Former Celtic striker Andy Walker has branded Scott Brown’s ‘cheat’ remark as ‘immature and thoughtless’.
Hoops captain Brown made the comment when insisting that Hearts playmaker Jamie Walker dived to win a penalty as Celtic began the Premiership campaign with a narrow 2-1 victory at Tynecsatle on Sunday.
Even though Scotland skipper Brown was proved right after Scottish FA compliance officer Tony McGlennan’s decision to mete out a two-game ban for simulation was upheld , Sky Sports pundit Walker reckons his comments could come back to haunt him.
Speaking to skysports.com he said: “I can pretty much guarantee that Walker’s manager (Robbie Neilson) and team-mates shook his hand at half time knowing that they were now in a level game.
“Equally, they will be horrified later in the season if they are on the wrong end of a dubious foul or penalty that results in lost points.
“That’s why Brown’s comments were immature and thoughtless. Adopting the moral high ground is a dangerous stance to take on incidents like this.
“Will Brown label a Celtic or Scotland team-mate a cheat when one of them is guilty of a debatable foul/penalty later in the season?
“It was left to Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers to bring a more calm and measured response to the incident when he chose to praise the referee for admitting his mistake.
“Having previously worked with Luis Suarez, he will realise that footballers can get the benefit of certain decisions with clever play that others in the game find infuriating.”
