Fitba' Focus : Celtic, Motherwell

Who'd be a Scottish referee?

FourFourTwo Team — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:13:00 GMT

Although it's been largely drowned out by the clatter of Clattenburg's clanger, there's been a rather more interesting refereeing controversy north of the border, as Craig Anderson reveals...

It just doesn’t feel like a scandal unless the word “gate” is attached at the end, so thank goodness we’ve had “Refereegate” to keep us going in Scotland.

We’ve had columns upon columns of what went on in that now infamous match between Dundee United and Celtic – and THAT penalty, which led to the resignation of linesman Steven Craven and severely questioned the credibility of Dougie McDonald, the game’s referee.

Further to that, the role of Hugh Dallas as Head of Referee Development within the SFA has also been questioned, not only on the back of what happened at Tannadice, but amidst allegations of bullying by Craven in a Sunday newspaper.

Dallas, who was once a fourth official at a World Cup final, is a highly respected figure in the Scottish game, but Craven’s claims that the former ref insisted on going with the lie has also put him under scrutiny.

Of course those that know him and work with him, including the SFA, have rallied in support. However, Dallas will always back his referees irrespective of any bad decisions they may have made.

But there is no system in place to punish referees if they do make bad calls. They only get “marked down”. Now I’m not for a minute suggesting having them out in stocks with people throwing rotten fruit, but there should be at least some level of culpability on the part of Dallas, as well as the referees themselves, to help the fans try to understand their way of thinking.

As this rumbles on, newspapers are getting opinions from anyone willing to talk. One person who gave a view on the state of Scottish refereeing as a whole was Celtic striker Gary Hooper.

Hooper and Lennon celebrate, Dillon cogitates

Although the former Scunthorpe player was “fouled” in the incident, a lot of what he said could, in fairness, be easily dismissed as a hard-done-by attitude; Celtic players are somewhat suspicious of refs now.

However, one quote leapt out and could resonate with a lot of fair-minded fans over how refs seem to have it easy. If you ignore that he’s having a pop at the beleaguered McDonald in particular, in general terms he said: “If players don't perform we're out the door. Surely the same applies to referees? If he's told the papers he lied to the gaffer then I don't think he can stay in his position.”

It was the one thing Hooper said that actually sounded sensible. Despite his short time in Scotland he’s already identified that there's a problem with referees. If you wind the clock back 12 months, Motherwell manager Jim Gannon went on a one-man crusade against Hugh Dallas and the SFA last year.

The former Stockport manager commented after an Old Firm game: “Dallas had to defend the referee because the result of the game might have been different if he'd got his decisions correct at Ibrox.

"Celtic might look back on that result at the end of the season and decide that Ibrox in October is when they lost the league championship. There's a question mark over the standard of refereeing in Scotland and the mistakes that are being made are having an effect on the league table."

Many dismissed Gannon's comments as a guy new to Scottish football who didn't know what he was talking about. But a year on, with the current feeling about referees in general and Dallas in particular, was Gannon on to something?

Gannon vs Referees: There could only be one winner

Gannon was soon dismissed by Motherwell, and in fairness he had only highlighted a problem that we’ve all known about. But instead of giving officials a hard time, there should be more to help them.

There used to be a part of the SFA website called “The Whistleblower”, which gave refs a platform to explain a contentious decision. For some reason it was taken down – at Dallas’s instruction, it’s been suggested – but it served a purpose in giving referees a voice in explaining their thinking. You may not have agreed with it, but at least you had an idea why.

What hasn’t helped referees is, naturally, TV coverage. If anything, it's guilty of humanising the officials. Yes, they make mistakes and always have, but the world can see from a dozen different angles that you made a boo-boo and straight away you’re cannon fodder.

To use the old line, everyone makes mistakes, but the fact that there appears to be a lack of transparency only frustrates people, particularly if they see the same referees making errors over and over again.

I certainly don’t buy into the conspiracy and paranoia that’s being peddled around, so taking that way of thinking serves no purpose other than to deflect any negative attention from your team or their deficiencies.

In lying about the incident, Dougie McDonald has made people in the game doubt him. What can’t be forgotten is the fact that in the context of the game, he got his decision right. How he went about it is where he went badly wrong.

But as “Refereegate” continues to dominate Scotland’s back pages, Dallas and his colleagues are still very much in the limelight for a game that happened three weeks ago. Maybe it would be nice for some football to break out and take the heat off them. At least for a little while.

Tensions rise as relegation fears mount

Danny Law — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 13:12:00 GMT

The enormous stress suffered by those trying to guide a club to Scottish Premier League safety is beginning to show on Messrs Pressley, MacPherson and Calderwood.

Aberdeen's dramatic descent down the table had left them facing the gloomy prospect of relegation for the first time in their 107-year history but Mark McGhee's men have virtually guaranteed their own survival by grinding out a 1-0 win over Falkirk at the weekend.

Bairns boss Steven Pressley was clearly irked after losing a game of such magnitude with his side rooted to the bottom of the table one point behind Killie and the Buddies.

Elvis, as he is known, was all shook up in the post-match press conference, lambasting Aberdeen for their “spoiling tactics” during a tense, scrappy 90 minutes.

“Aberdeen scored early on and proceeded to spoil the game and waste time at every opportunity,” he moaned. The Falkirk boss will, however, have taken some solace from the fact his team's relegation rivals also dropped points.

Gus MacPherson, the St Mirren manager, was left fuming after seeing his side throw away a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with St Johnstone.

Referee Charlie Richmond won't be appearing on MacPherson's Christmas card list this year after awarding the Perth side a controversial penalty in injury time, coolly converted by Paul Sheerin.

