CAN’T WE JUST COMMUNICATE?

Human contact can defuse things but officials are not allowed to speak SAYS CRAIG LEVEIN

THE SIT-DOWN between parties at loggerheads should help, at least. Maybe there will even be a joint communique pledging ever closer co-operation on issues of mutual concern.

And the possibility, however remote, of Video Assistant Referees being introduced to Scotland’s top flight might — just might — avoid quite so many full-blown howlers in future.

Yesterday morning at Tynecastle, Craig Levein (below) went public with his demands to see both of the above ideas put into practice.

By tea-time, SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell, having already steered the subjects through a full board meeting on Thursday, was able to reveal that each was one step closer to deliverance.

Just an interesting quirk of timing. But, if Levein has a third wish up his sleeve, the veteran Hearts coach would be daft not to play it now. Alas, what he really wants is possibly beyond the powers of any governing body.

A return to days when a referee would wander to the touchline and puncture his future with a well-timed one-liner?

He might as well dream of warm beer and vicars cycling to church. Or an age before Twitter storms accompanied every ill-timed comment.

In an era where so many referees seem like clones, right down to the FIFA-approved body language employed to fend off approaches from players and managers alike, Levein admits to getting a little nostalgic for a simpler time.

If a revival of old-fashioned manners could coincide with a technological leap forward and a reframing of antiquated rules clamping down on free speech? All the better.

‘I think it would help if there was a more human element between the referees and clubs, because all that happens is this kind of stayaway mentality: “Don’t criticise me, stay away …”. It’s like we are the enemy,’ said the former Scotland boss.

‘They’re not allowed to speak. In rugby, you hear the referee talking. What’s the difference? Why do we keep this secret in football? When you see that, in rugby, it works?

‘Players and coaches get frustrated with not getting answers. Referees don’t speak to you.

‘I remember, as a young manager here, a game when Willie Young was still refereeing.

‘I was jumping about on the touchline, waving my arms about because some decisions were going against us. I was shouting at Willie on the park.

‘This was maybe 2001, my first time here, and I’m flapping my arms, shouting and bawling.

‘He walked over and said to me: “Listen. Have you never made a mistake?” All of a sudden, the wind is right out of my sails. Because what do you say? I ended up apologising to him!

‘But you understand that human contact is really important, to be able to defuse situations.

‘I think international rugby is brilliant, because you can hear the referee talking, you can hear what their thought process is.

‘We’re not allowed to hear that in football. In terms of the secrecy, because the rest of the world is changing, football becomes an island that’s isolated.

‘It’s not for me to tell the people who train the referees how to do their job. This is a situation that flares up every couple of years — and all we do is throw the book at managers for making comments.

‘I think that’s unhealthy. It’s 2018. Fairness and equality. It’s the only situation I can think of where it actually says in the rules you are not allowed to question people’s bias or competence.

‘It’s the only industry in the world where there is no accountability.

‘The rules say you can’t criticise referees in a way that would suggest incompetence or bias, you’re not allowed to question it. But every other industry is searching for those people within their organisation to get rid of them.

‘I am not suggesting that any referees are incompetent or biased — but you should be allowed to talk about it.’ Compelling arguments can be made on both sides of this debate — which should make January’s s u m m i t interesting. At the moment, referees are bound by a semi selfimposed vow of silence, refusing to answer back or explain themselves to managers. The SFA isn’t going to get drawn into lengthy debates about individual decisions, either. Yet it does leave clubs, managers especially, feeling as if they’re being ignored. As for the idea that Levein ranting about back-to-back contentious decisions may backfire in some way, he said: ‘I think this is a bizarre argument. Because you really need to ask yourself: “Should I be criticised for saying what’s true?”. And people say all you’re doing is making it more difficult for your club. ‘What does that infer? That, because I’ve said something, referees will give more decisions that are wrong against us?

‘When things like that happen, my role is to stand up and say what 99 per cent of the people who support the club are thinking.

‘The very nature of what a referee does is he makes decisions every 10 seconds, for 90 minutes. How can he get them all right?

‘So I think it’s important, when the amount of scrutiny has increased, that the tools available to referees — tools that will help them get decisions right — should increase as well.’

Levein also said he’d be willing to ask the Tynecastle board for money towards VAR — if Celtic and Rangers can’t be persuaded to stump up for the whole system.

Levein, pointing to the Dutch example that saw Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord use their European revenue to replace plastic pitches across the whole league with natural surfaces, floated the idea of a similar approach to funding VAR.

‘Maybe the Old Firm will give up their European money to put in VAR,’ he said with a grin.

‘I don’t know if we could pay a share towards it, but I would ask.’