Vaclav Cerny has been warned ‘you can’t do that here at Ibrox’ after his reaction towards the Rangers support.
The winger was accused of telling the home support ‘where to go’ during their 1-0 win over Hibs in the Scottish Premiership Sunday lunchtime kick-off. The home side grabbed all three points thanks to Tom Lawrence’s stunner in front of a packed out crowd. However – despite being denied from the penalty spot by Jack Butland – the Hibees upped the pressure in the second period with the loan signing facing some criticism from the home support.
Sky Sports cameras caught the Czech Republic international throwing his hands up in the air in response to groans from the Ibrox faithful as he appeared to shout towards the stands. Neil McCann, speaking on commentary at the time, said: “I tell you what, Cerny needs to calm himself down. He has actually having a go at the fans there – the fans are really unhappy he’s not opened up his body with the ball inside and he’s remonstrated. He has thrown his arms up and told them where to go”
Former Rangers goalkeeper and now pundit Cammy Bell offered his own analysis of the situation on Sportscene. He told the winger you just CAN’T react in that way and have to get on with your game. He reckons Philippe Clement would have shared a similar message in his ear as the cameras also caught the Belgian boss in conversation with him after he was replaced just shy of the 70 minute mark.
Bell said: “I don’t think you can do that here at Ibrox. It is new here for [Vaclav] Cerny here at Ibrox. They’ve been playing at Hampden. The frustrations of the fans, you can feel it on the pitch when you are a player but you can’t react to it and just have to get on with your game. There are huge expectations, which is right enough from the Rangers fans. But Cerny can’t react. I think that is what Clement would have said when he subbed him, you need to hold your emotions in and try concentrate on your game.”
Post-match Clement played down the incident despite whipping the winger off just seconds later. He explained: “It was just about keeping focus on the game in the heat of the moment. He loves the fans and the fans love him, so nothing special. I just spoke with him about the game and the story we’re making better and better. He didn’t play too many games last season so we need to raise his level in that way to be able to perform every two days and that’s a normal story.”
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