Thomson in UEFA drill to ‘stop errors’
UNDER-FIRE Craig Thomson spent the week before Sunday’s handball howler on a UEFA course in Spain for elite referees. Thomson was pilloried for awarding a crucial penalty to Celtic at McDiarmid Park despite the ball striking St Johnstone defender Keith Watson on the hip before accidentally brushing his elbow. Saints were 2-1 ahead at the time and threatening to end the visitors’ unbeaten record, but Moussa Dembele equalised from the spot en route to a
hat-trick as the Premiership leaders ran out 5-2 winners. Thomson’s decision enraged Perth boss Tommy Wright, who claimed the official ‘couldn’t wait’ to give the spot-kick, while Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admitted he would have been unhappy had it been awarded against his team. Now it has emerged that Thomson was among a select group of European officials handpicked by UEFA for training in Malaga last week — with part of the course being how to avoid making errors. Leading the ‘Advanced Course for Elite Referees’ were UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina and former Scottish official Hugh Dallas. Collina said ahead of the course: ‘The aim is not to highlight the mistakes, but to look for solutions, to ensure the same mistakes are not made again in the future. ‘We are coming back from the winter break. We want to check the referees’ fitness and touch base on what happened in the first part of the season, while giving them input on the matches they are going to referee very soon.’ As well as the penalty call, furious Saints boss Wright also pointed the finger at Thomson for denying his team two spot-kicks when Scott Brown clipped Danny Swanson in the box and when Dedryck Boyata wrestled Joe Shaughnessy to the ground. Last night, however, it emerged that Wright and Thomson had buried the hatchet after the referee called to clear the air. ‘I really appreciate Craig taking the time to ring me,’ said Wright, who refused to divulge details of the conversation. ‘We had a good chat which has cleared the air and there are no problems whatsoever between us. ‘It’s important managers and referees have a good relationship and that sort of communication helps. ‘My opinion on the key incidents hasn’t changed. But it is done and dusted. We will move on now. ‘If Craig gets our game with Partick on Saturday, I will have no problem. He is a good referee and I have total respect for him.’