St Mirren boss McLeish charged by SFA for referee criticism

The Buddies boss made the comments following their League Cup defeat to Dunfermline; St Mirren kick off their new Scottish Premiership campaign at Falkirk on Saturday, live on Sky Sports; all six matches across the opening weekend of the season will be live on Sky Sports for the first time

>St Mirren manager Craig McLeish has been charged by the Scottish FA over comments he made about referee Sean Murdoch.

>It followed their League Cup tie against Dunfermline last week, where McLeish was frustrated that a free-kick went against his side in the first half, which resulted in a goal being disallowed, before a penalty was awarded to their opponents in the closing stages.

>When discussing those decisions, McLeish said "who was he a goalkeeper for?", referencing Murdoch - who played for Dunfermline over two spells.

>McLeish later insisted he was joking and not questioning the impartiality of the official, and he has told Sky Sports News he is "disappointed" by the action.

>However, the Scottish FA has charged the 36-year-old for breaching disciplinary rule 72, which forbids people from publicly criticising decisions and/or criticising the performance of any match officials in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence.

>A club statement read: "St Mirren Football Club acknowledges the Notice of Complaint from the Scottish FA against manager Craig McLeish. The club will fully assess the notice before determining our next steps. We will make no further comment at this time."

>Rangers manager Derek McInnes was hit with a four-match ban for breaching the same rule when Hearts boss.

>In May, the 55-year-old described the decision to award Celtic a late match-winning penalty at Motherwell as "disgusting" as the title race took another twist.

>Three of those games were due to be served immediately but Rangers have since appealed the punishment, meaning he can take to the dugout on Friday as Rangers visit Dundee Utd in their season opener on Sky Sports.

>Meanwhile, former Motherwell player Elliot Watt was also handed a four-match ban by the SFA for describing that penalty award as the "worst VAR decision in history".

>The Fir Park side were fined £5,000 after their own social media post following that match.

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