Kilmarnock manager Jimmy Calderwood will also be enduring a few sleepless nights as his players continue to be plagued by their lack of firepower in attack as they slumped to a 3-0 defeat against Hamilton.

The Ayrshire side have won once in their last ten matches and need to discover some form in their four remaining matches if they are going to avoid the drop.

The game of the weekend saw Celtic comeback from 2-1 down to defeat Hibernian thanks to late strikes from Marc-Antoine Fortune and Morten Rasmussen.

The win for Neil Lennon's side denied Rangers the chance to wrap up the title during Sunday's visit of Hearts. The Gers ran out 2-0 victors thanks to a Kyle Lafferty header and a Kenny Miller penalty. Walter Smith's men can now secure the title if they beat Hibernian next Sunday – or without kicking a ball should Celtic fail to beat Dundee United earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, United booked their place in next season's Europa League with a 3-2 victory over Motherwell on the bobbly Fir Park pitch.

The Tangerines could still overtake Celtic to finish second and earn an even more lucrative Champions League spot but with an inferior goal difference and a seven-point gap it would take a massive collapse by the Hoops for this to happen.

Scottish Football League Round Up

Inverness Caledonian Thistle all but sealed the First Division title with a 2-0 home win over Dunfermline.

The Highlanders are nine points ahead of Dundee who have three games left to play and an inferior goal difference.

Terry Butcher's men should confirm their return to the top flight next Saturday when they travel to Ayr United and in so doing will become the first club in 11 seasons to win promotion back to the top flight at the first attempt.

In the Second Division, Willie Sawyers scored the fastest goal in British football this season as he took only nine seconds to open the scoring for Clyde as they went on to beat Peterhead 3-1.

Stirling Albion appear to have found form at the right time with a 3-1 defeat of Stenhousemuir as leaders Alloa suffered a second successive home defeat at the hands of Dumbarton.

Livingston were finally crowned Third Division champions thanks to a goalless draw with Berwick. Roddy McKenzie's late penalty save ensured the Almondvale side would not spurn a third opportunity to wrap up the title.

It's been a good week for... Steven MacLean. The on-loan Plymouth Argyle striker has failed to live up to expectations since joining Aberdeen but his winner against Falkirk should ensure the Dons remain in the top flight.

It's been a bad week for... Michael Fraser. The Motherwell goalkeeper made two blunders as his side went down 3-2 to Dundee United, although his efforts weren't helped by his club's patchy pitch.

Lennon galvanises Hoops but Gers win again

Danny Law — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 10:24:00 GMT

The end of Tony Mowbray's brief and unsuccessful era at Celtic arguably began with a 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock at the start of last month.

Robbie Keane was making his début for the Hoops following his loan move to his boyhood idols and the elated Celtic support began to believe that with the Republic of Ireland star in their ranks they could catch league leaders Rangers.

However such hope was short-lived with the match ending in disappointment for Keane and the Celtic faithful as another on-loan débutant Chris Maguire scored the only goal of the match for Kilmarnock to further dent the title aspirations of Mowbray's side.

With Mowbray handed his jotters following the crushing 4-0 midweek defeat to St Mirren, it seemed apt that Killie would provide the opposition for interim manager Neil Lennon in his first game in charge of the Hoops.

This time Keane's presence would not be overshadowed as the striker netted his 10th and 11th goals in 11 games to lead his side to victory. Scott Brown added a third before Craig Bryson grabbed a late and meaningless consolation for the Ayrshire outfit.

The Celts appeared galvanised by Lennon's presence in the dug-out, with his Killie counterpart Jimmy Calderwood admitting afterwards that he felt his side were “lucky to get away with 3-1.” However next week's trip to Easter Road to face Hibernian will prove a much sterner challenge for the inexperienced Celtic manager.

"Oi! Over there!"

Elsewhere, Rangers were out to rubbish the accusations that they play defensive, negative football with an all-out attacking display as they ran out 4-1 winners over Hearts. Steven Naismith continued his recent run of good form by scoring twice for the Gers, who remain 10 points ahead with two games in hand.

The performance of the day, however, could be credited to Peter Houston's Dundee United. Despite being reduced to 10 men after only 16 minutes when full-back Paul Dixon saw red, United scored three without reply against a Motherwell defence that had been breached only three times in their previous 11 matches.

Hibernian recovered from their midweek Scottish Cup exit to Ross County by running out 3-1 victors over bottom side Falkirk, while Aberdeen clung onto their faint hopes of reaching the top six with their first win in 12 matches against a jaded St Mirren.

Hamilton Accies, meanwhile, took a gigantic step towards SPL safety with a 1-0 win over St Johnstone thanks to James Wesolowski's strike to move Billy Reid's men 11 points clear of Falkirk.

Scottish Football League Round Up
Inverness Caledonian Thistle claimed top spot in the First Division with a fine 1-0 win over Partick Thistle. Ross County did their Highland neighbours a favour by scoring a late equaliser against Dundee, who are now a point behind Terry Butcher's pacesetters.

Stirling Albion got themselves back into the Second Division promotion race by handing Cowdenbeath their first defeat in eight games. League leaders Alloa Athletic also stumbled at Gayfield Park with a goalless draw against Arbroath.

Livingston's march towards the Third Division title continued with a 1-0 win over Queen's Park. The Livi Lions only need six points from their remaining eight matches to secure the title.

It's been a good week for... Terry Butcher. Not so long ago it looked like nobody could catch Dundee in the First Division title race but Inverness have toppled the Dens Park side as the league draws to an exciting climax.

It's been a bad week for... Tony Mowbray, obviously. A disastrous 4-0 defeat to St Mirren ended Mowbray's time in charge at Celtic Park and it is now up to interim boss Neil Lennon to rouse the Hoops.

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