Ref red mist changing game - McGhee

Aberdeen manager Mark McGhee believes the hard-line approach of referees could change the nature of Scottish football.

The Dons received their fifth red card of the season on Saturday when Jerel Ifil was sent off for clashing with Celtic striker Georgios Samaras. McGhee had no complaints about the sending-off but he has spoken out against the other dismissals.

When asked if he was worried by the number of red cards, he said: "We're still one behind Dundee United and I don't know what we are behind Hearts. It's not a worry. I think four of them were hard; Saturday's was totally justified."

Aberdeen are not the worst offenders in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with Dundee United on six red cards and Hearts on seven, if Suso Santana and Ian Black's post-match transgressions at Hamilton are taken into account.

McGhee added: "On Saturday there were three or four other challenges, trips, that were unnecessary and pretty ugly and I'll be talking to the boys about that.

"We don't want to be going down that road, it's unnecessary and makes you look poorer than you are as a team.

"So we have to stop these unnecessary yellow cards, there is no doubt about that.

"But the game is now being refereed in such a way that it would appear practically every foul is a yellow card.

"So therefore we are maybe all going to have to reconsider how we play the game.

"If referees continue to referee matches with such determination, we could end up having a totally different style of Scottish game because it looks like you can't tackle."