The prospect of a referee strike has been raised following the abuse and threats made to Kevin Clancy after Saturday’s Glasgow Derby.
Ally McCoist and Kris Boyd were first to go over the top with their criticisms of Saturday’s referee, afterwards Micky Beale and James Tavernier both pointed towards Clancy as they explained their defeat.
The Ibrox captain and manager both claimed that Jota used his hand in the build up to Celtic’s second goal, video evidence has clearly shown that not to be the case.
Social media was predictably toxic with leading Ibrox podcaster David Edgar making some unrepeatable comments about Clancy in his post match video report.
Edgar is the host of the Heart & Hand podcast, a favoured fan media outlet. Edgar and his cronies are invited to every club media conference and have media facilities on matchdays.
When Beale meets the media on Thursday or Friday, or at Saturday’s match against St Mirren reporters from BBC Scotland, Sky Sports, STV and Radio Clyde will be in the company of Edgar and able to question him about his post match Clancy video.
Discussing a possible strike with Steve Conroy, the Daily Record reports:
Now Conroy is adamant there’s a danger of referees considering resorting to similar action as 2010 when they withdrew their services amid personal safety being put at stake. He told Record Sport: “Back in 2010 everyone had the same feeling. Referees in this country were genuinely fearful that something was actually going to happen to one of us and that nobody was listening.
“Thankfully things did get a lot better after that, but someone has to speak to these people and who knows, maybe it’s happening behind the scenes? We can’t go back to the stage where referees are genuinely afraid for their own safety and the safety of their kids. That would take us back into dangerous territory.
“I know that these people are playing to their own audience but it’s a dangerous thing to do. It doesn’t matter what team you support, we all know there are people who will resort to what I would call unsavoury tactics at the least provocation.
“The more it is stirred up, the more chance there is of that happening. That’s why it has to be a team effort and it has to be joined up before anything serious happens to any of our guys.
“I can’t get my head around why anyone would bother doing that kind of thing towards a referee. It’s absolutely nuts.”
https://t.co/CRMRIfYyOC pic.twitter.com/OAZCSTjghI
— Tam sellic son (@TamseIIicsonIII) April 10, 2023
Should non-Scottish referees be appointed for future Glasgow Derbies?
Yes- the only possible answer
No, best to stick with our local refs
Its at these times we all realise that the Scottish media is choc full of brainless ex pros and fanboy cheerleaders who do not possess the professionalism or objectivity to pass comment due to their obvious bias and prejudice.
What they say in the public arena is seen and heard by every moron supporter out there who’s bias and prejudice is just as bad as their own and often way worse..they need to take responsibility for what they say, as people lives are literally at stake on occasions.
If you could imagine the hate- filled face of the person , when actively putting the referee’s details out there (doxxing ) online for all the whordes to see , his ugly mug certainly fits that nightmarish image . Or even that face Beaton has at the final whistle … ( Phil had a snapshot ) he certainly seemed to have his axe for more than ready to grind .
Who would access to that type of information?
As much as I dislike the Scottish match officials standards,
nobody should be subjected to the vitriol and threats thrown at Clancy – and his family.
Suppose Ibrox PR will try to lump their fans’ deplorable behaviour in with other clubs’
general criticisms of match officiating standards, as some sort of justification?
This Clancy / bears issue MUST be treated as a separate disciplinary breach,
and owned by Ibrox.
And any referees’ strike resulting from this Clancy attack would enable the Scottish
Referees’ Association to drive the narrative: it would be focused on THEIR complaints.
Addressing match officiating standards would simply be ignored.
Whatever happens, we can be assured that Maxwell and the pitiful SFA
will mishandle all of this – guaranteed!
Foreign refs for Glasgow Derby games from now on. In fact it’s long over due…
Scandinavian refs would be my initial preference. They let the game flow and know a foul from a collapse.
If the SFA with their LRA ( Lodge) continue to ignore the poor officiating, bias/corruption/ Stockholm syndrome/ and total ineptness the game is Donald Ducked.
I would go further and have foreign refs permanently at ALL leagues. There are cases of collusion between Barcelona and a Spanish ref , between Benfica and a Portuguese one , there have been instances where the ref is accused of bias … Clancy now , Collum and Beaton before . So here is my idea. Week 1 ALL German matches reffed by Italian , Italian by Dutch , Dutch by Scottish , Scottish by Turkish etc etc … Week 2 German by Spanish , Italian by French , Dutch by Greek , Scottish by Belgian etc etc
With a weekly switch then obviously there could be no accusation, no threats by fans, no need in admitting you are a fan of club X because you would not be officiating in any of their matches, the refs would hopefully improve without the old pals act and would gain experience and hopefully the standard would improve ? Thoughts ?
This was always on the cards when the fanatics of one club are free to bully with impunity.