BY IAIN COLLIN – Capital City Press
Peter Houston insists he will accept any punishment coming his way from the SFA but is hopeful the disciplinary panel see things from his perspective when he presents his case later this month.
The Falkirk manager had until Tuesday to respond to an allegation of breaching SFA rule 72 in a Falkirk TV interview in the wake of the recent 3-1 defeat to Rangers.
He is accused of ‘criticising the decisions and performance of the match officials in such a way as to indicate bias and incompetence on their part, and which also impinged upon their character’.
The Bairns boss – who initially expected to be reported for swearing at referee John McKendrick, but was not – will now appear before a hearing at Hampden on October 29, with a possible touchline ban hanging over him if found guilty of the charge.
The former Scotland number two, however, is keen to explain his comments, which were sparked by anger over McKendrick’s decision to award Rangers a 81st-minute free-kick, from which James Tavernier put Rangers 2-1 ahead.
Houston said: “The referee’s cleared me of a lot of the headlines. He’s not accused me of swearing or that would have been in his report.
“But I’m up for my interview with Falkirk TV and I’ve to clear up a couple of things. Sometimes they can be put different ways and people take different perspectives.
Have a blether
“I’ll speak to them about it and, at the end of the day, I hope they listen to my side of the story.
“We had until Tuesday to respond and we sent an email to say we’ll go and see them on the 29th and have a blether about it.
“Whatever they decide from there, I’ll go with, whether it’s punishment or no punishment. I’ll bite the bullet.
“I can’t deny I did the interview but I want to put what I said into my context and see what context they have put it in.”
@IainCollin
