HEARTS manager Craig Levein insists referee Bobby Madden lost control of yesterday’s tempestuous stalemate – but Hamilton counterpart Martin Canning believes the official got the major decisions spot on.
Levein, who saw Jamie Brandon collect a second yellow card 10 minutes before the interval for an elbow on Antonio Rojano, was sent to the stand in the second half and was joined by assistant Austin MacPhee seven minutes later.
Despite being a man down, Hearts went ahead in the 47th minute with a stunning free-kick from Jamie Walker, but were denied their first win in seven matches after Xavier Tomas headed in a 69th-minute equaliser.
However, most of the talking points of the ill-tempered clash centre around the dugout controversy.
Levein was ordered to the stand by Madden, who issued a total of 10 bookings, in the 51st minute in bizarre circumstances.
Madden ran to the touchline to confront the animated Levein, but the Hearts manager refused to budge when the official summoned him to the touchline.
Following a brief stand-off, the whistler then pointed to the stand.
Levein was just as bemused by the decision to dismiss his number two following a mass melee by the dugouts.
MacPhee and Accies midfielder Darian MacKinnon, who had already been booked, both fell over as they grappled for the ball.
The police even had to intervene during the angry exchanges as players and both benches got involved.
Asked if the official lost control, Levein said: “Those are your words. I'd agree with that.
"It was just the amount of mistakes he was making. I was frustrated by that.
"I have no idea why he sent me off. He never told me.
"Do I think he should have came to me? He ran 25 yards, why not run another five?
"Other than just to show who's the gaffer. It's stupid, eh?"
Levein, who claimed Rojano should get ‘10 out of 10 for squealing over Brandon’s dismissal, was also furious that MacKinnon did not receive a second yellow for his tangle with MacPhee.
He added: “I don't know how Austin can get blamed for that situation,
"He had a hold of the ball and he was rugby-tackled.
"If one player is holding the ball on the field and another player rugby tackles him, what happens?
"Both players then get penalised.
"My point is that even if Austin is holding the ball and then gets rugby-tackled, on the pitch they both get booked.”
But Canning insists Madden made the correct call over the incident between MacPhee and MacKinnon and accused the Hearts coach of trying to get his player sent off.
Canning, whose side ended a run of 14 straight losses at Tynecastle, said: “He didn’t rugby tackle him, when you see it back Austin MacPhee pulled him on top of him.
“He has completely provoked him and that’s why he’s been sent to the stand because the referee and fourth official can see exactly what I see.
“I’ve had to remove a player from the pitch because one of the coaches has literally pulled him on top of him to try and get him sent off, so that’s why I’m pleased with my team’s mentality and their professionalism to maintain their discipline.”
Asked about Leven’s comments over Rojano, Canning said: “I’m going to defend my player.
“When I see it close up it will probably just confirm what I thought in the first place, which was that he swung an arm and caught him in the face and I would like to see anyone else take an elbow to the face and not squeal.”
There were also more teething problems in the new £12 million main stand. Kick off was delayed 15 minutes due to a rogue fire alarm that caused the stadium to be evacuated, while there was also a power outage towards the end of the game.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel