Neil Lennon has played down his role on the SFA’s new referee Think Tank.
Criticism of referees and the disciplinary system has been rife this season with John Beaton’s display in the Glasgow derby at the end of December summing up the issues.
Alfredo Morelos wasn’t even spoken to by the match referee for any of three incidents that could have resulted in a red card with the Compliance Officer opting out of taking retrospective action.
The heart of the problem is the system created by John Fleming which is dominated by the Lanarkshire Referee Association but rather than address that issue a think tank was proposed after a meeting between referees, the SFA and managers last week.
Every element of the game, except fans and media, will be represented on the think tank with Lennon chosen to provide a voice for managers.
“I’m there to represent the managers and anything we feel is contentious then we will bring it up,” the Hibs boss told the Daily Record. “It is just to add a football perspective but there are some quality people involved.
“It was good to be asked but I’m not usually one for committees and meetings like that. I don’t want it to take up too much of my time and detract from what I am doing here but maybe I can learn something and I can pass it along.
“I was shanghaied into speaking to the media on behalf of the other managers last week after our meeting at McDiarmid Park so it looks like I’m the union rep. I’m poacher turned gamekeeper – it could mean there’s a mass walkout in a couple of weeks!”
No date has been set for the think tank to meet up with this sort of deflection tactic also favoured in politics for dealing with awkward problems.
