BlueMeanie
Well-Known Member
THINKING back to my career, how I spoke to referees makes me feel ashamed.
If I’m honest about it, there were times when I didn’t treat them with the respect they deserved.
4
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard confronts referee John Beaton
If I knew then what I know now about how words can impact on people, I would definitely have behaved differently.
Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t the worst offender.
But I cringe now when I think about some of the things I said and the language I used.
It was all done in the heat of the game when tempers were often frayed, but that doesn’t excuse it.
4
Rangers star Alfredo Morelos is brought down by Livingston keeper Max Stryjek
If I’ve realised anything in the last few years, it’s that we’re all just human beings trying to do our best.
But the bottom line from Rangers’ game at Livingston the other night was that John Beaton’s best wasn’t good enough.
He got it badly wrong on so many levels.
First things first — his decision to show Alfredo Morelos a yellow card for diving inside the box was a SHOCKER. It was a penalty. Simple as that.
How Beaton came to the conclusion he did, I’ll never know, because for me it was as clear a spot-kick as you’re likely to see.
That his assistant on that side and the fourth official both agreed with him makes it all the more staggering.
That’s where Steven Gerrard was right with his comments after the game.
And it’s why I can totally understand the way he acted at half-time when he made a beeline for Beaton.
He won’t be proud of his behaviour.
It’s not been his style during his time in Scottish football to let rip like that and I suspect he’ll wish he did things differently and kept his cool.
4
Beaton reaches for his yellow and red cards
But it’s oh so easy to say that the morning after the night before.
Just like it’s easy for me to say now that my career is over that I regret the way I spoke to referees.
Gerrard has been offered a one-game touchline ban for what he did and he’ll need to accept that punishment.
Rangers can’t really defend him, can they?
Not when the TV cameras were there to pick up exactly the language he used.
But he wasn’t the only one who lost his focus because Beaton did, too.
By the letter of the law, he should have shown Gerrard a straight red card when he marched on to the pitch and started berating him, but he flashed only yellow.
Some may argue he was trying to calm the situation down, but try telling that to the managers who don’t get that kind of leniency when they lambast refs.
But the bigger picture in all of this is that our refs need to be given more help than they’re currently getting.
The game is evolving almost by the day and yet our refs are doing things in exactly the same way as they were years ago.
I said here weeks ago how I thought it was high time we brought in some sort of VAR — and this incident has only served to underline that.
4
Bobby Madden referees a Hamilton game
I could see on the Sky monitors within ten seconds of the Morelos incident that it was a penalty.
Just like everyone watching at home could see it.
So why are we putting our refs at a disadvantage when there are tools there that can help them? It makes no sense.
It’s also now time for refs to come out and explain their decisions, because sitting in silence is not good enough in 2021.
Beaton is in the eye of a storm right now — people are criticising him left, right and centre.
If he came out and said what happened from his perspective, then it would massively help things.
There will be people at the SFA who will say that only leads to negative headlines because their words could be misconstrued.
But that’s just nonsense — and they know it.
Referees would get a lot more respect if they took responsibility for their mistakes and held up their hands now and again.
Had Beaton come out after the game and said something like, “Having watched the Morelos incident again, I realise I got it wrong”, then most fair-minded folk would accept that.
Right now, I honestly think our referees are being badly let down by the system.
If you ask me, we have some experienced refs who are going through a bad time and emerging ones who make rash decisions.
Willie Collum hasn’t been great lately and made errors he probably wouldn’t have made a few years ago.
I also don’t think Steven McLean has recovered from the day he sent off three players at Kilmarnock.
But I also look at someone like Bobby Madden and think he’s a brilliant official.
In fact, I’d go as far as to say he’s the best referee we’ve ever had in Scotland.
This is a guy who operates in a world where the scrutiny has never been greater and yet he still manages to get most decisions right.
The thing about Madden, though, is that he doesn’t strike me as someone who takes himself too seriously.
Maybe the fact he’s beaten cancer has something to do with that.
Maybe he knows what’s important in life and that is why he seems more laid-back than his colleagues.
But it definitely makes him a better referee than any of the others. I don’t think he’d have made the mistake Beaton made on Wednesday.
I also think he would have stopped Gerrard in his tracks and injected some calm into that situation before it got out of control.
