Critchley sees red over referee’s lack of respect as nine-man Hearts suffer Hampden heartache

Under-pressure Hearts boss Neil Critchley lashed out at referee John Beaton for showing a lack of respect after sending off two of his players in the Tynecastle outfit’s extra-time loss to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup semi-final.

Beaton red-carded Michael Steinwender at the end of the first half and Cammy Devlin deep in extra-time before sending Critchley’s No 2 Mike Garrity packing after the final whistle at Hampden as the Edinburgh outfit went down to a 118th-minute effort from Dons sub Oday Dabbagh.

An exasperated Critchley, now fighting to save his job after failing to get his side into the top six of the Premiership, insisted Beaton couldn’t send off Steinwender quickly enough and couldn’t believe Devlin’s expulsion moments before Dabbagh’s winner.

However, he was particularly unhappy with the referee’s reaction when he attempted to talk to him about the decisions that changed the game.

‘I tried to (speak to him),’ said Critchley. ‘I got some kind of response, yeah, but when you try to say things in a respectful way, you hope that you get respect back.

‘I like to think I give everyone respect with the way I conduct myself and I expect that in return, but I don’t think I got that. I was near my assistant, who he sent off at the end. Didn’t swear at him, only asked to speak to him. His response was not very good, in my opinion.

‘Then, when I asked why he’d sent him (Steinwender) off, he said he would send me off. I was thinking: “For what reason? Why?”. We did not swear. I would not do that. That’s not how I conduct myself. I get frustrated sometimes on the side and show a bit of passion, but I apologise to the fourth official if he says calm down. I get it.

‘You just hope you get that level of respect in return and we didn’t get it.’

Steinwender’s 44th-minute red card for bringing down Topi Keskinen forced Critchley to tear up the game plan at half-time and go to three at the back, but he was unhappy with Beaton’s decision.

‘I’ve never seen a referee get a red card out quicker in my entire life,’ he said. ‘It’s a long way from goal and we had recovering defenders. He couldn’t wait to send him off.

‘I thought there were a few questionable decisions throughout the game. There was Cammy’s first booking and then the second one. He’s in motion and going to clear the ball and the other lad (Dante Polvara) jumps in front of him.

‘Yeah, it’s a foul, but to book him? I mean, come on. Wow. It was incredible.’

Critchley refused to accept, though, that there was a lot at stake personally, in terms of job security, in the wake of a season that is now over and done with.

‘No, I don’t feel like that at all, no,’ he said. ‘When you look at when I took over, we had two points after 11 games. If you do a points-per-game in my tenure, we’d be top six comfortably and we’ve got to a semi-final, taking it right to the wire today with ten men for a long period.

‘There are more than enough positive signs and we have a plan and strategy on how we want to move forward.’