Last updated on .From the section Scottish

'It was like playing 12 men' - Hearts boss Levein criticises referee Madden

Managers are getting more "personal" when criticising match officials, former grade one referee Steve Conroy has told BBC Scotland.

Conroy was "disappointed" to hear Hearts manager Craig Levein's comments about Bobby Madden, who officiated Hearts' defeat by Rangers on Sunday.

Levein said "it was like playing against 12 men".

"I think it's really quite derogatory and demeaning to us all," said Conroy, who had 12 years as a top referee.

"I don't think he's got any justification in it.

"In my day, it was a kind of general thing. We were all on the receiving end but it's certainly individuals and personal now."

Conroy, who stopped refereeing five years ago, believes the Scottish FA should be thinking about implementing stronger sanctions to help eradicate what seems to be a growing issue.

"There has to be something that will prevent, not the criticism about individual decisions - if you get it wrong, that's fine - but personal insult I don't think in any place of work is acceptable.

"Whatever sanction that's going on just now that I don't know about or my colleagues don't know about certainly doesn't seem to be putting anybody off.

"It's just getting personal insult after personal insult. Fines and things like that don't seem to matter and I don't suppose it matters too much to the clubs either but there needs to be some kind of sanction to stop people acting like that."