Halloween was a fitting date for the appeal hearing into Jim Goodwin’s eight-game ban after the SFA’s horror handling of the situation.
Following the SFA’s shocker in imposing the hefty ban, the irony should not be lost that the Appellate Tribunal Hearing was on October 31.
The SFA were always going to be confronted by a nightmare regardless of the tribunal hearing outcome.
Hold firm on the ban for accusing Hibs’ defender Ryan Porteous of “blatant cheating” and they’d be open to accusations of stubbornness and inconsistency.
Particularly in light of similar comments made by Hearts’ boss Robbie Neilson.
But, reduce the severity of the punishment and it becomes an admittance that the original eight-game sanction, two games suspended until the end of the season, was overly harsh.
It was a self-orchestrated no-win situation for the SFA needlessly engineered by their overreaction to Goodwin’s comments.
Ultimately Goodwin, following the Appellate Appeal hearing, had his touchline ban reduced to three games, with a further two suspended.
He has already served one game of the ban when watching from the stands as Aberdeen crashed 4-0 away at Dundee United.
The Dons had five days to launch an appeal after receiving the SFA’s report.
Following Aberdeen’s appeal, Goodwin was allowed to return to the dugout on a temporary basis until the hearing.
However, in the wake of the appeal outcome, the Dons boss will now miss Friday’s Pittodrie clash with Hibs and the trip to Livingston next Tuesday.
The reduction of the ban is a victory, of sorts, for Goodwin and Aberdeen.
However, the reality is Goodwin was still hit with a longer ban for his words than players receive for violent conduct during a match.
Goodwin’s words were hit with a heavier sanction than a two-footed studs-up tackle – where’s the logic in that?
In the Halloween tribunal at Hampden, surely the ghost of comments past, made by Hearts’ boss Robbie Neilson, will have hung like a spectre over proceedings.
In March this year, Neilson accused then Aberdeen midfielder Lewis Ferguson of “blatant cheating” following a 2-0 win at Tynecastle.
No action was taken for Neilson’s comments by the SFA and compliance officer Andrew Phillips.
Yet Goodwin was charged by the SFA for alleged breaches of disciplinary rules 73 and 77, which cover offensive, improper and/or insulting statements and conduct.
There needs to be consistency as one manager cannot be hammered and another not sanctioned for identical comments.
In reducing the ban to three games following the Appellate Tribunal Hearing, a semblance of common sense finally prevailed.
To have held firm on an eight-game ban would have set a concerning precedent.
Until the appeal decision on Monday, Goodwin faced a harsher punishment than Aleksandar Tonev, who was found guilty of racially abusing Shaleum Logan in September 2014.
While on loan at Celtic, Tonev was given a seven-game ban for using “offensive, insulting and abusive language of a racist nature” against then Aberdeen right-back Logan.
Seven matches for racist abuse.
But a harsher sentence for accusing a player of being a cheat is a situation that simply couldn’t be allowed to stand.
Goodwin was in no-win situation like SFA at Ibrox
Aberdeen boss Jim Goodwin’s had the right intention to try to take on Rangers at Ibrox with an attacking 3-5-2 formation.
Ultimately it didn’t work out and the Dons were ripped apart by a Rangers side who exploited the space which opened up to them.
However, at least Goodwin had the belief in his players and himself to “have a go” in Glasgow.
For too long teams have been content to settle for a draw or a narrow loss at Ibrox and Parkhead.
It is an inferiority complex which needs to be addressed, and smashed.
Goodwin at least tried to break those shackles.
Hibs manager Lee Johnson raised an interesting point when recently saying Scottish players are brainwashed into thinking they cannot beat Celtic or Rangers.
At least Goodwin tried to change that cycle and went on the attack.
Granted it back-fired and the three at the back should have been changed earlier when it was clear it wasn’t working.
However, Goodwin went gunning for a win and this sentiment should be applauded.
If he had parked the bus on the 18-yard line at Ibrox, he would have been slaughtered for being negative.
Aberdeen play Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden on January 16.
There must be a winner on the day so “parking the bus” will not work.
Aberdeen will have to be adventurous at Hampden, and the experiment of the 4-1 loss could be valuable to Goodwin – it will show him what doesn’t work when trying to beat Rangers in Glasgow.
That will allow him to finesse what can work to get a win and Aberdeen into the final.
Sutherland sparring with Avanesyan
Undefeated Aberdeen boxer Dean Sutherland is leaving no stone unturned in his bid to win the Commonwealth super-welterweight title later this month.
The 23-year-old is currently in Nottingham for a week-long sparring camp with European champion David Avanesyan.
Russian Avanesyan is in his own camp ahead of a world title shot with undefeated ring great Terence Crawford in the USA in December.
Sutherland was in the USA last month working with legendary trainer Freddie Roach.
Southpaw Sutherland will be in the best condition of his career when facing Louis Greene for the Commonwealth title at the Beach Ballroom, Aberdeen on Saturday November 26.
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