Dundee United chairman Stephen Thompson has given a cautious welcome to his club’s dramatic victory at Hampden.
Tangerines striker Nadir Ciftci recorded a rare win for a player at Thursday’s SFA disciplinary hearing.
He left the national stadium with a yellow card to his name rather than a red and a ‘not proven’ verdict on the notice of complaint raised against him for allegedly committing violent conduct by grabbing the face of Inverness Caley Thistle player Graeme Shinnie.
Both issues related to last week’s Scottish League Cup quarter-final in the Highland capital, which 10-man United lost in hugely controversial fashion.
Thompson’s words were carefully chosen, however, as Ciftci still faces a second SFA notice of complaint alleging violent conduct, accusing him of “seizing hold of” assistant referee Gavin Harris by the throat.
United are contesting that, too, and the hearing will take place back at Hampden on November 21.
Nevertheless, the fact the sending-off was reduced to a booking and the charge relating to the Shinnie incident found not to have been proven was an excellent result for the Tannadice club, who have strongly backed their Turkish frontman.
Video evidence has been pored over by manager Jackie McNamara and his backroom staff, while legal expertise was brought in to help Ciftci, who is free to play for the club pending the outcome of the other notice of complaint.
Thompson said: “I don’t want to say too much because there is obviously one charge to be heard and I don’t want to pre-empt what comes out of that.
“But obviously we are pleased that the first one has been downgraded to a yellow card and the second one is not proven.
“There has been a lot of time involved in this, particularly for Jackie. We had a lawyer there as well today and one of my directors.
‘Unfortunately, we are still out of the cup but we can’t change that so we move on.
“I suppose the SFA would say that it proves the system works. At least you get a chance to state your case and people listen to that case.
“Myself and many others have been critical of various things but this proves the system has worked. It was a fair hearing and we can’t say any more than that.”
With McNamara on duty at Ciftci’s side, it was left to his assistant Simon Donnelly to comment on the good news.
Donnelly said: “There is some more to it that can hopefully get resolved over the next couple of weeks but obvously we are delighted with the initial outcome.
“So far, so good. To be honest, it is what we hoped for because we had looked at the video footage again and from our point of view we didn’t think he (Ciftci) had done too much.
“We can’t really comment that much on it because there is still a bit to go but we stood by the player. The type of boy he is, though, we didn’t think he had done a lot on the night.
“You see a few of our staff trying to get our players away from the situation and, looking back on it, it was much ado about nothing.”
Asked if United were confident now about the second hearing because of the positive outcome of the first, Donnelly replied: “I wouldn’t like to comment on that. They have taken the next incident as a separate one so at this stage we are happy.”
United and Ciftci would have preferred everything to have been resolved but Donnelly believes the player has already proven that he isn’t letting the disciplinary uncertainty get to him.
Donnelly added: “I think we would have (rather had a quick resolution) but obviously for whatever reason they look at every incident on its own merit. It is going to be ongoing for another two weeks before we get the next bit.
“He has gone down for the hearing today and the result is favourable for us but he just wants to play that’s what he enjoys the most and he showed that at Celtic Park on Saturday.
“His pass for the goal was great and in the second half he set up Brian (Graham) with a great bit of play as well but unfortunately we couldn’t convert that one.
“It’s the same with Ryan Gauld and John Souttar. Nadir and the rest are just young boys who want to go out and play football.”
Thompson and Donnelly both attended the Tannadice launch of the club’s initiatives aimed at members of the Armed Forces ahead of Remembrance Day.
United have donated 200 tickets to service men and women for the home match against Partick Thistle on November 23.
Also, they have come up with an Armed Forces ticket package covering six matches for £90 in recognition of fans who may be serving their country at home or abroad and therefore be unable to commit to a regular season ticket.
The Tannadice chairman said: “It is with pride that we see Dundee United promoted by our fans on duty around the world and we wanted to connect more closely with them. With both initiatives, we have done so.”