HE’S INNOCENT
Kennedy claims Christie has no case to answer in violent conduct charge
CELTIC assistant manager John Kennedy says he will be ‘astonished’ if midfielder Ryan Christie lands an SFA ban for violent conduct.
The Scotland international will today answer charges of grabbing the groin of Rangers rival Alfredo Morelos during a tempestuous Old Firm defeat. Already on a booking, the 24-year-old (right) escaped a second yellow card when referee Kevin Clancy failed to spot the offence.
Christie, however, was charged retrospectively under Disciplinary Rule 200 governing a challenge or tackle that ‘endangers the safety of an opponent or uses excessive force or brutality’.
Ban or no ban, the 17-goal playmaker already faces weeks on the sidelines after undergoing
groin surgery after the match. Parkhead No 2 Kennedy expressed amazement at the charges and claimed the SFA would open up a can of worms if they follow through with the two-match suspension proposed by compliance officer Clare Whyte. ‘I was very surprised,’ he said yesterday from Dubai. ‘I didn’t know about it until later when somebody told me. ‘The incident itself? I have seen these situations before, what they are trying to accuse him of. If you are static in the box at a corner kick and are marking somebody and you do a fly one. ‘But to be involved in the game and somebody goes by you, to accuse him of trying to grab him by the genitals is crazy. ‘Ryan is not that type of player for a start. Ryan has genuinely gone in and he goes by him. What naturally happens is you try to grab something. It just so happens that (the groin) is what it was. ‘I would be astounded if he gets found guilty and they follow through with the charge. ‘If that is the case, then there will be numerous cases throughout the season where somebody grabs or accidentally touches somebody. You can see with the speed of the game your first reaction is sometimes to grab the first thing that goes by you. That is what happened. ‘I will be astonished if anything comes of it. ‘At the time, nothing was made of it. Morelos didn’t make anything of it to Ryan or anybody else about him. That speaks volumes in itself.’ Christie already faces weeks on the sidelines after he was hospitalised following the game for groin surgery — as first revealed by Sportsmail. ‘He had a little setback,’ said Kennedy. ‘But he had that dealt with quickly, so hopefully it won’t keep him out for too long. ‘He will miss the bulk of the week here but, hopefully, once we get back, he won’t miss too many games. It will be touch and go for the first game but it will be weeks rather than months. Hopefully, he will be okay.’