Former English Premier League referee has his say on Steven Naismith-Scott Brown incident
The Tynecastle skipper became tangled up with Scott Brown during the first half of the 3-3 epic at Hampden where he appeared to stand on his opponent.
Referee John Beaton didn’t see anything wrong with the incident at the time, though Naismith could still face punishment if compliance officer Clare Whyte believes retrospective action is necessary. She has until 3pm on Tuesday to make a decision on the matter.
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Hide AdHalsey reckons Naismith ‘knew what he was doing’ and that he could have planted his foot elsewhere as he looked to hurdle over the Celtic captain. He added that the 34-year-old “got away with one” by not receiving a red card.
He told This Is Futbol: “It’ll be interesting to see if the Scottish FA take retrospective action because when you look at that – I’ve refereed Steven Naismith – you look at that and think – could the player have planted his foot somewhere? And you have to say yes – he could have planted his foot somewhere else.
“So, there’s an argument to say that he should’ve been sent off for violent conduct stamping on an opponent so, I think he’s got away with one there.
"The referee’s not seen that so the Scottish FA can take retrospective action on that incident so it would be interesting to see if they do.
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Hide Ad“I’d be very surprised if they don’t from what action they’ve taken on different players already this season so I’d be amazed if they don’t take retrospective action on that incident because, as I said, does he have to put his foot down on his leg? No, he doesn’t because there’s plenty of other places where he could’ve put it because he’s looking – he knows what he’s doing.”
Celtic would eventually win the encounter on penalties. Kristoffer Ajer scored the winning spot-kick after Stephen Kingsley and Craig Wighton had missed for the pre-match underdogs. Ryan Christie previously saw his penalty saved by Craig Gordon.