Firstly, two cheers are in order for the new head of refereering at the SFA.
He is attempting to do the correct thing apropos match officials in Scotland.
Indeed, only the most churlish and one-eyed would deny that this is a positive development/
However, the organisation that once employed Hugh Dallas in the same role still needs to do some reputational renovation work.
The local media cannot seem serially incapable of fulfilling their Fourth Estate function on this matter with even a basic level of competence.]
It is worth remembering that it was a journalist in another country who broke the story that did for Dallas Sr.
When he was sacked in 2010, there was much rejoicing in the green half of Glasgow.
It’s fair to say there was some bad history there.
Consequently, the idea that his son would take part in a match involving Celtic seems baffling to outsiders.
Here is how they do things in England.
At the moment, Mr Collum isn’t thinking of adopting these entirely sensible rules.
Here he is on Clyde addressing the issue.
For the avoidance of doubt, that isn’t to say that, for example, Andrew Dallas is biased or corrupt regarding either of the Glasgow clubs.
However, impartiality must be SEEN to be done.
His presence in the VAR room when the Kyogo goal was ruled offside in the recent Glasgow Derby match did not go unremarked by fans of the home team.
That’s EXACTLY why those ordinances are extant in England.
Ultimately, this issue will have to be addressed.
Moreover, once the legislation has passed through Westminster, an independent football regulator will be established to oversee the game in England.
Then, it will become increasingly difficult for the regional assembly in Edinburgh, which has control over sport as a devolved matter, to resist a similar body on Planet Fitba.
Dear reader, I believe that Willie Collum has the best intentions and wants to bring about change.
That said until he addresses the cultural issues around the SFA and its historical relationship with the club in Glasgow, which was formed by Irish immigrants, most of his work is in front of him.
I wish him well.
On a more positive note, I was heartened to learn that Mr Andrew Dixon and Mr Stewart Robertson are currently undergoing training to be UEFA match delegates.
My information is that they both passed their “observation mission” without problems, and there will be more training next summer.
The former gentleman faithfully served both Ibrox clubs with quietly effective distinction, and the latter was often a voice of reason in the Blue Room.
Sadly, Stewart’s sage counsel was often ignored by those who triumphed in the 2015 Off License Putsch.
I’m sure that both Andrew and Stewart will discharge their duties to UEFA with the utmost professionalism in the future.
Any step to reform the way that the game is refereed or VARed in scotland must be welcomed, All be it a baby step, and we should tip our hat too Willie Colum. BUT is it enough, He can mealy mouth and provarocate till the cows come home, BUT (AGAIN) will it make a blind bit of a differance. The SPFL is run by and overseen by PEEPUL who do not like US. Same as it ever was.
Born 1955, raised in Motherwell the 60’s & 70’s. OO tuning up outside St Bernadettes church during service, told to “Go back home”. Joined the Merchant Navy in 1977 so happy to find that only in the best “Wee country in the world” where there this stain of sectarianism
Now aged 69 and retired out here in Asia, if I know one thing about leopards they do not change their spots, you need to change out the leopards, training does not change spots.
Let’s give Willie the benefit of the doubt and support this new notion of fairness within the SFA’s Referreeing fraternity (inc. Lanarkshire).
Fair play to Willie for making some sort of effort on this.
However, who decides what decisions get discussed/explained?
Why was the Kyogo offside ‘goal’ not one of them given the number of supporters with a vested interest in that match.
The VAR review is a start but that’s all it is.
Var video advantage ranger’s
Sorry. It was Hibs Celtic were playing not St J.
According to Willie, “honest mistakes” could continue to happen! How many “honest mistakes” can one man make before it will no longer be considered honest?
It was good to see what looked like a genuine attempt to de-mystify the VAR process. However I am still mystified by the process used for the incident involving James Forrest v St Johnstone. Collum explains that the upper body contact on James from the StJ on his left, was insufficient to bring him down, ergo, no penalty.
At no stage did he, or the ref, or the VAR officials appear to notice that the “contact” which caused James to fall, was from the St J on his right. As they run, the defenders left foot is planted in front of James’ right foot, causing James to trip over it and go to ground. Now it might well be deemed that it was a “coming together” ergo no penalty. However, this programme, created to clarify contentious issues, totally ignored this important facet of the incident which was supposed to be being microscopically examined.
This begs the question. When will we get clarity. The programme is on the SFA’s Youtube channel. Go and have a look. Make sure you have a close look at the player on James’ right. His trip was critical in this incident and yet was completely ignored. Not just in real time, but also after review. No wonder there are conspiracy theories.
Yeah, it was as plain as could be that the contact was on his right foot and it was an obvious penalty, yet no-one in the MSSM picked it up, or challenged it . Nor was the coaching of “Tom” by the referee in the Glasgow derby.
I think the incident you’re referring to here, was the game v Ross County at a half empty Hampden, Paddy