Aberdeen 'don't want to burn place down' when it comes to disciplinary review

Aberdeen desire change to Scottish football’s disciplinary system but have no intention of “burning the place down”, instead wanting to work with the SFA and other clubs to bring in change for good.

Aberdeen chief executive Alan Burrows during a cinch Premiership match between Aberdeen and Kilmarnock.

The Dons were left incensed by the decision to add an extra game to Graeme Shinnie’s three-match ban following an appeal over his red card during a 1-0 win over Ross County last month. The suspension was extended due to the panel deeming the bid to have no realistic chances of success and the Dons feel the judicial protocol panel and systems associated with disciplinary regulations are in urgent need of review. However, their chief executive Alan Burrows stressed that rather than take a torch to everything that is in place, they want to work productively with all stakeholders.

“Where we see the opportunity, we want to use the influence we have at the top end of the game with the influences and the infrastructure to try and make positive change,” said Burrows. “The JPP which we were referring to specifically is over a decade old and hasn’t had, in my knowledge, any real, proper stress test. We want to make sure the people we have got in positions of power play an active part in the months ahead, working with other clubs and with the Scottish Football Association - not against them. We want to get to a situation where we are a wee bit happier with things that we think need a wee bit of a review. I always think reviews are healthy.

“If something is 13 years old and has not had much of a root and branch review at any point then it's healthy to continue to look at it. I think there is a willingness from the SFA. “Sometimes the SFA say it is the clubs and they can change that any time they like but the reality is not quite as simple as that. “You need to get a lot of people on board and a lot of the committees are heavily weighted towards the executive committees of the SFA and the SPFL. There isn’t as much representation as is sometimes portrayed.

“What we don’t want to do is to burn the place down and rebuild it. What we want is to make sure we are playing an active and responsible role within that. And to try and change things for the better if that is the will of the majority.”