Brendan Rodgers has had his say on Vaclav Cerny’s ‘watergate’ nonsense after Rangers beat Celtic.
Cerny faces a ban from the SPFL after skooshing water in Celtic fans’ faces following Hamza Igamane’s winner in the Glasgow derby a fortnight ago.
The Czech was “petty and infantile” over his actions and it showed a total lack of respect for the hosts.
Manager Brendan Rodgers felt the same as he accused the player of lacking class and stepping over the line as cops launched a probe on Cerny’s incident.
Rodgers says Cerny ‘crossed a line’ for his Rangers celebrations vs Celtic
And after Barry Ferguson absolved Cerny in a predictable outcome from the Rangers interim head coach, Rodgers had a different opinion.
“My honest take is that I know the club are dealing with it,” he said. “I haven’t seen anything, because after the game I went away. You know when you lose a game of that magnitude you don’t read anything or listen to anything, you just get away.
“But I obviously heard what had happened and you can’t do that. That’s the reality.
“I understand the jubilation and Rangers players have every right to celebrate with their supporters. You come to Celtic Park, like it would be if we go to Ibrox, you win a game of that magnitude then you celebrate.
“But not in that way.”
It’s difficult to imagine any Celtic player in the current set-up acting the same way at Ibrox and Rodgers would be mortified if he did.
Cerny faces police probe for Celtic ‘watergate’ chaos
That, we suppose, is another difference between Glasgow’s big two clubs.
Asked if he would discipline his own stars for behaving in a similar fashion, Rodgers nodded.
“Yes, I would,” he said. “It’s disrespect, isn’t it?
“It’s a lack of respect if a player runs up a touchline and he’s squirting a water bottle in a supporter’s face. I certainly wouldn’t want my players to do that.
“In the main, the players do [behave] and listen, it works both ways and there’s a lot comes in to players as well from the stand to coaches, managers and players.
“But I think we all know there’s a line we shouldn’t cross.
“It’s an amazing fixture and an emotive game and I thought it was great to have the fans back in and that gave it an extra bit as well.
“But there’s lines and you can’t antagonise, especially in this fixture, because that can lead to an issue.”
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