St Mirren boss McLeish charged by SFA for referee criticism

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. St Mirren fixtures: Buddies kick off new season at FalkirkCan the new Scottish Premiership season top the best campaign in decades?Scottish Premiership A-Z for the new seasonScottish Premiership: Every match across opening weekend live on Sky SportsMcLeish 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. Image: Referee Sean Murdoch made over 100 appearances for Dunfermline 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." A hearing has been set for August 27. Rangers manager Derek McInnes was hit with a four-match ban for breaching the same rule when Hearts boss. Image: Derek McInnes will be in the dugout for Rangers's season opener after appealing his ban 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.