St Johnstone star, Adama Sidibeh, has been fined for falling for “the oldest trick in the book” at Tannadice and picking up a second red card that will likely lead to a lengthy ban.
Perth boss, Craig Levein, doesn’t want to see a repeat of the loss of temper and retaliation Sidibeh dished out to Kevin Holt after he was harshly penalised for a challenge on Will Ferry.
But he WON’T be telling the 26-year-old to change the way he competes for the ball against opposition goalkeepers, despite United manager, Jim Goodwin, suggesting an incident involving Jack Walton was also worthy of an ordering off.
“Adama has apologised for what happened on Saturday and he will be fined for it,” said Levein.
“It was the age-old one.
“He took the bait and the red mist came down.
“It’s the oldest trick in the book but he wasn’t savvy enough to realise the United players were at the capers and he fell for it.
“Adama isn’t someone you watch in training and see he’s got a short fuse or anything.
“It was out of character.
“A few things didn’t quite go his way on Saturday so he was frustrated at himself.
“That situation arose and he was naive, so he’s paying the price for it.”
‘He’s all-in’
On the clash with Walton, which Goodwin described as “dangerous”, Levein backed his centre-forward.
“Adama only had one thought, watch the ball and run like ****,” he said.
“He’s all-in and it was one I would want my striker going into.
“That’s what he does.
“You see it every week all over the park – he is so committed to getting on the end of things.
“He only has one gear – fifth. He doesn’t have anything else.
“He runs at the same speed all the time, which is absolutely flat out.
“When he’s going to the shops I’d imagine he runs there like that too!
“The way he plays, you can see him getting yellow cards for aggression.
“It’s not dirty and trying to hurt people, it’s just the way he is.
“What do you do, do you tell him to only run at 90% instead?
“We’re not going to do that.
“He’s not caused any damage using his pace and power yet.
“It’s why our supporters love him.
“They see someone who gives absolutely everything in every single game.
“Every time he puts the jersey on, it’s 100% and one hundred miles an hour.
“He’s scored a few goals and he’s exciting to watch – that’s why he’s so popular.”
Transfer speculation
Sidibeh, who is set to get his second call-up for The Gambia, has been at the centre of transfer speculation for a couple of months.
Levein observed: “Has all the speculation around him helped?
“Maybe not.
“But that’s not something we can control.
“He’s said sorry for losing his temper and he’ll learn from it, so as far as we’re concerned it’s done now.
“We’re hoping he will be in the Gambia squad for next month’s games and it might do him good to get away playing for them for a couple of weeks.”
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