Throw The Rule Book At Referees

Oct 12 2008 Gordon Waddell

Then Give 'Em Common Sense

IT'S official. Two wrongs DO make a right. Thesis by referee Mike McCurry. Ratified and approved by the SFA.

And ridiculed by anyone with an ounce of common sense.

The domino effect of McCurry missing one crucial decision last weekend at Pittodrie was spectacular.

Right at the death in the Aberdeen v Hibs game Steven Fletcher was so far offside when he flicked Derek Riordan's shot goalwards he was almost in a different postcode.

With the keeper beyond the penalty spot - and only Charlie Mulgrew on the line - it couldn't have been a more obvious decision.

Even Radio Scotland's commentator instinctively knew it. As soon as Fletcher stuck out a boot he had said "Surely he's offside?" before anything else unfolded.

So if a journalist nearly 100 yards away can make an accurate judgment in an instant why do McCurry and assistant Wes Boulstridge, with years of experience between them, not have the same instinct?

The consequences? Mulgrew is sent off for handball, Aberdeen lose the game from the penalty and the player is then suspended, a heavy punishment for a crime they shouldn't have needed to commit. Which is bad enough.

But the one thing left from the debacle the authorities can still put right? They still get it wrong.

On appeal, despite McCurry admitting he made a backside of the call, he insists the red card and suspension have to stand because offside wasn't given.

When something is wrong, surely it's wrong? Why try to convince people it's still right?

SFA chief Gordon Smith reckons you can't rescind the red card because if you do hit the rewind button in games how far do you go back?

The throw-in that shouldn't have been given two minutes earlier that gives a team possession before their goal?

It's a bit of a glib argument because in this case there was a direct correlation between one incident and the other.

So why not admit you're wrong? But there's another point here as well.

After his horror show at Ibrox last term McCurry has admitted to another honking decision.

Yet there are still no consequences for him - or for any of the other refs who have littered our season with errors.

Jim Duffy described the Mulgrew red card on TV last weekend as the worst decision of the season from a ref.

And that's big talk when you consider what it's up against - the Stephen McManus handball goal, Will Haining's red card on day one, Charlie Richmond denying Dundee United a stonewaller against Celtic.

Then there's DaMarcus Beasley's offside that never was at Pittodrie, Iain Brines trying to toss Yogi Hughes from his own dressing-room when he was entitled to be there.

A few of these have been matters of opinion, of degree.

Last weekend though? No argument. But no consequences again for the officials.

Still, at least linesman Boulstridge wasn't the only one who demonstrated his lack of knowledge about football's laws last weekend.

Step forward Falkirk keeper Boaby "The Beast" Olejnik in the defeat by Motherwell.

Sliding out to take a ball, he gathers it but realises momentum will take him out the box.

Which is where he made it blindingly obvious he didn't have a clue about the handball rules.

It's one of the great myths - that a keeper handling outside his box will be sent off.

But he will only land a red card if it denies a clear scoring opportunity. In Olejnik's case the ref would have a given a free-kick, nothing else.

But the big man panics, lets the ball go and gifts Chris Porter a goal. To make matters worse, after the game managers and players repeated the same myth.

How hard is it for those in the game to know the laws? There are only 17 of them.

And for a keeper not to know the rules on handling the ball?

I wonder how many of them have ever actually read them?

Maybe the SFA should dish out a rulebook to everyone at the start of each season.

And they can start with a fresh copy for a couple of their refs.