Rangers winger Vaclav Cerny has avoided a Scottish FA ban over his controversial celebrations during last month’s Old Firm clash at Celtic Park.The incident sparked a furious reaction from the stands with police and stewards required to step in and calm the situation and prompted Celtic to raise the matter with authorities.A police probe was subsequently launched although no charges were filed against the Rangers player after it was determined that “no criminality” had occured.
The Czech international was caught on camera squirting a water bottle towards Celtic supporters as he raced down the touchline to acclaim Hamza Igamane’s late goal which sealed a 3-2 victory for his side
Both managers also had their say on the matter with Rangers boss Barry Ferguson defending the player by insisting he had “no issue” with the celebration. “I want to see players and staff celebrate,” he said. “We play football to win games, and when we win games I want to see my players and staff celebrate alongside our supporters.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers took a different view, accusing Cerny of showing “a lack of respect” and insisting he would be unhappy if one of his own players had conducted themselves in a similar manner. “It’s respect, isn’t it,” Rodgers stated. “I think it’s a lack of respect if a player runs up a touchline and he’s squirting a water bottle in the supporter’s face. I certainly wouldn’t want my players to do it.”
In Celtic’s 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone, however, the wide player looked as irritated as the rest of his teammates as Saints deservedly took all three points at McDiarmid Park on Sunday.
Brendan Rodgers hauled two stars off at half-time in Nicolas Kuhn and Jeffrey Schlupp but he could have subbed more of them with the lethargic sideways passing cutting down attack time.
That, says Paul Slane, was a mark of frustration for Jota who “went mental” at Auston Trusty and the defence at one stage for refusing to release the ball sooner.
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