Celtic captain Stephen McManus earned a straight red for his waaaay late challenge on Hearts striker Andy Driver just before the final whistle in Hearts' 1-0 CIS Insurance Cup quarterfinal win on Wednesday.

The referee initially only showed McManus a yellow card, but then the assistant ref pulled him aside and side something to the effect of "Are you serious?

When Hibs fans blethered on about the youthfulness of their squad we tittered in amusement, and we were quite right to do so as for a while, claims of inexperience were their favourite way to excuse mediocrity. But in the aftermath of this weekend's debacle against St Mirren, I've heard plenty of Jambos using much the same reasoning in their defence of what was quite simply a rubbish performance from the boys in maroon.