ALEX McLeish, the Hibernian manager, last night called for a major overhaul of the disciplinary points system use by the SFA to decide suspensions.
The Hibs coach described the present set-up as ''archaic,'' and he made it clear it was time for the governing body inScotland to review the whole formula that they have used for years.
His comments came after John O'Neil, the Hibs midfielder, had his appeal against a sending-off turned down by the SFA, who only told the player of the decision three hours before the start of the Edinburgh derby at Tynecastle yesterday, which ended 1-1.
McLeish clearly realised it was unlikely that the SFA would go against referee Kenny Clark and overturn his decision to send off O'Neil for aiming a kick at Claudio Rayna at Ibrox last Saturday, but the Hibs official was clearly frustrated at the way the matter was handled.
His comments are all part of a growing concern in the game, which was first voiced by Pat Nevin, the Motherwell chief executive, last season, that the points system which suspensions are based was out-dated.
McLeish made the point that, although it seems easier than ever for players to be booked, with referees ordered to be more strict, the SFA have never bothered to change the points thresholds which, when breached, leads to suspensions.
The Hibs coach said: ''I had a gut feeling that the SFA would end up siding with the referee, as if they had come down on our side, it would have been open season on referees and I don't want that.
''However, I am convinced of John's innocence, and we will back our players to the hilt if we feel that they have been badly treated.
''Because of that sending-off at Ibrox, John gets 12 points under the present disciplinary system, and we have to look at how the thing works as I think that it is archaic''
Turning his attention to last night's game, the Hibs coach admitted that it had felt like they had thrown away the chance to win after they missed a number of good chances early in the second half.
''For me that was two points dropped,'' said McLeish. ''Through a mixture of a bit of bad luck in front of goal and some good saves by Antti Niemi, we did not get that vital second goal.
''We have had two difficult away games in a row, at Ibrox and now Tynecastle, and I am very disappointed that we have only taken one point out of six considering all the hard work we put into both games.''
Craig Levein, the Hearts coach, conceded that there was a period in the second half when Hibs had carved through his team's defence ''like a knife through butter.
''During that time, Antti Niemi pulled off some great saves, however, I thought we worked very hard throughout,'' said Levein.
''I don't think we played brilliantly but we played OK and worked hard for 90 minutes, and that might have been one of the bits of criticism levelled at the team which lost 6-2 in the last Edinburgh derby.''
The Hearts coach said he was saddened by the fact that youngster Kenny Milne, whom he had been grooming to fill in the troublesome left-back role at the club, had picked up a knee injury against Hibs and would be out for around four to six weeks.
Gary McSwegan, the Hearts goalscorer, made it clear that the majority of supporters would be happy to take something from the Hibs game, especially after the last result.
There had been suggestions that the striker could be on his way out of Tynecastle as part of the club's cost-cutting exercise, but Levein yesterday made it clear he wanted to keep him at the club.
''It's been good to score in my last two games, and I want to remain at the club,'' said McSwegan, whose left-foot shot earned Hearts a share of the points yesterday after Hibs had gone ahead through a Stuart Lovell strike.
Match report Page 30
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