LEIGH Griffiths last night hit back at the disgruntled supporters who hurled abuse at Ronny Deila, his coaching staff and the players after Thursday night's 3-1 Europa League defeat to Molde. While the striker accepts fans have a right to express their frustration, he feels that shouting and bawling in players' faces is a counter-productive way to go about things and consequently chose to walk past the incident with his headphones on.
"They have paid good money to come and watch us perform and we didn't do that so they have got to express their frustration," said Griffiths. "But I don't think it was the best of times to do it, especially with how close they were to the bus.
"I think some of the criticism they gave us was a bit over the top, just the way they were shouting at the boys," he added. "The boys were already hurting about getting beaten, and we don't need fans shouting and bawling at us from two or three yards away. That doesn't make it any easier for us.
"I didn't speak to any of them. We got told there were fans outside giving a bit to us, so I put my headphones in and went outside. But when you are on the bus you can hear what the fans are saying and I think the stick that the manager got was a bit unfair."
Kris Commons, meanwhile, apologised to Ronny Deila for the dissent which he showed towards the Norwegian and his backroom staff of John Collins and John Kennedy after being withdrawn from the fray for Nadir Ciftci on what was a tempestuous night in Norway. The 32-year-old, who had been one of Celtic's most effective players, was another angry man on the night, his outburst being met with cheers from the travelling support. But he issued a formal apology yesterday and Celtic will keep any disciplinary action in-house.
“I’d like to apologise for my reaction," said Commons, "something that should never be shown publicly on the field. I was very frustrated at how the night had gone. However, I did not handle this in the right way. My frustration at losing games and my desire to win will never change.
“I know we are all part of a team at Celtic and I am proud to be part of this team," he added. "I want this team to win and I am sure we can come together, work hard and get the results needed to qualify from this group."
Deila said Commons had come to him with the apology and was happy to draw a line under the affair. "He came to me and did at once and that is very good," said Deila. "We have dealt with it and we move on. There is a lot of emotion on the pitch but you have to do it in the right situations. We have to have discipline and stay together and he understands that."
In additions to the Commons incident, Griffiths had a stand-up row with Dedryck Boyata on the pitch after the loss of the team's third goal but he too feels that the club can draw a line under their bad night in Norway. They face the return match with Molde at Parkhead on Bonfire night, but may need to take seven points from the nine available to salvage their continental season.
"The one that annoyed me and Stefan [Johansen] was the third goal, after we got back at 2-1," said Griffiths. "The momentum was with us, and the manager was asking for people to press the ball and try to win it back high up, but 15-20 seconds later the ball ends up in the back of the net. That was frustrating for us because we worked so hard to get the ball in the net going the other way, and the defence was lying a little bit too deep and it gave them a bit of chance to go and counter attack. It is a team game, it is not about individuals, we win as a team and lose as a team. But we have to learn fast and start to defend well in Europe because it is going to cost us dearly in the end."
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