Sergio angry with himself after landing five-game ban from dugout for tirade

Published on Friday 18 November 2011 00:37

PAULO Sergio has decided not to appeal against the five-match ban handed down to him yesterday by an SFA disciplinary tribunal, saying he had learned his lesson after being found guilty of misconduct.

The Hearts manager was sent from the dugout after thumping it during his team’s league match against Kilmarnock at the end of last month, but before leaving the technical area he engaged in an angry confrontation with referee Alan Muir. What would normally be a two-match ban for the dismissal was more than doubled as a result of that confrontation, meaning the Portuguese coach will be barred from the dugout for his team’s games against Dundee United, Inverness, St Johnstone, Celtic and Dunfermline.

He will return for the home match against Motherwell on Christmas Eve.

“I’m angry at myself for the way I reacted,” he said on the Hearts website last night. “I’ve learned my lesson. This is only the second time this has happened to me in my career. My focus is on the game against Dundee United and doing what is best for Hearts. We’ll work on a plan for Saturday and try to bring the three points back to Tynecastle.”

Sergio did not appear in person at the Glasgow hearing, deciding his priority was to take training at Riccarton. It is thought he had asked if the time of the hearing could be rearranged to allow him to attend, but the request was declined. Sergio was charged under Rule 203, which states: “No member of team staff shall commit misconduct at a match, including but not limited to committing acts of the kind described in the Schedule of Offences in Annex C ... , breaching the post-match protocol and committing unacceptable conduct.” The long list of offences with which a member of team staff can be charged includes “prolongation of the incident; combination of different offences; continued use of offensive, abusing and/or insulting language and/or behaviour; calling a match official a cheat and/or calling a match official’s integrity into question; failure to comply with a match official’s requests; adoption of aggressive behaviour towards a match official”.

Yesterday was the second time in recent weeks that Sergio has appeared before the SFA. On the first occasion, when he was charged because of comments he made about match official Iain Brines at a press conference, he was found guilty on two counts but only censured.

Taken from the Scotsman