They tried to kick me out of football but I will show I have grown up
MAY 31,2015 The day Scottish football was shamed by sickening scenes in battle of Fir Park
ON an apocalyptic afternoon in Lanarkshire back in May 2015, the battle for a place in the Scottish Premiership descended into a brawl.
Seconds after Rangers had succumbed to a humiliating 6-1 aggregate play-off final defeat to Motherwell, a row over a snubbed handshake sparked violent scenes on the pitch.
In extraordinary pictures beamed across the UK, Ibrox defender Bilel Mohsni karate-kicked Lee Erwin in retaliation for being shoved by the striker, before the defender crashed a fist into his opponent’s mouth as players from both sides piled in.
Erwin was left bleeding from the mouth during a television interview carried out on the pitch with BT Sport.
The hot-headed Mohsni then had to be restrained from rushing off the Rangers team bus to start Round Two outside the ground.
When he eventually calmed down, the Tunisian was left fearing he had inflicted a knockout blow on his own career.
Once described as a ‘likable lunatic’ by Ally McCoist, Mohsni was calmness and charm personified yesterday as he was officially unveiled as a Dundee United player — as first revealed by
Sportsmail earlier this month. Older, perhaps wiser, his wild long hair has been replaced by a close-crop — but the 30-year-old still harbours some resentment about the fallout from Fir Park.
‘Since May 31, 2015, I’ve had no luck at all in football. Everything has gone wrong,’ said Moshni. ‘What happened was a mistake, but I was heavily punished for it.
‘At the end, Motherwell won so they should have celebrated with their fans but instead he (Erwin) came at me, swore at me and told me to shake hands with him.
‘I wanted to go to speak to the manager and the chairman to see if I was getting another contract.
‘But he (Erwin) pushed me and hit me, so I reacted. I didn’t think properly, I know that. And all the way from Glasgow to Paris in my car I knew I had made a big mistake. I thought to myself: “Maybe football is over for me”.
‘I had teams in the English Premier League wanting me but after what happened that was finished.
‘I was lucky to find a club in France (Angers) but then they (the SFA) gave me the big ban and I couldn’t play.
‘I got a seven-match ban. Three or four games would have been okay, but seven? And the Motherwell player got nothing. All of the players who were involved in the incident got nothing apart from me.
‘It really affected my career because serving a seven-game ban in France took three months. I was missing for a lot and it cost me so much. Because I wasn’t playing, I lost my place in the national team and I didn’t get to go to the Africa Nations Cup (in 2017).
‘What happened was a mistake and I know it was wrong, but they nearly banned me from football over it. I have never forgotten. It has always been on my mind.’
Mohsni is also critical of the way he was treated by interim Rangers boss Stuart McCall in 2015.
‘After that match at Motherwell, the manager at Rangers said he was sacking me — but I was out of contract anyway,’ he said.
‘He didn’t help me. When he joined (after Ally McCoist quit) he put me straight out of the team and when I came back from international duty, I missed the first leg of the play-off.
‘I was frustrated and then he put me on with ten minutes to go when we were 6-1 down on aggregate. What was I going to do? Am I Superman, who was going to score six goals?’
After six months without a game for Angers, Mohsni joined French Ligue 2 side Paris FC before heading for Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia in September 2016.
There, he says, he was unpaid and unplayed but a huge price tag was placed on his head when any clubs showed an interest in ending his Tunisian turmoil.
‘Etoile Du Sahel didn’t pay me and I never knew why,’ said Mohsni.
‘The rest of the team got their money but I didn’t. This is my luck in football!
‘Because they didn’t pay me I took them to FIFA but that just made it worse. I was dropped from the team, then the squad and then from the stands. They even closed
the gym and locked the door so I couldn’t go in there to train.
‘the chairman there is a politician so when I went to FIFA it wasn’t good for him. he was not happy.
‘I told them to cancel my contract — don’t pay me and I will just leave. But they said no.
‘they blocked me from moving by telling me if I wanted to sign for another club, the club in question would have to pay £5million for me. they didn’t pay me wages but they were asking for £5m for me!
‘Finally, FIFA got it sorted and now I’ve been able to sign here.’
Mohsni admits he never thought he would be back in Scottish football after that afternoon almost three years ago.
But he has vowed to change opinions of him and help Csaba Laszlo’s side to promotion via the play-offs.
‘I’m happy to be here. I want to take this chance,’ said Mohsni, who is in line to make his debut at home to Dunfermline tomorrow. ‘It is a few years on from the incident and I want to show everyone I have grown up.
‘I’ve had to fight for everything in my life and I am a winner. I am passionate, I give everything in games and, hopefully, I can do well here. the team here can still go up. I have been watching and training and there are good players here. ‘It is down to confidence. If we can win a few games, then we can win some in a row but first it is all about getting that winning mentality. ‘I just want to show people that I am a good player. they shouldn’t just remember me for what happened in 2015. ‘I will be aggressive with Dundee United but it will be controlled. I won’t be fighting with anyone!’