ST JOHNSTONE MANAGER Steve Lomas was given an eight-match touchline ban by the Scottish Football Association (SFA) on Thursday as punishment after being sent to the stands during his side’s 1-1 draw at Celtic.
Lomas was dismissed for swearing at referee Iain Brines after St Johnstone had a penalty appeal turned down and he was also unhappy that Celtic’s Tony Watt was allowed back on after receiving treatment off the pitch to directly join an attack during the Scottish Premier League clash on November 11.
The former Manchester City and West Ham midfielder later apologised to Brines, but on Thursday he was given a six-game ban for his tirade and the SFA added a further two matches to the suspension as he already had a suspended sentance hanging over him for a previous incident against Ross County earlier this season.
A statement on St Johnstone’s website read: “The SFA have this afternoon handed Steve Lomas an eight-match touchline suspension following his dismissal from the dugout in the match against Celtic on 11th November for foul and abusive language towards a match official.
“This ban consists of six games for the offence committed at Celtic Park plus the suspended two-game ban which was already hanging over him following the game against Ross County in Dingwall in September.”
To make matters worse for Lomas, the former Northen Ireland international was in hot water again on Wednesday when he sent to the stands towards the end of his side’s 1-0 defeat by Hibernian.
That offence was not taken into account by the SFA when they handed down the eight-match suspension.
