| The player-manager was red- carded for two bookings in the defeat at Partick Thistle on Saturday, his second offence being to cup his hand to his ear and clench a fist in the general direction of home fans after scoring a first- half equaliser.
While Alex feels he was harshly treated by referee Calum Murray, he also accepts he let his team down and, accordingly, has fined himself.
He’s also pledged to zip his lip — his first booking was for dissent — and keep his hands by his side in future games.
“I’ve not had a tackle in the game, I haven’t sworn and I have not made any offensive gestures at anyone, but I’ve ended up getting sent off,” he said today.
“I don’t think that’s right and I don’t like the way they are taking any discussion with referees out of the game, but I also know that I am not going to change the way things are and from now on I just have to live by the way things are rather than they should be.
“And, however hard done by I feel, I know I let my team down because I am absolutely convinced that having just equalised we would have gone on to draw, or even win, if we had kept 11 men on the park.
“From now on, I will just accept the referee’s decisions in silence and when I score another goal my hands will be down by my side in my shorts.”
Despite that decision and any remorse he feels, Alex remained adamant he had done nothing inflammatory after scoring.
“I stayed on the pitch, about 20 yards inside the lines in fact, and did nothing offensive. I saw a Benfica goal on the box last night and eight players jumped into the crowd after it — no one got booked there, but here they might all have been off.”
The gaffer will now have to watch from the stand this week as he serves an automatic ban for the home game against Gretna, though striker Derek Lyle will return to the squad after his suspension.
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