Clarke to contest SFA charge of misconduct over rant against referee Mclean
Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke will contest his latest Scottish Football Association charge following his rant at referee Steven Mclean last week.
Stuart Findlay, Kirk Broadfoot and Rory Mckenzie were sent off in the 1-0 Ladbrokes Premiership defeat by Aberdeen at Rugby Park – the latter’s red card rescinded on appeal – and afterwards Clarke described the official’s performance as “the worst” he had ever seen.
The former West Brom boss called for Mclean never to officiate at a Kilmarnock match again, claiming the fact that his father Stuart was a former player at the club had again affected his performance in a game involving the Ayrshire outfit.
Clarke’s hearing date is Thursday 9 May. He was given a suspended two-game ban in October for criticising the Scottish FA’S disciplinary process.
The former Chelsea and St Mirren defender was in no mood to expand on the issue but said: “I will go and see the SFA again. That’s it.
“I haven’t really thought about it. I have been busy this week preparing two appeals and preparing a team to play Celtic so I haven’t really given it too much thought.”
Clarke, pictured, was surprised that Broadfoot’s appeal for the punishment given for challenging Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis was rejected, saying: “Yes. It was a genuine attempt to play the ball.”
Therugbyparkboss“expected” Mckenzie to be successful after he was shown a red card for tangling with Dom Ball, saying: “He didn’t kick the guy three times which was on the report.”
Though among those tipped for the vacant Scotland manager’s job, Clarke added: “I don’t speak about Scotland. I have to concentrate on the Kilmarnock job between now and the end of the season.” With Findlay and Broadfoot suspended and Scott Boyd out with a long-term knee injury, while on-loan midfielder Youssouf Mulumbu cannot play against his parent club and winger Jordan Jones is still out with a shoulder injury, Clarke faces a selection dilemma for the trip to Parkhead.
He said: “I am missing my three first-choice central defenders, I am missing Youssouf Mulumbu and Jordan Jones.
“I think if we get through training today without any injuries and there are no illnesses overnight, we will have a full squad of 18 players.
“We were disappointed to lose three points to Aberdeen last week so we have a threepoint gap that we have to make upbetweennowandtheendof the season.”