Kris Commons has said that Steven Naismith was lucky to stay on the park in yesterday’s Scottish Cup Final. The former Rangers attacker came together with the Celtic captain early in the first half but as Brown went to ground, Naismith blatantly stamped on his knee.
The incident wasn’t picked up by referee John Beaton but it was a vicious show of Naismith’s ill-discipline. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Commons said that Naismith had a nasty streak and cited an incident from May 2018 which saw Naismith again lash out at Brown.
“You had Steven Naismith tangling with Scott Brown and trampling all over the Celtic captain’s knee as he lay on the ground.
“Naismith has history in this particular area. In May 2018, he was given a two-match ban for a stamp on Brown during a match at Tynecastle. He was extremely fortunate to stay on the pitch yesterday.
“He has a real nasty streak in him as a player. He overstepped the mark yesterday and it typified Hearts during the first half. Beyond the Naismith stamp, you had Andy Halliday getting booked for a wild challenge on Brown.”
Commons, who played with Brown from 2011 until he left the club in 2017, believes that the 35-year-old will have enjoyed riling up the Hearts players – especially when it was Brown that lifted the trophy after the final whistle sounded.
“He revels in that sort of stuff. The video of him laughing in Halliday’s face summed it all up. Brown is a wind-up merchant and a former Hibs player, so it’s no surprise he revels in lording it over Hearts.”
Hearts players seemed to take their defeat quite poorly with attempts to start on Scott Brown throughout the final as well as at the final whistle. It was a tough final but for the second year in a row, Hearts became two-in-a-row Scottish Cup Final losers. Celtic, and their captain, sealed the win and with it the Quadruple Treble.
