Former Premier League defender Andrew Davies was dismissed on Saturday after one of the worst challenges of the season, stamping out at Celtic skipper Scott Brown.
Former Scotland player turned coach James McFadden believes Andrew Davies’ challenge on Scott Brown at the weekend was clearly full of intent in terms of hurting the Celtic captain.
Davies and Brown were involved in an incident as Celtic took on Ross County where the Englishman clearly stamped on Brown, who was lucky to avoid serious injury, showing no intent of a clean challenge whatsoever.
Thankfully for both parties, Brown was not hurt badly and the Staggies captain was dismissed accordingly, however, in the wake of such horrific foul play, the debate has continued with discussion over whether or not a regular red card ban is lengthy enough for such an offence.
Speaking to BBC Radio’s Sportsound podcast from 2nd April 2018, James McFadden revealed his thoughts on the Ross County captain’s challenge, citing Davies’ suspension as the worst outcome of the entire incident. County are in grave danger of dropping out of the Premiership division and will now be without their captain for a number of crucial games as the end of the season approaches, unforgivably poor leadership from the ex-Middlesbrough centre-back.
“I thought it was horrendous, I thought it was a terrible challenge, [Davies] knew exactly what he was doing,” McFadden explained.
“I know [Ross County] probably didn’t have great aspirations to get anything out of the game, but the bigger picture for me are the games that he misses after, he’s let his teammates down.
“I don’t know if it’s a moment of madness but it’s a terrible challenge and Scott Brown is very lucky that he’s not come away with a serious injury. There was intent to hurt him for me”
As McFadden said, former Scotland captain Brown is wonderfully lucky to have come away without a serious scratch, which is great news for the Hoops as they gear up to defend their domestic treble from last season.
The Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers is only a matter of weeks way and should they wish to bypass their rivals in typical fashion, they will need Brown in the middle of the park, pulling string at his best.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
