Changing room chat: Sergio is hot, bothered and pixelated

SPORTSCENE may occupy a late-night slot, but it went the extra yard to uphold its image as a family show on Sunday by sparing viewers from lip-reading what seemed to be some industrial language flowing from the mouth of irate Hearts manager Paulo Sergio.

Portuguese Sergio – fluent in several languages – let rip in the direction of referee Alan Muir towards the end of his side’s ill-tempered 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at Tynecastle on Saturday. His outburst saw him sent to the stand for the final 15 minutes, and he may now face further action from the SFA. However, whatever he said, and what language he said it in, was kept a secret from Sportscene viewers, as BBC Scotland took the precaution of pixelating his mouth as he shouted and waved his arms in protest at the referee – seeming to suggest that it was the official and not he that should be sent to the stand. Host Rob MacLean explained that the programme was taking the unusual action of digitally distorting the former Sporting Lisbon manager’s mouth to spare viewers seeing what was being said towards the referee, indicating that it was too explicit.