BAIRNS STANDING BY O’HARA
CHAMPIONSHIP LATEST Hartley blasts 8-game ban as too ‘severe’
PAUL HARTLEY insists Falkirk will stand by Kevin O’Hara and described his eight-match ban for abusing Dunfermline’s Dean Shiels over his missing eye as “severe”.
O’Hara was found guilty of excessive misconduct by the SFA in a Hampden hearing last Thursday with the Bairns striker, 19, ineligible until their January 2 clash with the Pars.
Shiels, who had his right eye removed in 2006 after losing his sight following an accident when he was eight, was mocked during Falkirk’s 2-0 Irn-Bru Cup win last month.
O’Hara’s team-mate Joe McKee also faces a SFA disciplinary hearing today after being charged with the same offence.
The Championship club plan to examine the ruling body’s reasons for the length of the ban before weighing up an appeal against the suspension’s severity.
Hartley said: “It’s disappointing for the lad in terms of the length of the ban. We understand the situation, he is going to be missing football for a long time.
“He is a young man coming into the game, he did make a mistake but it’s a long time to be out of football, with no football whatsoever.
“We think it’s a severe ban. I do, although other people might not think that. He’s not a bad lad. Anybody who knows him, he is a good boy.
“Something happened he regrets and we have to make sure he is okay mentally. We’ve got to try to keep him right in terms of his whole demeanour – mentally and physically.
“I’ve got to look at my player and how this will affect him in the long run, he is a young man.
“Tell me anybody who has not made a mistake in football? He came on the scene at a young age with a lot of expectation on his shoulders, so as a club we’ll be there for him and as a manager I’ll be there for him.”
O’Hara’s ban also extends to Development League matches and Hartley insists the club will do all they can to ensure the player remains in shape.
He added: “He’s just got to train as hard as he can, organise maybe some closed door games just to keep him right. Hopefully he’ll come back because he has got a lot of talent, the kid.”