Foreign talent will boycott Scotland if bad boys rule
Kris Ajer has warned foreign players will boycott Scottish football if the game fails to protect its stars.
The Norwegian internationalist has been at the centre of a war of words all week between Celtic and Aberdeen.
The Dons manager Derek Mcinnes accused Ajer of laughing and winking at Sam Cosgrove after the Englishman was red-carded at Celtic Park last Saturday. The implication was that the Hoops defender had conned referee Euan Anderson.
And, after the SFA threw out Aberdeen’s appeal against the decision, Pittodrie chairman Dave Cormack took to Twitter to demand the Association’s compliance officer, Clare Whyte, take action against him for his part in the incident.
Ajer himself, though, is forthright in his rejection of the claims, arguing that he could have been sidelined for six months had he not seen Cosgrove’s challenge coming.
“If you look at the tackle, you can see there is no way I am trying to fool the referee,” said the 21-year-old Celt.
“He hits me with quite hard speed, but I saw him coming from the right side, so I lifted my right leg.
“That is why I have escaped injury.
“If I had leant on my leg on the floor, I could be out for the rest of the season.
“It feels like here in Scotland, it is the thinking that someone has to get seriously injured for someone to get sent off.
“You almost have to keep your leg planted for it to be a red card, and this is the problem.
“It is the same as the incident the day before with Barisic (of Rangers who was on the receiving end of a red-card challenge from Ryan Porteous) which, I have heard in the dressing room, is also being discussed.
“After seeing that one as well, I can’t believe that is the case.
“Barisic could have been out for the rest of the season. That is the honest truth.
“And if Scotland wants that to be the product here, no foreign players will come. That is the truth.
“As a foreign player, I can’t really understand that this tackle is even discussed, really.
“From where I am from, if you come in with such speed, you should be sent off.
“As a Scandinavian, I’m used to the physical game as that’s how it is back home in Norway as well.
“But, even so, if you come in with such speed, you should be sent off.
“On the plus side, I’ve been here for three-and-a-half years now and I’ve never been involved in an incident like this before.”
Celtic manager Neil Lennon was scathing in his condemnation of Cormack’s comments about Ajer, which he described as “disgraceful”.
But the man himself settles instead for a dismissive approach.
“I am not really on social media,” revealed
Ajer. “I have an Instagram account and that is it. So basically I have not seen anything. “For me it is not important to comment on every comment. If you see the tackle and know the game, it is a sending off.
“At the time, I didn’t think it was an incident so I don’t want to speak about what the Aberdeen chairman or manager said. I’m not concerned about that.
“But there were no winks. I was on the ground and was told the referee had made a decision to send him off.
“They made an appeal and they lost it, so the decision is clear.
“If people want to carry on with the negative stuff, then they can do so.
“I will just focus on my own game and doing everything I can to help Celtic win every possible game.”
With on-form Rangers in opposition at Celtic Park this afternoon, Ajer is likely to need every bit of that focus.
“We lost this game at this time last year and we were not happy about it,” said Ajer.
“It is the same any time we lose – but this is a completely different match.”