Ban diver Connolly, says Deila

RONNY DEILA l ast night branded Dundee United’ s Aidan Connolly a diver — then called on the SFA to prove they don’t j ust punish Celtic players for simulation.

Connolly tumbled to win United’s goal from the penalty spot — scored by Nadir Ciftci — towards the end of the first half after referee Craig Thomson deemed he had been tripped by Anthony Stokes.

In August, Celtic winger Derk Boerrigter was handed a two-match ban for diving to win a penalty in a 2-0 win at St Johnstone. And Deila insisted he was baffled as to why it is only his team that is targeted — albeit he was seemingly unaware St Johnstone’s Brian Graham was also suspended for diving to win a penalty against Inverness Caley Thistle in December.

‘The Dundee United penalty was a dive and, hopefully, it will be the same rules for everybody,’ fumed Deila. ‘ We are the only team this season in the league to have a s uspension f or diving, Derk Boerrigter.

‘ I said at the time it was no problem because that is the line that will be taken by everyone.

‘But I don’t think anybody has had it since then. The Scottish players have been unbelievably good.

‘They’ve not dived but if they do (like Connolly) it should be the same rules. Is it the fault of the referee or the player they got a penalty?

‘It’s both. But I accept people make mistakes.

‘We have a rule where people look at things afterwards but I don’t see anybody else getting suspensions.’

Deila will study footage of the melee that saw Virgil van Dijk ordered off alongside Paul Paton before deciding whether to appeal in a bid to clear him for Sunday’s League Cup Final against United at Hampden.

But influential midfielder Stefan Johansen will miss the Scottish Cup quarter- f i nal r eplay at Parkhead on March 18 after being booked yesterday.

‘I have looked at some pictures but it’s hard to see what happened,’ said Deila. ‘Virgil just said there was a t ackle and s uddenly somebody was holding his legs.

‘There was some kicking of each other to get off each other.

‘It was nothing. Hopefully, everybody can play in the next game.

‘Will we appeal? We will see. I actually didn’t know until now that Stefan is out of the replay. It’s good we have a big squad.’

Deila didn’t f ear any f urther disciplinary problems in the final but took a swipe at the abysmal Tannadice pitch.

‘ There i s going to be a high temperature, yes, but I’m not worried. It is fantastic.

‘That’s why we love football. We are fighting for big things, trophies, and we have to keep our discipline.

‘But the pitch made it a fight today. It was nothing about playing football. If you are going to develop players in this league, you have to have pitches you can play on.’

Meanwhile, the SFA compliance officer Tony McGlennan could be forced to look at footage from Dutch TV in which Celtic’s John Guidetti is al l eged t o have performed a song during an interview including the words ‘the Huns are deid’.

A recent petition lobbying the Scottish Parliament was launched by a group of Rangers fans who claimed ‘Huns’ is a derogatory term used against Protestants.