Stephen McManus - Conduct Unbecoming

I thought that tackle by Stephen McManus tonight was an absolute disgrace. Disgrace is a word used far too often these days by football fans but in this instance I really do think it is warranted. I'm sure he was frustrated that we were heading for a defeat and an exit from the cup but those are still not excuses enough for what he did. That tackle on Andrew Driver was a pre-meditated assault and if one of the Hearts defenders had done that to McGeady or McCourt we'd have all been raging about it. And rightfully so. It was also embarassing to see Mick actually have the cheek to complain about the decision when he was finally shown the red card. I hope he will be embarassed when he thinks things through and will apologise to Andrew Driver for the challenge he made and to the Celtic fans for his actions.

I know he's only human, just like anyone else, but I don't think Stephen McManus's actions tonight were befitting of a Celtic captain.

 

Yep it reminded me of the tackle on mcgeady in the second last game of the 3 in a row season against hibs and the guy got sent off .

It was a bad tackle yes but a whole thread on it.

 

you could tell he was just really frustrated, dont think he really put a foot wrong until that, just ragin that we cant score to save ourselves

 

He is a disgrace for what he done ,Driver got up from that tackle but it could have went terribly wrong for him ,John Kennedy comes to mind and McManus works with him ,i would kick him out for what he done ,utter disgrace.

 

If he doesn't publicly apologise to Andrew Driver I'd strip him of the captaincy. That was just not acceptable what he did tonight.

 

want a bad tackle at all, he had to do it, so=imple as

he only tripped him, its not as fi he went in to hurt him

 

A full swing when the ball is about 10feet away ,what were you watching.

 

It was a disgraceful challenge, fully deserved his red and should be utterly embarrassed about it.

I don't think he should be playing never mind being captain, that cynical challenge just confirms that he shouldn't be captain, only problem is we have no captain in the team, we badly need a leader.

 

bad tackle ...yes red card....yes scummy * ref....yes stripping him of captaincy .... no * way he was frustrated wanted his team to win surley thats a good thing for a celtic captain our team is full of timid characters just like the manager shy and timid we need some one who snarls and gets angry to be captain and mcmanus seems to be the only who is angry with the teams form so he should be captain if not him boruc wish neil lennon was in that dugout

 

stephen mcmanus should never wear a celtic jersey again,,that was assault pure and simple,
he should be heavily punnished by the club ,i cant recall a tackle like it ever,it wasent even a tackle ,mcmanus just launched himself at the hearts player intending one thing ,mcmanus is lucky not to have hurt driver,it could have been so much worse and mcmanus should be stripped of the captancy and demoted to the under 21s or what ever the reserves are called.

celtic captain ,,not in a million years

 

McManus is not a captain. He is struggling to justify his place in the team let alone being there as a leader and captain.

Cynical tackles occur every day in football.

But to me the telling thing is that he did not have the ability to position himself in a better manner to prevent Driver getting past him. Driver absolutely skinned McManus. McManus is really not good enough. I am sure he tries his hardest but along with Mowbray and a few others at this Club they are a poor standard compared to the champions that have worn the Celtic strip in it's history.

 

Not only that, but the fact that his actions took valuable time away from the game annoys me even more. I know that the ball was in our own half, but we were hammering the ball into the Hearts box at this point, and we were getting chances. We still had a minute and a half left, and although it may seem a bit hopeful, how many times have we scored in injury time? He effectively ended the game with that tackle, instead of letting play continue and maybe giving us one more opportunity to get the ball in the box. I'm not even going to begin to start talking about how he doesn't deserve to be captain, because that tackle speaks for itself.

 

spot on, valid point...he was using up time we needed to get the ball down into their box to score...

 

That was poor. Thanks to where I am at the moment, the feed I got through the net was less than impressive, and I initially didn't realise how late he was. Wasn't til I watched it again, to see just how blatently cynical that was. Well done to the officials for making the correction, for had he gotten off simply with a caution the rules state that retrospective action could not be taken, as the referee had been seen to have dealt with the issue.

I hope that the club make it abundantly clear that such behaviour is completely unacceptable, and hit him with a severe fine & strip him of the captaincy. Its a pity that we have no other CB option, as Caldwell deserves to be dropped and McManus deserves to be issued with a seperate suspension from the club, beyond whatever the SFA hand out.

CB must be the number one priority come January.

Edit - On the subject of the captaincy, I'd be interested in seeing what Boruc could offer, given that he is not shy about giving his defenders a blast when its deserved, and we all know about his passion & commitment. If an outfield player was the preferred option, maybe give Hinkel a shot? He may not be perfect, but has proven to be one of our most consistant & reliable players since his arrival. He is no McGrain, but at least he may be able to lead by example, in the same manner that Paul Lambert, Jackie McNamara or Tommy Boyd were able to.

 

I think there was more behind this tackle than just frustration with the match. I wouldn't be surprised if it's his last action for the club.

 

There is problems in that dressing room, what stracham said was spot on, there is only going to be trouble ahead, and wee gordon will get the last laugh.

Mick the captain

Big tony a good celtic man, just hope those fans are proud of what they wished for. sad sad day.

 

I left as he was just making the tackle, didnt even know he had been sent off......couldnt care less either. He was poor again. just hope its a blessing in disguise. Get young Josh Thompson in and hopefully he can do better.

 

Anyone else done it would be different story.

 

As much as I like Hinkel, he is not a leader mate.
Robson is the only player with the commitment to be captain. IMO

 

Appreciate what you are saying & I rate Robson also.

One of the criteria I was looking at was to select from one of the players who, if fit, has been playing. Although Robson is making his way back into the first team frame, Mowbray has been chopping and changing his central midfield pairing regularly, which may be contrivuting to the problem.

I agree, that Robson is one of the few players in the squad capable of taking the game by the scruff of the neck and making a difference, however it remains to be seen if TM will give him a regular start now he is nearly back to full fitness.