Manchester United loanee Hannibal Mejbri gave Birmingham City boss John Eustace “slight heart problems” during the Blues’ 2-0 win against Queens Park Rangers.
Having picked up a booking in the seventh minute of Friday night’s Championship clash at St Andrew’s, the talented 19-year-old had to walk a disciplinary tightrope for the remainder of the game to avoid getting sent off.
However, early in the second half referee Tim Robinson opted not to show the 18-time Tunisia international after he tripped fellow United loanee Ethan Laird much to QPR boss Michael Beale’s dismay.
“I like that boy,” Beale said via BirminghamLive. “He has got loads of personality and I have seen him play, he is a good player, he gets a little bit excited, and I think John had his heart in his mouth and obviously he made the right call to get him off.
“John was very tenacious when he played so I am sure he likes that. As I say I don’t want to sit here and talk about a boy getting sent off, but I think the referee has got to do his job there. I think everyone would probably agree that’s a yellow card.”
Following Hannibal’s foul on Manchester United teammate Laird, Eustace brought the former Monaco starlet straight off.
Hannibal Mejbri gave Eustace ‘slight heart problems’
Speaking about what was going through his mind when Hannibal made the attempted tackle on Laird, Eustace told Sky Sports via BirminghamLive: “Hannibal plays on the edge, he is such a good player, he did give me slight heart problems when he made that tackle.”
Eustace explained that he would speak to Hannibal about avoiding the attention of referees.
Eustace said: “I was contemplating bringing him off at half time if I am going to be honest. I spoke to him, spoke to the staff, he assured me he’d be OK. I think it lasted about four minutes.
“It’s something we have got to watch but he plays on the edge, that’s why he’s so good, a top player. I am certainly not going to stop him doing what he does but he has to realise the importance of managing the games at times.
“He is a 19-year-old footballer, he is learning his trade and we are going to speak to him about it for sure. There were lots of cynical fouls going on in the first half from both teams, Hanni got booked early on, I get that.
“He didn’t get sent off, so it makes no difference to me, we brought him off because he was running the risk and that’s it. He might have got sent off on another day and when he made that tackle, I thought ‘I have got to get him off’.”
Since moving to St Andrew’s on a season-long loan, Birmingham’s number six has made 11 appearances, four of which have been starts, and he has three bookings to his name.
In the win against QPR, Hannibal registered his first assist for the Blues having passed to Emmanuel Longelo who scored an individual effort having cut inside from the left wing.
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