Don’t pretend that being a referee is all black and white

WILLIE Collum has found himself at the centre of a controversy or two during his refereeing career so he would surely have had some sympathy for his man behind the goal at Hampden yesterday.

The whistler is no stranger to a baffling decision or cries of injustice from players, managers and supporters. Indeed, he has probably been struck off more Christmas card lists than any of his peers.

Collum won’t wake up this morning dreading what headlines will greet him on the back pages or fearing what the topic of discussion will be online and on the airwaves.

After the OTT fallout from Don Robertson’s howler in Dingwall last weekend, Scottish referees could do with a bit of time away from the spotlight.

There will be no calls for apologies, no howls of conspiracy and no warnings about the consequences for an official’s career this week.

Collum had one major call to make at Hampden and he got it right. James Tavernier may have protested his innocence but almost everyone inside the ground could have seen what was coming as he sprinted towards Leigh Griffiths early in the second half.

It happened almost in slow motion as he lunged at the feet of the Celtic striker, took more of Griffiths than he did the ball and Collum pointed to the spot.

The man in black dished out three bookings as well and those for Myles Beerman and Jozo Simunovic were certainly merited. Andy Halliday was fortunate that he didn’t get a red for scything down Patrick Roberts, though.

Collum is seen as our top official, but that isn’t much of an accolade when you consider the standard of refereeing in Scotland. He might be the best, but it is a bad bunch.

And that is what our whistlers are, despite what some supporters, and it was Celtic’s turn once again in recent days, would try and make you believe as they vent their fury every time a decision goes against their side.

The refs are human and they make mistakes. They are not biased or corrupt and they don’t favour one team or another.

Even the best ones get it wrong, as has been proven in the Champions League in the last couple of weeks.

There are unfathomable decisions made up and down the country every weekend and thankfully the fallout isn’t the same as it was last week as Celtic aired their feelings of injustice on several occasions.

Being the man in the middle is a thankless task and that is why not that many people want to do it.

You get hardly any praise when you do a good job but get canned and accused of all sorts when you make a blunder.

When it comes to errors, Robertson’s last weekend was right up there. It was an appalling call and one he will rightly be embarrassed about.

BAs did Myles Hippolyte, the Falkirk forward, during the Bairns’ win over Dunfermline. He wouldn’t have been alone on Saturday. Players are at it every week as they seek to gain any advantage possible and until harsher punishments are handed out they will continue to attempt to dupe referees and cheat their fellow professionals.

If only managers were as quick to condemn the antics of their players as they are hitting out at officials when they make a wrong decision.

Did Brendan Rodgers want Moussa Dembele to phone the referee and apologise when he went down easily in the win over Dundee earlier in the season? Did Jamie Walker feel any guilt when he won a penalty against the Hoops at Tynecastle? Refereeing errors are part of the game and, overall, they do even themselves out over the course of a season. Some go for you, some go against you.

While there is no video technology and we have the crop of whistlers that we have, mistakes are going to be made.

A sense of perspective is required and managers and players shouldn’t paint themselves as whiter than white.

The bigger the game, the bigger the bickering inevitably is. Thankfully, there will be no Old Firm inquest this time.