Amato

THE Scottish FA should follow the lead of the FA in England and invest more money into their disciplinary department in order to quell the growing unrest over retrospective punishments in the wake of some high-profile controversies. That was the advice from Graham Bean, the FA’s first ever compliance officer and a football consultant who advises Premier League clubs, managers and players down south on disciplinary matters, yesterday.
celtic released a statement last month expressing their surprise that Alfredo Morelos, the Rangers striker, had not been cited following a series of incidents in the Ladbrokes Premiership match at Ibrox at the end of December.
And both Steven Gerrard, the Rangers manager, and Steve Clarke, his Kilmarnock counterpart, last week expressed a desire to see consistency in the sanctions handed out by the governing body.
Bean, who is also the chief executive of National League club Chesterfield, feels Clare Whyte, the current SFA compliance officer, would be helped in her role by having improved infrastructure and urged her employers to consider expanding her department.
“The FA system in England is a lot more consistent than the FA system in Scotland,” he said. “That is for a number of reasons. One of them is you only have a sole compliance officer. I can appreciate the difficulties she faces.
“When I joined the FA back in 1999 I was the only compliance officer. Now the whole compliance department at the FA in Londonnumbers about 30 staff.
Consequently, it is a lot more structured and that means they can deal with a lot more incidents in a far more consistent manner.
“There aren’t as many inconsistent decisions. That is quite good because it means everybody is getting a fair crack of the whip. I can understand why players and managers get upset at the lack of consistency because, quite simply, it is an unfair system.
“That comes down to the fact there is a lack of investment from the Scottish FA in developing the department. They could take a leaf out of the English FA’s book. They could go and visit them and see how they have developed their department over a number of years.
Nowadays, in fairness to the FA, there is a level of consistency that is acceptable. “There will always be cases which slip through the net, but the reality of it is the English FA do get the vast majority of the decisions right in terms of the consistency and application of the regulations.
With some investment the Scottish FA could make sure it gets to the same level.
“I probably suffered what the SFA compliance officer is suffering. Because there was only one of me I couldn’t review every single incident of every single game.  A lot of the time you were having to react to issues rather than being proactive on issues.
“I remember when I was the compliance officer having a meeting with Davie Moyes when he was the manager at Preston North End. The English FA had taken action against one of his players.
He had a list of half a dozen incidents where we hadn’t taken any action and he questioned me why that was. The reality was we didn’t have the manpower to deal with it.”
Whyte, who succeeded Tony McGlennan as SFA compliance officer back in August, regularly consults with her counterparts at all of the Home Nations associations and the extensive changes which were made to the judicial process last year were heavily influenced by those of the FA. She is also assisted extensively by other members of staff in the disciplinary department in her daily duties.
But Bean added: “The problem comes down to manpower and the fact the compliance officer in Scotland is effectively a one woman band. If the Scottish FA want to be serious about this they have to invest in it very much like the English FA did by bringing in a more structured system that is consequently a more consistent and fair system for the game as a whole.
“It has been proven that if you invest money in discipline and compliance areas, in the right people and the right training, then you do get consistent results out of it. Clearly that is what the Scottish FA need to do.
“It isn’t a criticism of the incumbent compliance officer. She is working with the tools she has been given. The Scottish FA need to put some money into this and build the department.
Look at the success the English FA have had. They could get that consistency in their organisation.
” The SFA compliance officer initiates retrospective disciplinary action against a player if an incident, or an exceptional part of an incident, has been missed by the match official at the time and once three independent experts have all unanimously agreed it constituted a sending off offence.
However, Bean is vehemently opposed to “re-refereeing” games and believes that only off-the-ball incidents that have been missed by the referee and his assistants should be looked at once the final whistle has blown.
“What you are essentially doing is re-refereeing the game and I don’t agree with that,” he said. “It isn’t in the spirit of the game, it doesn’t respect the authority of the referee. I am not a fan of retrospective action.
“If we are going to deal with incidents retrospectively and re-referee the game – and effectively a group of football administrators with no experience of playing the game at a professional level are re-refereeing a football game – there must be a high level of consistency about it. And the simple fact is that there isn’t.”
Bean continued: “Given the referee’s expertise at professional level, you would expect then to get the decisions right. If he gets it wrong it is a big thing to for a referee to say: ‘I got that wrong, I need to rectify it’. I would suggest he is covering his own reputation.
“Even if you review it it still comes down to people’s interpretation and opinion. The difference being they can look at it from different angles and in slow motion until they come to a decision.
“In terms of off the ball incidents that take place when a referee isn’t watching, like somebody punching another player, then of course there needs to be punishment for that.
“If the referee has failed to apply the laws of the game correctly then it should be him who is dealt with by the football authorities. He should face penalties, suspension from the game or whatever. It shouldn’t just be a player or a club who suffer because of a referee’s incompetence.
“I am firmly of the view, and always have been, that a challenge should be judged by the referee at that time. We shouldn’t be revisiting it. It is a minefield.”

