Montgomery says referees should be full time and he wants ex-players involved too
Hibs head coach Nick Montgomery believes Scottish football would benefit if referees went full time after a string of contentious calls this season.
Montgomery, who took over at Hibs in September, feels he and his team have been on the end of some dubious decisions during the current campaign and says that given the demands of the job, the men in the middle should make it their sole occupation.
The former Central Coast Mariners head coach argues that given the tough nature of being a referee, they merit a full-time salary and such a move would allow them to be the best they can be at their job.
Hibs received an apology from the SFA last month after Aberdeen’s Nicky Devlin was not penalised for a handball against them in February, one of a catalogue of incidents the Easter Road club believe has gone against them.
And when asked if it would be beneficial for all concerned if referees went full time, Montgomery replied: “For sure. For the referees, that's only fair as well – it's a big job. You've got games midweek, weekends, it's a physical job as well, for the referees getting around the pitch, it's not easy. It's only my opinion – everyone has their opinions – but for me the SPL [sic] referees deserve to be fulltime and deserve a full-time salary. It's not an easy job."
Montgomery also feels having ex-professional players involved in the officiating side of the game could help.
“If you’ve played the game and you’ve been on the pitch, you have an understanding of the speed of the game and certain incidents,” he said. “But it’s always going to be opinion based. People will have different opinions on stuff. You have a lot of commentators who are ex-players. They often have different opinions to what they see live. So it’s maybe something that can be looked at to help, moving forward.”
Hibs had two players sent off against Rangers in Sunday’s Scottish Cup defeat and while those incidents were not as controversial as others for Montgomerythis season, he is not an advocate of decisions evening themselves out over the course of a season. “I think it's old wives' tales really!” he smiled.