Under-Fire Referees Must Start To Build Bridges

Aug 17 2008 Andy Walker

EVERYONE'S making predictions for this season but the one guaranteed fact is that referees will make mistakes - and they're not alone.

Some players won't be able to complete a simple 10-yard pass, others will miss an open goal, while one or two managers will sign players who prove to be flops.

Everyone in the game makes mistakes. It happens each week without fail.

I thought referee Eddie Smith called it wrong last weekend at Celtic Park when he awarded the defending champions a penalty and sent off St Mirren's Will Haining for the foul.

After looking at the incident again following Saints' appeal Smith is adamant he called it right.

That's his privilege but I STILL think he's wrong.

If a similar incident had happened at the other end - and Stephen McManus had fouled Billy Mehmet - I doubt if there would've been a penalty or a red card for the Celtic captain.

That's based on my years of experience with Motherwell, Hibs and Ayr United, and, of course, from my own time at the Hoops.

Despite what most referees will tell you, there is a difference in sending off a Celtic captain on his own ground as opposed to the Will Hainings of this world.

Similarly, it's easier to exert your authority on a player from Hamilton rather than a Rangers captain. Most players accept that as fact.

In England it's clear players from Man United and Chelsea get more leniency than those who play for less-fashionable clubs.

Look at the high-profile case of ref Mike Riley and Chelsea's Ashley Cole that apparently led to their new Respect campaign launched last week.

Cole's behaviour in turning his back on the ref and refusing to face him was outrageous and should've resulted in a red card. Instead the referee was incredibly weak and merely booked the player for a foul he'd committed.

No wonder managers get frustrated when there appears to be one rule for some and different laws for the rest.

If we don't solve this growing problem with managers and officials quickly expect some form of anarchy as the season progresses.

Craig Levein's blast at the performance of Mike McCurry at Ibrox towards the end of last season was entirely understandable. Rarely has a ref got so many big decisions wrong.

McCurry admitted making a real mess of it yet Levein was taken to task and fined £5,000 for saying what every Arabs supporter felt. Not fair.

Last week's incident at Celtic Park took on a new twist when Saints boss Gus MacPherson accused Smith of winking at him.

I've never heard of that before but it's clear after last season's run-in with Alan Freeland St Mirren have a problem with certain whistlers.

Quite rightly, SFA chief executive Gordon Smith has insisted they'll decide who referees what game.

For St Mirren or any other club to try and dictate what official they get is unacceptable.

But now that refs are demanding more money it's reasonable to expect them to be more accountable.

Stuart Dougal, one of our better officials, met the SPL and SFA and secured an increase to £800 per game.

And he's convinced Scottish refs will soon fall in line with other nations and get £1,000 per game.

Good luck to them - but they can't have it all their own way.

The SFA are now responsible for all refereeing appointments at junior and senior level. It's time the best eight or so are given all SPL fixtures and top First Division games every week.

If they're consistent then they've earned their money. If not, a spell in the lower leagues beckons, they lose their right to a grand per game and others can step up.

The sooner the SFA get away from appointing guys like Dougal as fourth officials the better.

We're not blessed with enough refs with the respect of the players to be able to have our top guys spending a Saturday afternoon telling opposing managers to get back into the dugout.

What a waste.

It's got to a stage now where much more has to be more done to encourage better relationships between refs, players and managers.

Times have changed. During my 16-year playing career, not once did I see a referee at my training ground and to be honest there was no need.

Refs were far more approachable and could stamp their authority on a game.

Now there's pressure to clamp down on certain infringements and it's no wonder refs think every player is at it.

It would be a mistake to make them hide their personality but that must be balanced with finding a consistency of approach by every official.

The get-out clause is "in the opinion of the referee." His is the only one that counts. Encourage them to tell the fans the reason for their calls.

Is it too much to ask for a ref to explain one or two big decisions so the paying public have a better understanding of what they've just seen?

Refs are slowly losing the respect of everyone. Unless the problem is addressed it's sure to get much worse.