I’ve always found the SFA appeals process a pain – ever since a doctor on a three-man Hampden panel questioned my tackle after a derby day draw at Tynecastle.
No not that tackle. Although the outcome of the trip to Hampden was a severe boot in the privates. The doc asked if I really needed to go in on a challenge with Hibs skipper James McPake that had been missed by ref Willie Collum but had seen me hit with a two-game retrospective ban by the SFA.
I said: “With all due respect, would I tell you how to go about cutting into an artery?” The appeals process is still a shambles and Hearts’ decision this week not to challenge Alex Cochrane’s red card against Celtic for fear of his ban being extended just sums it all up. It’s a cop out in my opinion. A weak stance. Hearts should have been stronger than that. It brought infuriating memories back from that episode a decade ago when I found myself at the centre of that appeals system – twice.
Of course we challenged the ban for the new year derby tackle on McPake. Bizarrely if Willie Collum had booked me at the time they’d not have been able to hit me with the after-the-event punishment. Just another layer of absurd to the whole rulebook.
But this was when I got a first hand look at what the judicial process really consists of. I walked into a room at Hampden and three guys were sitting – the doctor, a lawyer and a referee – with my tackle playing on a loop in slow motion on a TV beside them.
Now any challenge is going to look worse in slow motion. But when the doctor questioned if I had to go in for the tackle then I knew I had no chance of winning.
It’s a 50/50 in a derby for goodness sake. If I’d not gone in for the challenge I’d have had my boss, team mates and 20,000 Hearts fans to answer to. No surprise we lost the appeal, I was hit with the suspension and the club lost the £1000 fee into the bargain.
But that was just the start. Two games after returning from my spell on the naughty step we travelled to Tannadice and Willie was in charge again.
Twenty-five minutes in and he had the red card in my face for a challenge with Gary Mackay-Steven. I’ll always remember United midfielder John Rankin saying he couldn’t believe he sent me off. I didn’t even catch Gary. But as soon as I made the tackle the card was out his pocket.
We really should have appealed. But Hearts were in administration and skint so couldn’t afford to risk losing another grand.
I sat down with manager John McGlynn and the board and was prepared to pay the money myself. But the big fear was to lose another appeal and they might increase the ban which was already set at three games this time.
We accepted it and lost all three of those games against Killie, Inverness and St Mirren. It’s completely different circumstances now and Hearts should not be running scared of appealing Cochrane’s red card against Celtic.
I understand they saw what happened with Graeme Shinnie getting the extra game when Aberdeen challenged his sending off – which is another shambolic rule – and feared similar might happen to Cochrane.
But the stature of the club then they should have been standing up to this. If Cochrane got hit with an extra ban like Shinnie then it would give Aberdeen’s case for changing the rulebook even more strength.
Clubs should all be getting behind the Dons because that rule is a joke. It puts clubs off appealing. Especially smaller clubs with smaller squads.
In a fair system everyone should have the right to appeal without fear of being punished further. Especially on borderline decisions like Cochrane’s. He’ll now miss massive games against St Mirren and Aberdeen.
The trip to Paisley this afternoon is must win. And three points would all but seal a top five finish but Hearts need to have bigger aspirations.
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