Celtic: 4 Reasons Why Stokes And Griffiths Can Form A Great Partnership

3. Similar Styles

Something that really struck me when watching Leigh Griffiths play for Hibs is that he's almost a carbon copy of Stokes, except with a lot more pace. Physically, they're both strong and powerful players with a bullet shot, but what is more similar is their mentality. They're both impact players. Impact players have the ability to turn a game on it's head within few minutes in a match, and not just from the subs bench. Against Kilmarnock a couple years back, Celtic were 3-0 down at half time. Every Celtic fan remembers this match for what happened in the second half. Stokes had actually been playing woeful in the first half - missing an open goal from about 3 yards and some other big chances. Not many Celtic fans expected him to then score twice with two unbelievable quick strikes to bring it back to 3-2, which helped us on our way to equalise before the final whistle with a Mulgrew header. Meanwhile, at the end of his time at Hibs last season, Griffiths grabbed his whole team by the scruff of the neck and almost single-handedly won the Scottish cup final for his team after being 3-0 down after half an hour against Div 1 Falkirk, with the second of his 2 goals being the match winner in extra time (and what a goal it was from distance). Apart from Alex Harris' wonder strike that got Hibs off the mark in the game, Griffiths was like a talisman and provided the energy that his team needed to get over the finishing line. This combination of determination and power that they both have is something that I would absolutely love them to show as a pair up front for Celtic. If they can generate a bit of form and show these attributes together, they could be a frightful force up front in the league and in Europe.