Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FIGHT THE BIAN
Ajeti to learn simulation fate today... but Celts will battle suspension
CELTIC striker Albian Ajeti will discover today whether he will serve a two-match ban after being accused of simulation.
The forward was cited by the Scottish Football Association after winning a penalty in his side’s 4-0 victory over Kilmarnock last week.
Celtic swiftly confirmed they would be challenging the proposed ban.
Manager Neil Lennon said on Friday: “He has had contact to the back of the foot or ankle. The keeper has made contact, he has gone down, the referee has given a penalty. I don’t see any simulation.
“Simulation is where there is no contact. There is obvious contact, you can see that quite clearly.
“I don’t understand why these charges have been brought up against Albian, we don’t agree with it at all so we will be appealing it of course.”
Ajeti will miss games against St Mirren tomorrow and St Johnstone on Sunday if Celtic lose their case.
His appeal will be heard at Hampden today after the Celtic striker’s verdict was delayed by 24 hours at his club’s request.
The Parkhead club are adamant their Swiss attacker has no case to answer after a trio of ex-referees charged him with simulation following a clash with Kilmarnock keeper Colin Doyle a week ago.
Referee Kevin Clancy awarded a penalty kick on the night, but the disciplinary panel issued a notice of complaint, despite footage emerging of contact between Doyle and Ajeti.
Also hoping to clear his name with the SFA this afternoon will be Rangers striker Kemar Roofe.
Roofe (inset) got his charge after a shuddering tackle on Murray Davidson during his side’s win over St Johnstone six days ago.
The Englishman caught his opponent high on the shin and, although referee David Munro flashed a yellow card at the time, the panel assessed the incident and opted to bring the charge.
Meanwhile, Olivier Ntcham is set to make his Marseille debut tomorrow after a red tape hold-up.
The Celtic star arrived last week on loan and was caught up in a storm, with gaffer Andre Villas-boas suspended by the club after claiming he didn’t want to sign the midfielder.
Interim boss Nasser Larguet then claimed Ntcham was missing for the 2-0 loss to PSG because of injury.
But he has now revealed the player’s registration was held up and Ntcham looks set to make his debut at Auxerre in the French Cup.
Larguet said: “I very much hope and expect he will be available and ready.”
DAVID MOYES has launched a withering attack on the “appalling” state of the game.
The West Ham boss, one of the most respected voices in football, is not just blaming officials but says players must accept their share of responsibility too. It comes after yet another weekend of controversy, VAR owngoals and the referee at the eye of the storm receiving death threats after making a mistake.
The FA ultimately overturned Mike Dean’s decision to send off Tomas Soucek, after he was adjudged to have elbowed Aleksandar Mitrovic in West Ham’s draw at Fulham, but it highlighted another major error. Moyes now believes it is down to players to stop trying to “con” officials, and says referees must be brave enough to make a common-sense decision, when there is the slightest touch or play-acting to get opponents into trouble.
He said: “I think at the moment, we are appalled by the levels and what is creeping into the game, but it’s not all about the officials.
“The players must take responsibility, but the only way we are going to stop it is by the officials saying, ‘Sorry, we’re not going to give that and we’re not going to allow you to con us’.
“Once the players see they are not going to be rewarded, they say to themselves, ‘I’d better stay on my feet here, I’d better stop screaming’. Only then, when we get all those parts together, will we start seeing progress.”
Moyes, whose side face Manchester United in the FA Cup tonight, tells his players to stay on their feet, but said it was time to stop using the phrase “letter of the law”. Mitrovic went down theatrically, only to then plead on
Soucek’s behalf, while Liverpool were given a penalty earlier in the season against West Ham, when Mo Salah went down under a slight touch.
Moyes added: “What is the letter of the law? Is it saying that contact gives you a penalty kick? Because if that is the letter of the law, then it’s the letter of the law that has to change. I wonder if everyone hides behind that phrase ‘letter of the law’?
“When you’re six-foot-three and 14stone, it doesn’t take much to put you down these days. I have felt like it for a while. I felt like it when that soft penalty was given against us at Anfield.
“Is this really the way football is going? Players have got a really big responsibility. The only people who can stop it are the officials, the referees, the VAR.
“They are the ones who can say, ‘We are not giving that – you didn’t really have to fall over with that challenge, you didn’t need to throw yourself down’. If they are going to keep rewarding it, then we will have to accept that is the way the game is going to be.”