Skondrastic
Canning; Red-card star’s ban and hefty fine could be a disaster for Accies
MARTIN CANNING has warned Ioannis Skondras to tame his ways after the hot-headed Greek sparked a mass brawl that could cost Hamilton £10,000.
The Accies defender faces a lengthy ban after the SFA charged him with excessive misconduct for igniting the melee that marred the end of Saturday’s home clash with Ross County.
Skondras has been accused of throwing a punch at County’s Kenny van der Weg and if found guilty he could be banned for up to 16 games under the SFA’s rules.
But even more costly could be the £10,000 fine that his club may face after both sides were cited by the Compliance Officer for the behaviour of their players near the end of Hamilton’s dramatic 3-2 win.
Such a hefty financial hit is the last thing Accies need after recently revealing they have been the victim of an online scam that robbed them of up to £1million.
With that in mind Canning will appeal for the SFA to be lenient on the club – but Skondras won’t be let off lightly by his manager as he made it clear he can never lose the plot like that again.
Canning said: “Ioannis can’t react the way he reacted. It all kicked off when van Der Weg got involved in something I don’t think he needed to get involved in.
“It’s unfortunate. He will need to learn from it. He’s an experienced enough player and shouldn’t be doing it.
“But he’s in a foreign country, the game here is competitive on a Saturday.
“There was so much at stake and given the way the game has gone, with a late goal, passions were high. But you need to be controlled better.”
More worrying for Canning is the potential fine the club could face.
Accies appealed for the SFA to take their current financial plight into consideration when it comes to imposing punishment.
And while Skondras will automatically miss Saturday’s game against Partick Thistle for the straight red card, Canning has no problem with the delay over the festive break before the additional discipline proceedings begin.
He said: “I will appeal for the SFA not to be too harsh but that’s something for later. I’ll sit with the owners today and have a chat about it.
“Obviously there are reasons why it’s on January 11th and I’m sure the guys who make the decision don’t do so lightly.”