Can a FOI request be issued on the SFA?

Is there a compliance officer in the English Premier League?
The more I think about it, the concept of a single person (even worse, an unqualified person) having the authority to pick and choose what incidents are cited and imposing bans after a match is fucking bonkers. The lack of consistency in the decisions she is reaching is staggering. 

Not gonna lie I'll be heartbroken when he leaves. 
Not had a hero like him since Prso 

Taigs at Ibrox. 
Provided we get the job done against killie. 

Is there a compliance officer in the English Premier League?
The more I think about it, the concept of a single person (even worse, an unqualified person) having the authority to pick and choose what incidents are cited and imposing bans after a match is fucking bonkers. The lack of consistency in the decisions she is reaching is staggering. 

If that match isn’t on TV, there’s no fuss about McGregor
Walker and Sky made that a thing, wouldn’t even have been shown on a highlights package had they not decided to point it out and have a lengthy discussion about it which then gave the media something to run with on it 

Although disappointed at the outcome of today’s decisions I would be lying if I said that despite the angular film footage in Morelos favour and the fact McGregor had the ball in his safe possession when Ferguson ‘ran’ in to his foot, raised or not (aswell as later retribution), I am really not surprised given the negative media narrative and faux outrage following the 4 penalties at Ibrox.
The intervention of the compliance officer can only be deemed as ‘fair’ in a competitive football league if the same level of scrutiny is applied to all matches within that league AND probability most importantly there is an unquestionable level of parity and transparency on any action taken. The incidents which appear to be reviewed all seem to be the most publicised on MSM television and given the way things are at the moment the people responsible for selecting and commenting the ‘worthy’ incidents, would be fair to say have leanings towards the East end. There should be a transparent review of all games by a dedicated review team or for the sake of, (dare I say) ‘sporting integrity’ no retrospective action taken on any team.
Long winded post I know but having watched the Brown and Simunovic clips today (on this forum, not shown relentlessly on tv as per Morelos and McGreggor) from their midweek match I’m  honestly astounded why nothing is being done re them...

Did he come back in time to do so?

😄That  is outrageous, I do not think I have ever seen anything as blatant as that ever.

What qualifications does the compliance officer have that puts her in a position to be able to decide what incidents merit a notice of complaint? A woman who has never played football at a respectable level?
Does she have a panel helping her decide (other than Sportscene and the Scottish media)? 

Absolute nonsense system that allows the media to dictate what incidents get highlighted.
No way McGregor won't win that appeal, absolutely no way to prove intent. His leg wasn't raised unnaturally high.

Can't even pronounce his name

Don't change Alfredo. 💙💙💙

It will be appealed. It’s a yellow at best

Little lesbian. 

He has an entire country on toast without speaking a word of English. Glorious little bastard. Gerrard and the fans have his back, fuck everyone else. 

Rescinded if we appeal in my opinion. 

I still think you are retarded and weird. You go to a Spanish forum and try and talk in the same time learning new words/phrases. It is called learning. But you are a retard that goes to irish catholic shools. Now please fuck off little lesbian. 

So he is utterly convinced that who a referee supports has no impact on their performance.  Why then, when asked if he knew of any other celtic fans amongst officials, would he answer ‘I cant think of any’.  Would the obvious response to that question not be, ‘why is that of any relevance’.  

