Clark's jibe at referee 'will be reviewed'

The St Johnstone manager, Sandy Clark, will have to wait for a decision on his fate after his comments criticising referee John Rowbotham after the 2-0 defeat by Celtic at McDiarmid Park on Tuesday night.

The St Johnstone manager, Sandy Clark, will have to wait for a decision on his fate after his comments criticising referee John Rowbotham after the 2-0 defeat by Celtic at McDiarmid Park on Tuesday night.

The Scottish Football Association General Purposes committee will not meet until next Tuesday and any immediate decision has been halted because of illness and holidays on the six-man committee.

"This is a matter which will be dealt with by the General Purposes Committee," an SFA spokesman said. "Press comments are reviewed by that committee and, if the committee view that some comments are potentially in breach of the SFA's articles, the matter will be taken further."

Clark could find himself in trouble after his post-match criticism of Rowbotham over the sending-off of the debutant Stuart Malcolm, who was shown the red card for elbowing Johan Mjallby. Clark was not happy with what he deemed a lack of "consistency".

"I was delighted with the commitment of the players but I feel sorry for them because some of the decisions went against them," Clark said after the game.

* The Hibernian goalkeeper Nick Colgan, who was called into the Republic of Ireland squad for the first time this month, said yesterday that he hoped to sign a new contract with the club when his current deal ran out at the end of the season.