There is a culture of referee bashing among managers and it’s not helpful

SAYS TOMMY WRIGHT

WOULD VAR truly bring peace to Scottish football? Only time will tell but yesterday Tommy Wright was emphatic in his belief that managers need to rein in their behaviour towards referees when decisions do not go their way.

While Hearts counterpart Craig Levein was lobbing another verbal hand grenade in the direction of the nation’s whistlers, the St Johnstone manager adopted a far more pragmatic approach.

Wright, who yesterday signed a contract extension that ties him to the Perth club until 2022, is in agreement that the introduction of Video Assistant Referees would help cut out some of the mistakes that have been plaguing the Scottish game of late.

However, he also called for his fellow managers to take a look at themselves — and their conduct — believing that it certainly is not helping matters, either. Indeed, that could well be one of the topics in the January summit proposed yesterday by SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell.

‘People will say I am one to talk and say he has bashed referees,’ said Wright (below). ‘But I have taken a conscious decision to try and stay away from it.

‘Managers have a responsibility, too. It might win favour with your fans coming out and banging your chest and they’ll say he’s sticking up for the club. But let’s face it, it doesn’t get you anywhere.

‘We’re at the stage where whoever shouts the loudest about referees gets heard.

‘I have tried to take a leaf out of rugby’s book and try to accept decisions that go against you.

‘We could have made a song and dance about a couple of decisions, including a penalty shout against Hearts.

‘You can be unhappy with them but it’s almost at the stage where everyone is out to bash referees and pile blame on them.

‘Some pundits say managers should be allowed to come out and criticise referees.

‘But as a manager, I know if I was getting that level of criticism I wouldn’t be happy.

‘Yes, referees make mistakes, like we all do, but what worries me is that there seems to be a culture developing that it’s all right to come out and bash the referee.

‘How do we help them and make the situation better? Turning professional might improve things, introducing VAR certainly would help even if it’s not perfect.

‘No one will convince me the penalty decision for France against Croatia in the World Cup final was correct. But speaking to the referees, I know they are encouraging managers to urge their chairmen to go for VAR.

‘But there will be clubs in the league who will be worried about where the funding comes from.’

Today, Wright will go up against Derek McInnes at Pittodrie, the Aberdeen boss another who is fully behind VAR’s introduction.

Last weekend, McInnes raged when Celtic were awarded a penalty in the Betfred Cup final that television replays proved was a blunder by Andrew Dallas.

And his mood was not improved on Wednesday night when referee Steven McLean sent off Sam Cosgrove for what seemed a soft second yellow card during the Dons’ 1-0 win at Ibrox.

‘We feel a real injustice, even from the other night when Cosgrove got sent off and he shouldn’t have been, but we also feel the injustice that we can’t appeal it,’ said McInnes. ‘There is a boy there, getting paid to play who can’t play.

‘It’s ridiculous, it really is, based on the wrong decision.

‘But mistakes happen, and our authorities should be looking to try VAR, or some similar system.

‘Every top flight league in Europe will have it in the next couple of seasons, I’m pretty sure. We can’t get left behind and we’ve got to make sure we’re at the forefront. ‘If there is a willingness from the authorities to say enough is enough and let’s get this done. We’ve got to have a modern approach to our game. ‘I do think with more scrutiny on everything, it is tougher to manage in the modern game, it’s tougher to referee. Referees clearly need more assistance to get the right results.

‘I think (going) full-time definitely helps. If you are trying to reduce mistakes, then that is a step towards it.’