Referees cannot be exempt from criticism. There has to be some accountability
IT’S not personal, just business. If it doesn’t always feel quite so dispassionate to referees caught in the crossfire, well, Craig Levein has neither the power nor the inclination to change that perception.
The Hearts manager says he can’t understand how his criticism of Bobby Madden following Sunday’s home loss to Rangers has been interpreted as an attack on the man’s character.
Those he sees as outside agitators trying to spin it as such should, he bluntly asserts, keep their noses out of a purely professional dispute.
Because the former Scotland boss holds dear his right to protest against debatable decisions and, yes, the men who make them. In fact, he sees it as almost a duty.
Making it clear that he was done with private phone calls and civilised briefings with his old employers at the SFA, Levein yesterday widened the focus of his attack — and didn’t miss many targets.
‘People can’t be free from criticism,’ he declared. ‘There has to be accountability. For you to be good at your job, you have to make mistakes, you have to accept you’ve made mistakes — and you have to learn from them.
‘That’s the only way to improve. How are we not allowed to talk about officials making mistakes? As long as that continues then nothing gets better.’
Asked outright if he would be making contact with SFA head of referee development John Fleming to discuss his concerns, a weary-sounding Levein said: ‘I’m finished. The way I look at it, what’s the point?
‘If we want to foster better relationships between managers and referees, let’s be open and talk about it.
‘Because everything is covered in this secrecy. We can’t speak about this and we can’t speak about that. What other business does this? I mean, it’s a joke.’
Levein was particularly upset to hear former referee Steve Conroy accuse him of a ‘personal insult’ against Madden.
The Hearts boss said: ‘Personal attacks? I criticised someone’s performance. Some people are a bit thin-skinned, eh?
‘Personal attacks are having a go at somebody’s character. I’ve never, ever questioned anything about Bobby’s character. In fact, he’s a great guy.
‘But, as much as I can be critical about my players and myself, on a performance like that I’m entitled to have my say.
‘I’ve been critical of myself, a few weeks ago, for the team I put out. And I’m honest, you know. It was a really poor performance.
‘And see this “personal” stuff? It’s a nonsense. I actually get angry at that. Because that’s trying to make it appear something that it’s not. This is about Sunday’s performance, nothing else.
‘I don’t know what it is. And I don’t know why people are getting involved, particularly if they’re talking a lot of rubbish. Somebody needs to go back to school and understand what a personal attack is, as compared to talking about performance.
‘This is not personal and I detest people getting involved in something when they’re just trying to stir it. They should keep their noses out. Only I know what I think of Bobby Madden. Nobody else does and I’m telling you now, I think he’s a decent guy.
‘But his performance wasn’t good enough on Sunday — and his assistant’s performance wasn’t good enough.’ Fleming did not respond to
Sportsmail’s request for a comment on one of Levein’s more unusual accusations after Sunday’s game, which saw Alfredo Morelos score the winner from an offside position at a free-kick delivered from the right wing.
Levein yesterday repeated his claim that Fleming had spoken to Hearts No 2 Austin MacPhee on the subject of offside before the match. According to Levein, Fleming advised MacPhee on a change of starting position for the Hearts defensive line. And he denied a suggestion that the SFA man might have been using humour to defuse tension around a situation that had been building all season.
‘People make mistakes,’ said Levein. ‘Listen, I’ve done it loads of times.
‘This particular situation, this offside goal, is something we’ve been going on about all season.
‘Because there are six or seven examples of teams being clearly offside when we’re defending wide free-kicks. And the linesman hasn’t put his flag up.
‘So it got to the point where Austin has spoken to John Fleming about it. That was why I made the point on Sunday, because this isn’t something that has just happened.
‘This has been bubbling away for a while now. And our point was that we’re going to lose a goal here by officials not doing their job properly.
‘And we got advice from the referees’ supervisor. There’s something wrong here.
‘He told Austin to hold the line. If we hold the line on the 18-yard line, it’s much easier for his officials to get it right.’
Asked if he thought that might have been a joke intended to pacify MacPhee, Levein said: ‘No, no. And we held the line on the 18-yard line on Sunday. And there are three players offside.
‘I don’t know if it’s deflection or if they’re circling the wagons. But how is it possible? How is it possible for it to continually happen?
‘Maybe it’s different for me, because we’ve been talking about this particular issue for a whole season. It’s so frustrating for me that we are even taking advice and it’s still not helping.
‘We said: “This is going to cost us a goal”. I don’t want to change the way we defend wide set-pieces because people aren’t doing their jobs properly. I’m open to suggestions about what we do.’