St Mirren manager Craig McLeish has been cited by the SFA for comments about referee Sean Murdoch.
He made the remarks during a live TV interview following his side’s Premier Sports Cup defeat to Dunfermline. McLeish appeared to question Murdoch’s impartiality after Dunfermline's 1-0 win in Paisley.
The former Dunfermline goalkeeper Murdoch made two key decisions against McLeish's side. First, he called for a foul on Aston Oxborough by Eseosa Sule moments before Samuel Ramos scored what St Mirren believed was a legitimate goal.
Then, he awarded a late penalty for Marcus Fraser’s challenge on Keith Bray, which Chris Kane converted to send Dunfermline into the last 16.
As pundit Charlie Mulgrew suggested the referee might be siding with the “goalkeepers’ union”, McLeish responded: “Who was he a goalkeeper for?” When Mulgrew queried him, the Saints boss repeated: “Who was he a goalkeeper for?”
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However, McLeish has since tried to clarify his comments, insisting they were not meant to question Murdoch’s integrity. He said: "No, you can’t do that.
"That was just a tongue-in-cheek comment, nothing towards his preferences. He’s a professional doing his job; he’s made the decision, we have to live with it. We don’t think it should have been disallowed; he’s disallowed it.
"I didn’t know until we turned up that he was refereeing the game and we have no issue with it."
Despite this clarification, Hampden's disciplinary chiefs have issued an official Notice of Complaint to the manager.
St Mirren are likely to contest the charge.
