Hearts forward Steven Naismith should have received two red cards in the club’s 3-1 loss to Celtic on Sunday according to former Hoops striker Chris Sutton.
Naismith nailed Scott Brown after a strong pass from Dedryck Boyata in the first-half before committing himself to another hefty challenge on winger James Forrest a short while later.
Chris Sutton said that the challenges were shocking and that Naismith was a coward for his timing on both tackles.
“He should have had two red cards,” Sutton said on BT Sport’s post-match show.
“They are leg breaking challenges. It’s awful. I used the word coward and I stand by that. They were shocking, shocking challenges.
“It’s ridiculous. It’s endangering an opponent. He’s gone in over the top of the ball and he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
Should Steven Naismith have seen red for this 'stamp' on Celtic skipper Scott Brown? https://t.co/HW6emufj5A pic.twitter.com/drxii6uB70
— Scottish Sun Sport (@scotsunsport) May 6, 2018
Agree 100% @chris_sutton73 .. Naismith knew exactly what he was doing & a coward is a mild word for him… he's a thug.. pic.twitter.com/2pEvwOuT5j
— Babs McMahon 🧁💚 #RememberMyNoah💙 (@BarbaraMcMahon8) May 6, 2018
Naismith, of course, spent five years at Rangers where he won three Scottish Premier League titles with the Glasgow based club.
Elsewhere Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said that he could not guarantee that left-back Kieran Tierney would have a long term future at the club.
Rodgers said that the days of telling other clubs that a player is not for sale are long gone and that Tierney will naturally attract interest given his talent and age.
“The time when players were not for sale are long gone,” he said. “The kid’s signed a long-term deal and you can see the happiness he has here.
“Having been at the club, there’s something natural that can happen here.
“But there’s also a moral aspect to it, where if a player is on X amount of money, and he’s offered five times more by someone else and the club also has a big offer then it’s something that will be spoken about.
“Kieran, because of his age and his talent, is always going to be linked with other clubs. There will be suitors watching him.
“But he’s content to be here, and last weekend was his best performance against Rangers for me. He played with composure and calmness, and you can see he’s maturing all the time.
“He’s a big talent but I could never say one way or another what his future will be.
“Everyone would rather he stayed, but it’s not all down to Celtic. Maybe there’s nothing you can do. It’s when it becomes real.”
