McEwan, sent to the stands at half-time during the 3-2 defeat at Stevenage on Tuesday evening, afterwards revealed that he had been fined £100 by the Football Conference - for wearing the wrong shirt.

• Stevenage 3 Mansfield Town 2

The manager fell foul of a sponsorship rule when he failed to wear an Umbro-branded shirt during the recent win at Salisbury.

To make matters worse for McEwan, he was reported by the home club for the breach.

After watching his side slip to a disappointing defeat in front of the TV cameras at Stevenage, he then lashed out: "It gives me food for thought - what am I doing at this level.

"Salisbury have reported me for my shirt - what is the game coming to? What is that all about?

"It makes you wonder if it is worth me staying at this level. It is Mickey Mouse some of the stuff that is going on.

McEwan, involved in management at higher levels with Rotherham and Derby County, watched on Monday as his side was docked four points after the club failed to register four players properly for the opening two matches of the season.

Then, having seen his side harshly lose their unbeaten home record to a controversial penalty on Saturday, he again saw red when a penalty in first half injury time gave Stevenage the lead.

Afterwards McEwan said: ""I expressed my opinion on the decision to the referee at half-time, he asked me to sit in the stand for the second half and I said fine.

"It was probably just my frustration as I couldn't believe the length of injury time played and we'd conceded another penalty on the back of the diabolical decision on Saturday.

"I watched the referee closely, it took him half an hour to make the decision - he wasn't sure. I don't know how it will look on the TV when I see it again but I thought it was a soft decision.

"I was disappointed and frustrated but I did apologise to the referee. We didn't have a barney. I just expressed my opinion to him and he felt it was too strong.

"But I do get worried when I see some of the stuff happening at this level."

That second period was a see-saw affair as the Stags roared back to lead 2-1, only to then concede an equaliser before a howler by keeper Paddy Gamble gifted the home side a late winner.

McEwan added: "We pressed the self-destruct button. We can't keep a clean sheet which has been a problem all season.

"We went behind to a goal from a debatable decision though our defence should have cleared it anyway.

"Then we went 2-1 up, but then got caught sleeping at the back again. Then the young lad made an error for their winner.

"We gave a silly free kick away and I said to the chairman 'this is a goal' as I knew what the lad taking it was capable of.

"It was a greasy ball, the keeper dropped it and their lad was onto it like a flash and put it in.

"It is a cruel way to learn and you cannot legislate for mistakes like that. Paddy has done well for us this season and this is part of his learning process.

Loan defender Max Chanot was also red carded in the topsy-turvy second half for two bookings, but McEwan said that he hoped captain Adie Moses would be fit to return to the defence in his place for Monday's trip to Burton Albion - also live on Setanta Sports TV.

McEwan added: "In the first half we played them off the pitch, it was embarrassing we had so much possession. But we had no end product and not enough threat.

"I couldn't see us losing it apart from us giving it to them and that is what we did.

"Everything seems to be going against us. It is tough to take."