Neil Warnock: Middlesbrough boss charged with improper conduct

Middlesbrough have already been charged with misconduct following the defeat by Swansea

Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock has been charged with improper conduct by the Football Association following comments he made about the referee after the defeat by Swansea City.

The 72-year-old was angered by calls made by Gavin Ward, including the award of a 97th minute penalty.

Boro were already charged with failing to ensure their players "conducted themselves in an orderly fashion".

Warnock has until Monday, 22 March to respond to his charge.

"It is alleged that comments made by the manager during a post-match interview constitute improper conduct as they questioned the integrity of the match official and/or implied bias and/or were personally offensive and/or bring the game into disrepute contrary to FA Rule E3.1," an FA statement said.

What did Warnock say?

He told reporters following the game on 6 March: "I'm sure I'll get an apology now from [director of referees] Alan Wiley, which I've had three or four times in the last six weeks. I've had that many apologies I don't know what to do with them.

"He [Gavin Ward] thought it was a free-kick to them [and so disallowed Marc Bola's goal]. He hadn't seen [Yannick] Bolasie won the ball. It's either a penalty or a goal. He's blown the whistle before Bola's shot hit the goal and gave a defensive free-kick.

"I'm a little bit bewildered about the penalty. He pointed for a corner kick but he assures me that when he thought about it he thought George [Saville] didn't get any of the ball and he thought it was a penalty. I asked 'Why did you point to the corner flag? Were you guessing?'. That's what he said."