Neil Lennon says a career could be ended such is the extent of players in Scottish football deliberately intending to injure an opponent, writes Iain Collin.
The Hibernian manager was speaking in the wake of the red card given to Ross County skipper Andrew Davies for a stamp on Celtic counterpart Scott Brown at the weekend.
And Lennon, who has called for greater protection for his Hibs players numerous times this season, insists malice lurks in Scottish football.
“You see the tackle on Scott Brown at the weekend?” Lennon said. “That wasn’t the referee’s fault. Players have to take responsibility for their own individual actions.
“There is a problem with tackling in Scotland – some players just can’t tackle. I’ve seen some great 50/50s. I’ve seen some great challenges. But I have also seen some horrendous ones, where players have made no attempt to play the ball – just the man.
“You don’t see that very often in football now, but I have seen it a lot here this season. I know it’s a man’s game and all that nonsense but you need to play within the laws. A lot of time players go beyond that. They lose their emotions and get frustrated, and lose their discipline.
“Players have been a bit reckless and that could have been a bad one for Scott.
“But it’s not just him. John McGinn has taken some heavy punishment this season too.”
The former Celtic player added: “My worry is that a player ends up with a serious injury. We could lose a very good player to the game due to heat of the moment stuff, or someone’s ill-discipline, or recklessness.
“I like the speed of the game in Scotland and I like the physicality of the game. I know all about tackling, I did it all through my career, but then there is deliberately going out to hurt someone.
“I am seeing that far too often at the minute.
“Sometimes I think that if a player goes in deliberately to hurt another player, and the injured one is out for a period of time – then the person making the tackle should sit out for the same time.”
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