MARK McGhee is hoping for a more "tolerant" referee for Aberdeen's Clydesdale Bank Premier League game against St Johnstone after the performance of match official Steven Nicholls dominated last week's defeat at Hibernian.
Nicholls' display proved to be the biggest talking point of the day when he showed red cards to Maurice Ross and Chris Maguire and cautioned six other players as the Dons ended the match with nine men.
McGhee admits the referee did stick to the le
tter of the law but the manager has called for more common sense in future, with Euan Norris set to take control of their match with Saints today.
"I think the referee was entitled within the rules to interpret all the bookings the way he did," he said. "Technically speaking, all of them could have been bookings and therefore he was entitled to send players off. What I would hope was that referees would look at it slightly differently and would be less inclined to book for such trivial and petty challenges. I hope for a more tolerant kind of referee, that's what I would hope for."
The Scottish Football Association has written to the club seeking an explanation after fierce criticism of Nicholls appeared on the official website in an unattributed article entitled 'Is common sense too much to hope for?'
McGhee added: "I've not read what was on the website, I've heard bits of it, and I'm not even sure who it has been attributed to yet. So there is an anonymous person at this football club who has made comments that have upset the authorities. There are guidelines which I think we are entitled to respect and if we've gone out of those guidelines – whoever the mystery man is – then we've obviously got something to answer. But I think the gist of what we were saying is that we are just looking for a bit of common sense."
Meanwhile, St Johnstone manager Derek McInnes has played down the prospect of his side easing into a top- six spot this weekend with a victory at Pittodrie today.
The SPL newcomers will complete the first quarter of the campaign against the Dons and if they pick up three points, and other results go their way, they will climb into the top half of the table. McInnes says it is too early to read anything into league placings, but admits his assessment of his side's performance in the first quarter has been mostly positive.
"If we can jump a few places it will be great but it would take three or four other results to go our way," he said.
"The first quarter can give you an indication of how you are doing but I think it will be the turn of the year before we get a fairer reflection of how things are going. However, in terms of performances this season I've been pleased. If we can take something from the Aberdeen game then it will be a good solid start to the campaign.
"I had every confidence that my players would perform in this league when we came up and we have acquitted ourselves well, although like every manager I am always looking for more points."