BBC propaganda piece...
Poor refereeing should have "consequences", says former official Steve Conroy.
Andrew Dallas awarded Rangers four penalties in their 4-0 win over St Mirren, two of which Ibrox manager Steven Gerrard called "debatable".
Scottish referees have faced criticism this season, with managers calling for VAR and full-time officials.
"We certainly have to address all these mistakes that keep happening," said Conroy, who stepped down in 2012.
"There has to be consequences, whether you get a few games in the lower divisions to keep out the headlines, to give you a chance to reflect. That has to be much more open than it seems to be just now.
"It would be better if the Scottish FA accepted that people mistakes and come out and say that rather than just trying to deafen people with silence."
Rangers 'could have had five penalties'
Conroy agreed with Dallas's first award of a penalty at Ibrox, but felt he got the next three wrong and missed another legitimate spot-kick near the end of the match.
Dallas was also criticised for awarding celtic a penalty in the League Cup final against Aberdeen - Scott Sinclair missed but his side won 1-0 - and one for St Johnstone against Hearts, which was converted by Matty Kennedy to secure a 2-2 draw.
"It wasn't good and it won't come as a surprise that I say that and it certainly shouldn't come as a surprise to Andrew either," Conroy said of Saturday's match at Ibrox.
"I'm surprised that Andrew was put in such a big situation, considering what's happened to him in previous weeks.
"If referees keep making mistakes like this then it's everybody's reputation that's on the line. If that had been me, I don't think I would've been awarded such a big game so soon after recent events.
"There are some people who go through a lot quicker than most and probably a bit quicker than is healthy because it's an apprenticeship. You need to put in the hours, you need to put in the years before you can start going into such situations as big games."
'I can't think of any other celtic fans'
Conroy, a celtic supporter, is open about his club allegiances but is "utterly convinced" that who a referee supports has no impact on their performances.
And, when asked if he knew of any other celtic fans among officials, he replied: "I can't think of any."
"I don't like conspiracy theories, it's an awful easy excuse to explain things away," he added.
"There was never any discussion on who you support and who you don't. I certainly never minded telling people who I support. It's out there so no-one can say anything after it."
Utterly convinced BBC Scotland has an anti-Rangers agenda. I don't even think it's debatable.

This is how it works. Any contentious decision that goes in our favour is forensically anyalised with countless reruns and numerous column inches in the rags. Any controversial decision that goes against us is immediately forgotten. In the game V FC Paedo,  Alfredo’s indiscretions generated a media frenzy, yet a stamp and an elbow thrown at Scott Arfield by the Lego Eater Brown were neither replayed or commented on. Therefore the paranoia is fed and the undercurrent is there must be something in all this Masonic Conspiracy bollox. 

BBC propaganda piece...
Poor refereeing should have "consequences", says former official Steve Conroy.
Andrew Dallas awarded Rangers four penalties in their 4-0 win over St Mirren, two of which Ibrox manager Steven Gerrard called "debatable".
Scottish referees have faced criticism this season, with managers calling for VAR and full-time officials.
"We certainly have to address all these mistakes that keep happening," said Conroy, who stepped down in 2012.
"There has to be consequences, whether you get a few games in the lower divisions to keep out the headlines, to give you a chance to reflect. That has to be much more open than it seems to be just now.
"It would be better if the Scottish FA accepted that people mistakes and come out and say that rather than just trying to deafen people with silence."
Rangers 'could have had five penalties'
Conroy agreed with Dallas's first award of a penalty at Ibrox, but felt he got the next three wrong and missed another legitimate spot-kick near the end of the match.
Dallas was also criticised for awarding celtic a penalty in the League Cup final against Aberdeen - Scott Sinclair missed but his side won 1-0 - and one for St Johnstone against Hearts, which was converted by Matty Kennedy to secure a 2-2 draw.
"It wasn't good and it won't come as a surprise that I say that and it certainly shouldn't come as a surprise to Andrew either," Conroy said of Saturday's match at Ibrox.
"I'm surprised that Andrew was put in such a big situation, considering what's happened to him in previous weeks.
"If referees keep making mistakes like this then it's everybody's reputation that's on the line. If that had been me, I don't think I would've been awarded such a big game so soon after recent events.
"There are some people who go through a lot quicker than most and probably a bit quicker than is healthy because it's an apprenticeship. You need to put in the hours, you need to put in the years before you can start going into such situations as big games."
'I can't think of any other celtic fans'
Conroy, a celtic supporter, is open about his club allegiances but is "utterly convinced" that who a referee supports has no impact on their performances.
And, when asked if he knew of any other celtic fans among officials, he replied: "I can't think of any."
"I don't like conspiracy theories, it's an awful easy excuse to explain things away," he added.
"There was never any discussion on who you support and who you don't. I certainly never minded telling people who I support. It's out there so no-one can say anything after it."
Utterly convinced BBC Scotland has an anti-Rangers agenda. I don't even think it's debatable.