Gabby Agbonlahor was fuming at the Premier League after it was announced that sanctions could be put in place for celebrations after what Everton ace Iliman Ndiaye did against Brighton.
In the Toffees’ game against the Seagulls last time out, the Senegal international bagged the only goal of the game and celebrated by imitating the movements of a seagull in front of the Brighton fans.
In the end, the former Sheffield United man received a yellow card for his actions and now it seems to have got the Premier League to think about imposing sanctions on players who do inappropriate celebrations.
While speaking live on talkSPORT (5 February, 17:20pm), Agbonlahor and Andy Goldstein shared their thoughts on the proposed sanctions.
“This [Premier League sanctions for celebrations] comes after a weekend of controversial goal celebrations with Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye who received a yellow card after he scored against Brighton and celebrated by flapping his arms like a seagull,” Goldstein said.
Agbonlahor then responded sarcastically with: “Don’t wind me up, how dare you do that on a pitch.”
Goldstein then added: “How dare he become a seagull. I tell you what, there’s some things in football, what’s his name I don’t want to forget get it, Tony Scholes, it’s embarrassing that he has such an unbelievably great surname but he sounds like an absolute plonker.
“There are some things in football that don’t need to be looked at, some things in football that don’t need to be commented on because there is nothing wrong with them.”
Iliman Ndiaye started this situation with Everton
While the blame can’t be solely placed upon the head of Ndiaye, it certainly seems that the ruckus that has emerged from him receiving a yellow card for his celebration has got people’s heads turning.
Any normal football fans will know that as long as a celebration isn’t derogatory or in any way harmful then it’s just a bit of banter.
Players are always going to want to prove to their own fans that they have a bit about them and, as Ndiaye has been the Toffees’ star man this term, he evidently wanted to give Everton’s fans something extra to smile about.
His imitation of a seagull was by no means harmful to anyone in any way and more often than not, if a celebration is funny, it gets more eyes on it than some parts of the actual game.
There have been plenty of examples such as Emmanuel Adebayor’s sprint towards the Arsenal fans or even Wayne Rooney’s after he got knocked out by Phil Bardsley.
These moments were never sanctionable and if a rule that states they should comes in, it just wouldn’t feel worthwhile.
