John Hartson was shocked by Steven Naismith’s x-rated attack on Scott Brown.
Early in the match as Brown slid towards the edge of the pitch to keep the ball in play the Hearts midfielder deliberately kicked out at the Celtic skipper then stamped on his groin.
Referee Bobby Madden and his assistant Willie Conquer both had a clear view of the incident but neither felt that it was worth a free kick while television viewers couldn’t believe that a red card wasn’t issued.
Hartson was involved in plenty of physical battles during his playing days but couldn’t believe what Naismith was able to get away with.
In his Evening Times column Hartson explained: “The fact that Hearts even set up their pitch in such a way to try to stop Celtic playing shows you the lengths that teams will go to, but while Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was upset about that, the far bigger issue for me was the tackle from Steven Naismith on Scott Brown. How he stayed on the pitch after that, I don’t know.
“As a Celtic player, you are always aware that you might come in for a bit of treatment from players from smaller clubs, but the challenges being meted out on Brown at the minute are going beyond the pale.
“It isn’t the first time that we have seen an opposition player leave the boot in on Scott over the past couple of months, and while the Celtic captain has had his own share of transgressions over the years, there is no doubt that he is becoming the most targeted player in the Scottish Premiership.
“To be fair to Brown, the boy just gets up and gets on with it, but as soon as he lays a glove on another player, there always seems to be a massive outcry and suddenly it’s an outrage.
“Scott Brown isn’t allowed to tackle, but everybody else is allowed to boot Scott Brown all over the park, and I just think that it is unfair.”
Naismith is likely to be cited today by the SFA and offered a two match suspension.
While attention has been drawn to his attack on Brown soon afterwards he stamped on James Forrest’s ankle and again escaped without any punishment.
