Hibernian might be best for all parties.

This guy could have been anything.There’s still time for this natural born goalscorer to, for the umpteenth time, show all of us doubters how wrong we are. I hope he does. Leigh Griffiths owes it to himself and the rest of us to stop wasting a rare talent so few have.