What Celtic’s Mark Fotheringham said to Derek McInnes that sparked Hearts boss’ meltdown

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If Celtic fans want to know how easy it is to rattle Derek McInnes, all they need to do is celebrate a goal against his team.

Because that is, effectively, what caused the Hearts boss’ bizarre meltdown towards the Celtic dugout at Tynecastle on Sunday.

McInnes appeared to take umbrage at how the Celtic coaching staff celebrated Benjamin Nygren’s opening goal as the Tynecastle gaffer had to be ushered away from the Hoops technical area.

Celtic fans can watch McInnes’s embarrassing behaviour here, but what was it exactly that sparked such a reaction from a manager with decades in the game?

Former Hearts player Ryan Stevenson knows as he admits he saw what Celtic coach Mark Fotheringham did that irked McInnes so much.

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Mark Fotheringham’s provocative sign that annoyed McInnes after Celtic goal

McInnes really did get rattled when Benjamin Nygren’s Celtic goal hit the back of Hearts net. And here, Stevenson shares exactly how Fotheringham easily got under the Hearts boss’ skin.

Stevenson wrote in the Daily Record, “I saw what happened and Del was well within his rights to react to it the way he did.

“I think it was Mark Fotheringham who ran out and gave him the old ‘f* you’ sign. I’d have been straight in there after him as well.

“And I loved the way Del dealt with it after the game when he said he wasn’t happy about it but that it was just the actions of an ‘inexperienced’ coach.

“That was f**** brilliant!”

Martin O’Neill’s Celtic dugout reaction to McInnes meltdown

As for the Celtic manager, Stevenson praised O’Neill for not getting involved as he praised the Hoops legend for how he handled McInnes’ petulance.

Stevenson continued, “Good on Martin O’Neill as he didn’t bite. Yes, he said he wasn’t pleased with the red card but that’s what you’d expect him to say.

“He stayed away from the other stuff because he’s been around the block and he gets it too.

“This is the managerial dark arts we are watching between a couple of old school football men and it’s absolutely blockbuster stuff.”

Derek McInnes likes to dish it out but clearly cannot take it when it’s handed back. The Hearts boss’ childish attempts at trolling Celtic players in their pre-match warm-up came back to bite him.

And it’s clear he doesn’t like to be on the receiving end of the so-called ‘dark arts’ Stevenson claimed the Hearts boss was a master at.