As a footballer Steven Naismith went out of his way to avoid a 50-50 challenge.
Arriving a split second too late for a sneaky stamp on an opponent was more of his style, preferably late in the game with little chance for retribution.
When Jonny Hayes was lying down injured Naisy would scream in his face, horizontal opponents present less of a challenge.
Yesterday the Hearts caretaker boss extended that approach to the dug-out when he deliberately kicked out at Jota to prevent him from breaking into the Hearts half.
Typical of the former Ranger striker he then fell to the ground, claimed his innocence with a smile and a joke.
Wee Naisy was the first SPFL manager to congratulate Ange Postecoglou on winning another Premiership title.
I fuckin knew it was that rat who stuck his knee out to take Jota down pic.twitter.com/glYqlqvPdE
— andypingu1888 (@andypingu1888) May 7, 2023
? “That’s a sore one!”
Jota wiped Steven Naismith out in the first-half, but both managers saw the funny side of it ?? pic.twitter.com/8Gea4xRcg2
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) May 7, 2023
Listened to the game on the radio. That was the first thing that flashed through my mind. Funny that, eh?
Naismith probably classed the incident as ‘irrelevant ! ‘