Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Referee woes need to change
We just want consistency - a regular cry from pundits, managers and players alike when talking about referees in Scotland.
The men in the middle have once again been subject to numerous column inches and media segments this season with Hibs boss Neil Lennon and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers among the high-profile names to take a pop.
Albion Rovers gaffer Brian Kerr is the latest to shine a spotlight on the officials - feeling that the standard in League One has cost his team crucial points this season and that they should pay the price for a lacklustre showing. just like a player would have to.
For the 600-or-so Monklands locals or Ayrshire visitors there would have been a sharp intake of breath as Sean Higgins was knocked down in the box during the closing stages at Cliftonhill.
After an entertaining game with the score at 3-2, the match official waved away the loud claims for a spot-kick.
If a Rovers player had stepped up to slot home the penalty to level the game - a point would have been a decent reward for a whirlwind game against the title favourites.
A point against The Honest Men would have temporarily dragged them out of the relegation places last week in a season where it looks like the difference between Forfar, Queen’s Park and Rovers will be razor thin.
As Kerr notes, players who cost their team a goal will be dropped. But what happens to the referees?
It’s a legitimate question posed by the former Scotland cap - and on the face of it for a lower league OUTFIT the answer seems to be nothing.
A demotion to the bottom couple of divisions eases some concerns for the Premiership teams - but where does that leave the teams in those divisions?
Where does it leave Rovers, who are battling for their lives at the foot of the third-tier?
We see a number of competitions across the globe are acting as the guinea pig for video refereeing, but as Scottish football chiefs have made clear - only at the top level of the game would the costly implementation be considered.
A simple solution that could help the smaller clubs would be to employ more full-time referees.
It is easy to point to the same mistakes made by officials who ply their trade full-time - but surely doing any job more often will increase your skill levels?
It will set a new standard for the game in this country rather than the comedy of errors fans witness at the moment.
The hope often is that these things even themselves out over a season - with consistent mistakes working for and against you.
This will be little consolation for a number of teams - including the staff, management and players at relegation-