Refs under the microscope:
Craig Fowler on the ten worst decisions of the season
Before we begin it’s worth pointing out that the worst decision across the whole of Scottish football this season has already been decided. Partick Thistle were facing Greenock Morton in a Ladbrokes Championship game when Kris Doolan produced a terrific finish that hit the back of the net before bouncing out. In their disgust Morton booted the ball away, and it eventually landed out of play around the halfway line. The decision? Throw-in to Partick Thistle. Somehow, the officials managed to miss the whole “goal” part.
Refereeing hasn’t been of the highest quality this season. Usually this writer is of the opinion that, for a country as small as Scotland, we do really well for officiating compared to other nations. The nature of football dictates that errors are common and they happen the world over.
However, this season the mistakes are becoming increasingly difficult to defend. The howlers are being racked up on an almost weekly basis. Wednesday night saw three bad ones, two of which have made the top ten. The final list has omitted examples where the official(s) may not have had the best view, and where a decision has been difficult to give in a split-second.
10
Alfredo Morelos sent off against Aberdeen 5 Aug, referee: Kevin Clancy Just a few minutes into the 2018-19 league season, the Rangers striker was sent off for an off-the-ball incident with Scott Mckenna. Yes, he kicked out at his opponent, but the rules (changed a couple of years ago) state that such instances should only result in red cards if they are considered acts of “brutality” and/or “excessive force”. It was a petulant swing of the leg and was in no danger of causing any harm, or even mild pain, to his opponent. On appeal, the decision was downgraded to a yellow.
9
Non-decision as Allan Mcgregor’s kicks out at Kristoffer Ajer 2 Sept, referee: Willie Collum Another Rangers player, another kick out. This one should have fallen into one of the above categories by which these cases are judged. Mcgregor forcefully kicked his heel into the Celtic defender’s leg and, as an extension of this motion, dragged his studs down Ajer’s thigh. Incredibly, a panel of three former referees felt there was no case to answer for and he got off scot-free.
8
Gary Dicker sent off against Hearts 25 Aug, referee: Willie Collum Dicker was shown a straight red for a challenge on Callumn Morrison. The tackle was clumsy, but replays showed the Killie midfielder was neither going in with both feet nor at particularly high speed. It’s barely even a foul as he appeared to play ball before man. It wasn’t the most clean-cut of tackles though, which didn’t work in his favour on the park or when the decision was reviewed by the appeals panel, who upheld the red card. Regardless, it was the wrong decision.
7
Alfredo Morelos’ goal against Hearts 2 Dec, referee: Bobby Madden Not the referee so much but the linesman on this occasion. For the most part, assistant referees deserve a degree of sympathy as most offside calls are ridiculously tight and, often, they have to be looking in two places at once. However, this was one of the easier to spot. It was a set-piece delivery and therefore easy to anticipate the forward pass, and there was a clear line of sight from the official to the Rangers striker, who was one of three Rangers players in an offside position. The goal won the match.
6
Sam Cosgrove sent off against Rangers 5 Dec, referee: Steven Mclean The Aberdeen striker was harshly dismissed during the first-half of his side’s trip to Ibrox on Wednesday. While it’s the kind of coming together that can easily be misinterpreted, the most egregious part of this call was that Cosgrove was the player fouled. Both he and Rangers centreback Connor Goldson had their feet up high contesting the bouncing ball, but it was Cosgrove who got there first and Goldson who kicked him into him.
5
Steven Naismith awarded penalty against Aberdeen 20 Oct, referee: Kevin Clancy Racing for a short corner in the penalty box, Naismith
slipped as he looked to get in front of Lewis Ferguson and ended up falling into the Aberdeen midfielder before they both hit the deck. Unfortunately for the Dons, a penalty to Hearts was the award. When players collide in an unusual manner it tends to make referees panic as they struggle to remember a previous example from their past experience by which to judge the best course of action. Of course, the sensible thing would be to not give a penalty unless they’re sure. Clancy took a guess and guessed wrong.
4
Liam Gordon awarded penalty against Hearts 5 Dec, referee: Andrew Dallas Ex-hearts youngster Gordon performed a swan dive after feeling Peter Haring’s hand on his lower back and the officials bought it. To play devil’s advocate, from Dallas’ vantage point he would not have been able to judge the extent of the contact (minimal) but the linesman should have been able to tell him. Either he didn’t go to his assistant for advice or they both got it badly wrong.
3
Daniel Candeias sent off against St Mirren 3 Nov, referee: Willie Collum The Ibrox winger was shown a second yellow card for... well, nothing really. After celebrating Morelos’ winning goal against St Mirren, Candeias was approached by Saints defender Anton Ferdinand who, a little aggressively, grabbed him around the back of the neck. Collum flashed yellow cards to both and so Candeias was sent off. It was later confirmed that Collum had booked Candeias for blowing a kiss at Ferdinand. So he was basically sent off for rudimentary miming skills.
2
Jordan Jones awarded penalty against Dundee 6 Oct, referee: Steven Mclean Kilmarnock were able to leave Dundee with all three points thanks to Mclean buying Jones’ tumble inside the box. I am perhaps a little biased against this decision, having been seated 70 yards away from the challenge in the Dens Park press area and knowing at the time it definitely was not a penalty. Regardless, it remains a shocker. Even Kilmarnock winger Jones didn’t think it was a spot kick, having immediately scrambled to his feet without turning towards the referee and, allegedly, telling home defenders that he had gone down without contact.
1
Penalty given against dom Ball in league cup final 2 Dec, referee: Andrew Dallas It’s only fair that the man of the moment, Mr Dallas, takes the No 1 spot. This has been elevated above all others because it’s wrong on two counts and points the finger of blame at two officials. The award came after the ball struck the hand of Aberdeen midfielder Ball during a Celtic attack in last Sunday’s Betfred Cup final at Hampden. The problem being: it wasn’t inside the box, and he headed it down on to his own hand, which makes it very difficult to argue that it was deliberate under any interpretation of the laws of the game. Scott Sinclair’s penalty was saved by Dons keeper Joe Lewis, so this will be confined to a footnote in history, but it deserves to be remembered for a long time.