Monty speaks out on refereeing standards
Hibs boss adamant SPFL needs full-time officials
Hibs boss Nick Montgomery would like to see full-time referees in the Scottish game – and he believes officials can’t possibly be expected to improve and adapt to an ever-changing working environment while devoting themselves to second jobs.
“I think it’s probably not fair on referees, at times, that they have part-time jobs and then have to go to other jobs,” said Monty, the former Sheffield United player adding: “How can you focus full-time on being the best you can be as a referee, in a league as big as the SPFL, with teams who have huge budgets and play Champions League football?
“It definitely would help the referees and officials spend more time on reviewing the games and decisions. That’s what we do in football: a lot of reviewing and previewing. We spend a lot of time looking at that through the week – and it is really time consuming. It’s also a really good opportunity to master what you’re doing.”
Addressing the wider issue of VAR, Montgomery – a harsh critic of decisions during his time at Hibs – insisted: “Look, I think it definitely does help the game. There are positives and negatives about it. It’s easy to talk about the negatives. But the positives really are when a goal is scored, just to double-check when a goal should stand. But we have to be honest, and as [regards] part-time referees, I think it’s a fulltime job just reviewing and learning.
“So you have to allow a period of time for people to get used to something new. And like anything, you just want consistency.
“It’s not for me to decide whether it works or it doesn’t work. We should be talking about the football, rather than the incidents, and that’s probably the most frustrating thing for everybody.”