'Binya The Jail Is Lucky To Avoid'

Nov 11 2007 John Hillcoat

I HAVE no doubt the butcher of Benfica Augustin Binya tried to "do" Scott Brown last Tuesday night and the police, never mind UEFA, should have got involved.

Let's face it, if someone launched an assault like that outside a nightclub on a Saturday night the cops would be all over them like a tramp eating a kebab.

Binya's horrendous knee-high tackle on the Celtic and Scotland midfielder left millions of us gasping for breath and covering our eyes as if we were watching our first ever horror movie.

Brown can thank his lucky stars he is a young man and his joints and ligaments are still supple.

If he was 10 years older the outcome could have been devastating.

But what annoys me is that Binya's horror show will be quickly forgotten because Brown escaped serious injury.

Folk don't remember the tackles that "nearly" hurt someone, just the bad ones. That shouldn't be the case though.

Football is a contact sport but guys like Binya must not be allowed to forget that his assault could have been a hell of a lot worse if it hadn't been for Brown's flexibility and also lady luck.

I have seen hundreds of shocking tackles over the years but can only remember the really gruesome ones and that is terrible on my part.

They shouldn't only be judged on the damage inflicted, but also on intent.

The first bad challenge to stick in my memory was from one of my heroes - Liverpool and Scotland legend Graeme Souness.

Who could forget his infamous lunge at Hibs striker George McCluskey during his debut for Rangers in 1986 at Easter Road?

But it wasn't until about 10 years later after seeing the damage up close that I lost some respect f o r Souness.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I met up with McCluskey at Clyde and he showed me his permanent reminder of that day - a huge scar on his knee.

It looked as if someone had glued a Nik-Nak crisp to his leg.

But there's one former player who easily matched fearsome Souness in the bone-crunching stakes. Step forward St Mirren's Scottish Cup-winning captain Billy Abercrombie.

Players during the 70s and 80s feared Abber because they knew the midfielder was always ready to dish out some belters.

Even in training the hard man would be up to his tricks like standing on team-mates' fingers as they hit the deck after one of his "enthusiastic" tackles.

And long before Bobo Balde had a song in his honour, Saints fans used Abber's style of play to intimidate the opposition.

Every time a rival player got the ball the Love Street faithful would chant, "Abber's gonnae get ye" as if he was St Mirren's version of the bogeyman.

To be fair, every second guy you meet on the streets of Paisley could easily pass as the bogeyman.

I should know, I live there!

Mean while, my congratulations go to former Ayr United players John Murphy, Sam McMillan and Henry Templeton who will be inducted into the club's Hall of Fame on Friday.

I enjoyed my two-year stint at the Honest Men like a hole in the head due to the unfairway Campbell Money was treated towards the end of his managerial reign there.

But Is till appreciate they are a great club with a solid fanbase who have been treated to some quality players over the years.

Murphy, McMillan and Templeton join the late, great Ally MacLeod, Peter Price and Ian McAllister who were inducted last year.

John "Spud" Murphy is Ayr's longest servant with 585 appearances.

McMillan closely follows with 517 and is also their second highest scorer of all time after notching 127 goals over the years.

And who could forget wee Templeton, arguably the most popular Honest Man in the last 25 years, who dazzled a generation with his unbelievable skill and talent under MacLeod in the mid-80s.

The fitting tribute will be held for the trio at Somerset Park on Friday.

Given their immense popularity with the fans I have no doubt they could have sold the gaff out three times over.

Well done guys, forever Ayr United legends.