Manchester United youngster Hannibal Mejbri was in the thick of the action for Birmingham City in the Championship on Saturday, with former United forward Mark Robins criticising his role in a red card.
The 19-year-old made his fourth appearance for the Blues when he came on as a substitute against Robins' Coventry City, and he'd only been on the pitch for 22 minutes of the goalless draw when he tussled with Sky Blues midfielder Gustavo Hamer.
Dutchman Hamer tangled with Hannibal and then kicked out at the Tunisian, and was given a straight red card by referee Graham Scott. It was the former Feyenoord man's second straight red of the season and he will now serve a four match ban.
Robins, who played for United between 1988 and 1992, once famously scoring a goal against Oldham in the FA Cup that many believe saved Sir Alex Ferguson's job, criticised his player after the match, but also felt that Hannibal was heavily involved in the red card.
“I didn’t see it in real time," Robins told reporters initially.
"I have seen it subsequently and it looked to me like Mejbri has grabbed hold of his legs, grabbed hold of him and then rolled and he’s done whatever he has done and you can’t really see from what I have looked at.
"But the eagle-eyed officials have seen it and seen fit to send him off. And it’s violent conduct so he misses four games.”
The incident is the latest in Hannibal's eventful young career, which infamously included a bust-up with teammate Alex Telles in a Manchester United training session at the back end of last season.
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick was still in charge of the squad at the time, and he was forced to intervene and bring the session to halt as the duo were said to have left their teammates 'stunned' by their actions.
The incident came not long after Hannibal - who was sent off in a Papa John's Trophy defeat at Lincoln last season - was praised by some in United quarters for showing a combative attitude in a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool in April.
The former Monaco youth came on as an 84th minute substitute at Anfield and was booked following a series of robust challenges on Liverpool players, picking up his yellow card after leaving Jordan Henderson in a heap.
United legend Gary Neville praised him after the match, saying: "To be fair at least the kid's showing something.
"Honestly, it takes a young kid to come on and show the rest of them how to sprint to the ball and put a challenge in. I'm actually proud of him.
"Maybe he doesn't like the idea of Liverpool passing around him, I wish the others were the same."
