The SFA are setting up a talking shop to deflect attention away from the failings of their referees.
Following Thursday’s waste of time talking shop at Perth which was no more than a back-slapping exercise a further meeting will be hosted by Ian Maxwell at Hampden on January 29.
Referees, players, administrators and other jobsworths will gather to deflect attention away from the real problems which all fall at the feet of John Fleming.
Mistakes are predictable and were all sumarised in Celtic’s final two matches of 2018. In one Willie Collum gave one outrageous penalty and one soft one while failing to send off Niall McGinn for an over the ball lunge on Ryan Christie’s shin. Three days later Alfredo Morelos was given licence to do as he please as he kicked, stamped and groped opponents with out a word of warning never mind a red or yellow card.
If Fleming wants to establish credibility he can publish the match reports from those games and explain the decisions made. Collum and Beaton remain on the gravy train, taking charge of Scottish Cup ties this weekend.
Explaining the new ‘think tank’ Stenhousemuir, yes Stenhousemuir chairman Iain McMenemy told the Daily Record: “This needs to be dealt with as a single piece of joined-up thinking. Tear down barriers. Work with each other. Take ownership.
“When stories about referees become bigger than the game that has to be regarded as a failure of the system. When criticism of officials crosses a line into threats and intimidation then we need to act urgently. That time is upon us.
“The whole process of match officiating, maintaining order and the aftermath of dealing with decisions has broken down. Let’s drive behavioural change across all of football, rather than pretending it’s only an issue for one side of the problem, usually the referees.
“Let’s look at VAR. Anything that takes us closer to getting things right more of the time is worth implementing.”
No arrests have been reported over the ‘death treats’ made to Beaton and his family, news of the threats was made public shortly after Celtic issued a statement calling for publication of the match report. Celtic’s request for a meeting with Maxwell and Fleming hasn’t yet been acknowledged.