Derek McInnes, the Aberdeen manager, believes Niall McGinn was let down by his agent after a picture of the Pittodrie striker sitting among Celtic fans was posted on Twitter.
Gerry Carlile posted a photograph of McGinn sitting beside Anthony Stokes in the Celtic end during their win at Kilmarnock on Monday. McInnes spoke to McGinn about the issue and warned all of his players they are under the spotlight while leading Celtic in the SPFL Premiership, but he said his player was guilty only of naivety.
McGinn was criticised on social media but McInnes said: "We have to realise that us and a few others are being looked at as challengers at the minute. Because we find ourselves at the top of the league there is a focus on us. I think the McGinn story is an example.
"Niall goes on his day off to a game with his pal. All of a sudden it can be perceived as something more than it actually is. The only thing he has been guilty of is a bit of naivety.
"I have absolutely no problem with it. I just think it is a warning that they have to be more careful in everything they do. Everything is being watched. His tickets were meant to be in the Main Stand and all of a sudden he goes with his pal and he's behind the goal, which isn't ideal.
"He has been let down by probably the guy he trusts most, his agent, who has then made the decision to put something on Twitter and brought an unnecessary spotlight on Niall. I think it's a disregard for both Niall and Aberdeen."
McGinn, a former Celtic player, rubbished suggestions he had celebrated the opening goal in the champions' 2-0 win.
"I think only a very, very small percentage of our support would criticise him," said McInnes. "Nobody who has watched Niall would ever question his commitment. He has our full support.
"You would have the question the reason for why that was put out, but nothing is going to derail or undermine what we are trying to do."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article