The Exeter manager, Gary Caldwell, has suggested he needs to become more “Englified” after he blamed his Scottish accent for being sent off for the second time this season.
The 42-year-old former Celtic and Hibernian captain was dismissed towards the end of Exeter’s goalless League One draw against Lincoln last Saturday. The Football Association charged Caldwell with misconduct on Thursday.
Caldwell was sent off for his reaction after a late potentially winning goal was disallowed for handball. The former defender, who won 55 caps for Scotland, defended his behaviour in the aftermath of the decision.
He believes his passion is being mistaken for aggression. “I think we’re getting a reputation for being ill-disciplined when I just think we’re passionate and want the very best for our football club,” Caldwell said. “I don’t think we’re getting that and ultimately I’m paying the price and I do have to probably look at it, have to change, and probably try and change my accent and be a little bit more ‘Englified’.
“I can’t obviously speak in my own accent because it comes across very aggressive, so I’m going to need to look at it because I do accept that it can’t keep happening. But this time I genuinely feel like it was very, very harsh – a yellow card would have been more than enough.”
Caldwell, who was also sent off against Wycombe in January, said even his wife, Jen, has misunderstood his accent for aggression. “Jen complains all the time how aggressive I am to her, to the kids, to the dog – I think it’s the Scottish accent,” said Caldwell, addressing the situation on Thursday because his red card prevented him from doing so after last week’s game.
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“It comes across very aggressive, but I didn’t swear, I didn’t run, in my opinion I wasn’t aggressive. My accent and my Scottishness is aggressive, but yeah, I got sent off for that.”
