Livingston attacker Scott Robinson has defended Ryan Christie, and has stated that there are “no hard feelings” after Sunday.
Gary Holt was the first to back Christie from the Livi side after Sunday’s match (The Scotsman). The Scotland international was sent off for a nasty challenge on Robinson. It ended up resulting in a shocking 2-0 win for Livingston, with much of the focus being on that Christie challenge.
The fallout has been venomous. The attacker has quit social media due to the abuse, and things have taken a dark turn over the last couple of days since the result.
Robinson was the man who suffered the challenge. But instead of having a pop at Christie, he did his best to defend his intentions. Speaking to the Scottish Sun, Robinson acknowledged that the challenge wasn’t in Christie’s nature.
“He didn’t speak to me but I know he is not that type of player, so no hard feelings. I just know that I got caught pretty high but I would need to see it back.
“All the boys were saying I was quite lucky. It is tender now, a wee bit swollen. I am hoping it will not to be too bad.
“It is maybe just heat of the moment. I don’t think he’s that type. He maybe thought I was over-reacting. I rolled a bit. That was just the initial reaction.”
Fair play to Livingston for their reaction
There has to be an element of respect paid to our Premiership rivals here. They aren’t keen on twisting the knife on Christie, and Robinson’s comments are similar to that of his manager.
Everyone knows it was a mistake and nothing more. Livingston probably know they got away with one too when Keaghan Jacobs lunged in Jonny Hayes. Interestingly, that hasn’t been given anywhere near the same coverage.
You could argue that Jacobs’ was even worse given the pace and nature of the lunge. It was a shocker, but it hasn’t been given half of the press coverage that Christie’s has.
That’s not us trying to defend Christie for the tackle, but it has to be put into perspective. Livingston themselves are probably surprised at how much has been made of the challenge.
Robinson’s comments here don’t show much anger. He knows fine well it’s not in Christie’s game to go out and hurt the opponent. He clearly wasn’t as hurt as he made out, as his comments also suggest here.
But Livi have helped calm this all down over the last couple of days. Winning the game has no doubt subsequently helped their gracious attitude. But in any case, it’s yet more confirmation that Christie deserves a break.
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