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I See No Signal

Last updated : 26 February 2008 By Ed_ScottishFitba
'Obviously they makes mistakes but they are all genuine mistakes and everybody makes mistakes ...'
SFA Chief Executive Gordon Smith is looking for his match officials to get more respect after another weekend of controversy. Referee Craig Thomson has been getting grief for his lack of action during the game at Fir Park where home striker David Clarkson suffered a head knock. The incident was ignored by Clarkson who allowed Hearts to move up the park and score what proved to be the winner. The Motherwell side were incensed, with captain Paul Quinn insisting the game should have been immediately stopped for Clarkson to be assessed. Eddie Smith will be off the St Mirren Christmas card list after he punished Gary Mason for his challenge on Shunsuke Nakamura's late in their game with Celtic at Love Street. The resultant free-kick saw the Japan international score to leave the St Mirren management and fans far from pleased. Smith felt he had to say something about the growing problem between clubs and officials. He said: "I feel that there has been a little bit of momentum built up against referees. Referees have a very difficult job to do and we want to try to encourage people to become referees because without them we don't have a game. So I think they deserve a lot more respect than they have been given, all through the different levels. Obviously they makes mistakes but they are all genuine mistakes and everybody makes mistakes - players, managers and commentators. Referees are in high-profile situations but they are all honest characters and they know at times when they have done something wrong. But I don't feel that it has to be highlighted and them blamed."

Smith also did not want to accept that Scottish referees are second rate. He went on: "I think the standard of refereeing in Scotland does compare with other leagues in Europe. There are problems throughout. I watched a couple of games in England at the weekend and people were talking about refereeing mistakes so it happens everywhere." Despite the SFA official site having a vehicle for referees to explain their decisions, Whistleblower, Smith stressed he felt there might be little benefit in officials explaining decisions after games. It is disappointing to note that the latest Whistleblower article was written in November last year. He said: "I don't know if that is worthwhile. I can understand why they don't want to give interviews in press conferences after games. They would go down the line of being asked about everything. Maybe from time to time they should give answers to some of the questions but their actual answer to a lot of the questions would be: 'In my opinion, that's what I saw.' We have seen videos where mistakes have been made but it still comes down to the fact that it is a genuine error at the time, so I don't think that there is an explanation required."
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