THE Untouchables
Thomson and Co won’t give a monkey’s if they’re wrong because SFA old pals’ act has made them ...
FORMER referee Charlie Richmond claims whistlers don’t care about making bad decisions because the SFA’s cushy old pals’ act has made them untouchable.
Furious Motherwell chiefs blasted ref Craig Thomson for harshly sending off Cedric Kipre on Sunday after reacting to a shove by Celtic captain Scott Brown.
That was the fifth red card Thomson has dished out to Motherwell this season – and the second time Kipre has been sent packing having also controversially seen red against Celtic during the Betfred Cup Final.
Richmond ruled out talk of Thomson having an agenda against a Well side wondering why he hasn’t red carded players from any other team all season.
But the ex-official insists the whistler won’t care about the outcry because the few referees at the top are above punishment because the SFA’s failing production line ensures there is no one good enough to come in and replace them.
He said: “Of the five red cards Craig has given this season he has got two right and three wrong. Not a good batting average.
“But I don’t think he will care, he won’t bother in the slightest because there are no consequences for him.
“Overall the standard of refereeing in Scotland is poor at the moment and part of the reason for that is there is no succession plan.
“The top guys are getting away with making mistakes because they are not being pushed enough.
“The likes of Craig Thomson, Steven McLean and John Beaton might not be refereeing so well but they don’t care because they are not going to be held to account for it.
“They will stay in charge of the biggest games because there is no one good enough coming through to push them down the pecking order.
“UEFA stipulates your top guys do the top games and at the moment there’s not enough talent coming through to put these guys under threat and create competition.
“That’s the fault of the system. We’re firing young guys through the ranks too quickly while stunting the progress of other officials whose faces maybe don’t fit quite so well.
“Are the SFA going too far when they’re looking to recruit referees at 17 years old into a system where if you’re not in the Premiership by the time you’re 24 and on the FIFA list by 27 you’re classified as too old?
“I came into the Premiership at 32 after seven years spent cutting my teeth in the Ayrshire juniors.
“By then I’d learned the trade coming through the ranks and was ready to progress with the benefit of some experience and life skills.
“In order to raise the standards you have to scrap the politics behind the scenes and promote the guys who are good enough and ready, regardless of their background.
“If a guy comes through the grades showing potential then we should promote him because too many of them are being held back. I know a referee who told me if a particular SFA observer came to watch him he knew he wasn’t getting a high mark no matter what happened in the game. “We need to wipe the slate clean. “There’s change coming at the top of the SFA but there needs to be changes across a lot of other departments. And maybe then we’ll start promoting a lot more good referees.
“It’s frustrating when I think about a lot of good refs in junior football. They are graded at Category Two level.
“But because they can’t get time off their work to referee on a Thursday afternoon when reserve teams play then they are considered unreliable or unavailable so it’s deemed there’s no point in promoting them.
“The authorities should be more flexible with these guys in giving them more opportunities to progress. Instead they expect everybody to take time off their work to go to Spain and run about a park for warm weather training.
“In my day that was viewed as compulsory and because I couldn’t make it due to the fact I work in education that was frowned upon.
“They need to look wider to identify the best referees and promote them on merit, not based on who is pals with who. There are too many politics behind the scenes and it’s pushing guys with natural ability to the side while others are fast-tracked.
“Don’t take your pal and try to turn him into a referee, focus on the guys who are showing genuine potential. “And take issue with the top guys who are making errors.”
Of the five red cards Thomson has flashed this season, Richmond only gives pass marks for two.
They came in the game against
St Johnstone in August when Motherwell skipper Carl McHugh received two yellows and keeper Trevor Carson saw red for handling the ball outside the box.
A third red that night at McDiarmid Park, given to Charles Dunne for simulation, was later rescinded on appeal.
Richmond said: “It would be clutching at straws to suggest Craig Thomson has an agenda against Motherwell. That would be way out of order to question his integrity like that.
“It’s just an unfortunate anomaly that some of his decisions have been incorrect and happened against the same team.
“I can assure you no referee would ever go out with an agenda against a team or a determination to wield the cards against one particular group of players.
“But I feel great sympathy for Kipre because he has already suffered from the wrong decision when he was sent off in the League Cup Final – and his latest red card was harsh too.
“The comparison I would highlight is the incident in Friday night’s game between Hibs and St Johnstone when Blair Alston blatantly took out John McGinn.
“If Alston’s was only a yellow card then surely Kipre didn’t deserve red for a far lesser offence. “Added to the fact is that Scott Brown instigated the incident by pushing him but then walks away without a caution. “If that was in a pub on a Saturday night you would react to someone shoving you in the chest like that. So you would think Brown should be penalised too. “The most likely answer to that is perhaps Craig didn’t see Brown’s reaction and has only turned round in time to see Kipre kicking out. “So maybe there has been a lack of concentration from Craig in that respect – you don’t turn your back when two players go to ground because of the potential for conflict that situation creates.”