GARY RALSTON

CLARE WHYTE is one of the most highprofile operators in Scottish football. With power comes responsibility – and it’s time for Whyte to put her head above the parapet. She must take a more pro-active stance in informing about changes in the rules and protocols, especially at the start of each new season. She must better advise on her roles and responsibilities and also lead the charge for greater transparency in the decision making process. In fairness some of the criticism aimed in her direction is ridiculous – as if she determines Alfredo Morelos did this or Scott McKenna did that. But some of the inconsistencies are glaring. Why hasn’t Tom Boyd, an ambassador for Celtic, been cited for his recent scandalous comments on refs? Why haven’t the Parkhead club been called to account for allowing the stadium to be used for a documentary that made the most outrageous accusations against the men in black? Why can Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd make stinging criticisms as a pundit and not be summoned and how influential, really, are the BBC employees who edit Sportscene? The pendulum has also swung too far back in favour of our refs who must be strong enough to admit when they’ve got it wrong and a yellow should have been a red. It’s confusing, contradictory and has led to an information vacuum that only fuels conspiracy theories. For what it’s worth? It should have been McGregor red, Johnson red, Power yellow, McKenna red, Morelos yellow and McGinn red. As a wise man once said, Scottish football isn’t always a brilliant watch but it’s never short of being a fascinating read.

‘Decisions should be made by a committee of ex-players and a ref, or not have compliance officers at all and let ref’s decision stand’