The Daily Record - Stuart Dougal

Dutch try to spin Webb of deceit

2010-07-13T05:01:00Z

Accusations from the Netherlands claiming referee Howard Webb was biased towards Spain in the World Cup Final are risible.

Holland only had themselves to blame for Sunday's defeat after trying to clog their way to victory. If the future had been orange then it certainly wouldn't have been very bright.

Bert van Marwijk's team cast a dark cloud over Johannesburg with their cynical tactics.

If anything Webb could be accused of being lenient towards them and should have sent off both Nigel de Jong and Marc van Bommel long before Johnny Heitinga was dismissed in extra time.

The referee endured a difficult evening, handing out a record one red and 14 yellow cards.

The Dutch went into the match intent on stopping a superior team - and that plan was always going to bring the ref into play.

They made it virtually impossible for the officials, who were in a no-win situation from the moment van Bommel and company began scything down opponents.

This should have been the greatest moment of Webb's career although the 120 minutes would have been torture for him. He tried manfully to keep control and show he was in charge, but even after five bookings in 13 first-half minutes the players didn't take heed.

It is impossible for a referee to shine in such a tense environment.

There is no doubt he made a few mistakes and he should have shown de Jong a straight red in the opening half after he floored Xabi Alonso with a crude high-studded contact to the chest.

After watching television replays of the incident it was immediately clear de Jong should have walked. In real time it's not so easy to make that call.

But it appeared to be Webb's display in the final few minutes of extra-time that really infuriated the Netherlands.

They were particularly aggrieved at his failure to award a corner when a Dutch free-kick took a clear deflection off Cesc Fabregas.

Webb gave a goal-kick instead and within seconds Iniesta had scored the only goal of the game.

At the final whistle, the ref was surrounded by irate Dutchmen blaming him for their failure. This was also a poor showing from Holland and I was surprised that the officials were not afforded more protection from the security forces.

And even though they were deserved winners, Spain can't escape criticism as they also collected five bookings.

But while there is still this great romantic notion of Holland being the exponents of Total Football, they hold the dubious honour of being the dirtiest country at four of the last six World Cups.

So while Webb didn't get everything spot on I am sure many felt some sympathy for him in the way this World Cup final was played out.

It was more total thuggery than total football, but Spain didn't allow themselves to be bullied and deservedly overcame the Dutch tactics to triumph.

This is right way to handle Suarez

2010-07-05T05:01:00Z

There will be a few in Ghana and beyond who would happily chop off the hand of Luis Suarez.

For some that punishment might be viewed too lenient for the Uruguayan striker whose deliberate handball on Friday night prevented the Africans reaching a World Cup semi-final.

Suarez was sent off, Ghana got a penalty which they missed and the South American's won a shoot-out.

But they will have to do without football's most guilty man in the semi-final because his red card means a one-match suspension.

Yet that isn't good enough for some.

Yes, what he did was cheating. If Steven Appiah's header had not been stopped by the hand of Suarez in the last seconds of extra time Ghana would have won.

But is his "crime" any worse than a defender hacking down a striker just as is about to shoot? Or a player diving in the last minute to win a penalty? No it isn't - although there were rumours FIFA might have banned him for two games meaning he would miss the Final.

What nonsense. The guy has been punished. It was Assmoah Gyan's fault he missed his penalty.

That might sound cruel but it doesn't mean it's any less true.

Or should we just give a penalty goal in such situations rather like they do in rugby - when a defending team is continually penalised near their own try line? For me that's a non-starter without using technology and I doubt that will happen soon.

What if - and it would happen - a referee saw a handball on the line and under the rules could award a goal rather than a penalty and then the replay showed the ball was actually about to hit the post.

I don't mind helping out the officials but as any regular reader will know I'm not in favour of meddling too much with the rules.

Suarez will claim his reaction was instinctive and maybe it was.

When a ball is flying at a player on their own goal-line, especially in the last minute of a World Cup quarter-final, perhaps every one of them would stick out their hand.

Every single person who has played the game has done something naughty. Let's not get carried away. Although I didn't like to hear Suarez talk up his actions, let alone be seen as a hero. He's not that - nor is he football's greatest villain.

That is the referee, of course. We always are. However, let me praise Carlos Batres, the man from Guatemala who awarded three penalties within two minutes of the Spain-Paraguay quarter-final.

He was given stick for making Spain's Xabi Alonso retake his because of encroachment. That was as brave a decision a referee could make. It happens all the time and mostly a blind eye is turned to subtle or minor encroachment. But five Spanish players ran into the box or the semi-circle.

Mind you, I thought he was wrong not to send off Paraguay defender Antolin Alcaraz who was last man when he pulled down David Villa for the penalty.

However, I watched it with Dougie McDonald and he sided with the ref.

As I've said many times before it's all about opinions.

We're not in it just for for money

2010-07-05T05:00:50Z

Former Premiership ref Graham Poll has apparently revealed FIFA paid him in cash at the last World Cup.

That does seem a bit off because officials' pay for European games always goes directly into their bank account, thank goodness.

I wouldn't fancy heading off to the airport with £30,000 in a suitcase. Knowing my luck I'd probably get mugged.

Referees from Italy, Germany and England are well paid. Some get around £2500 a match so World Cups are all about the experience rather than making money.

But for some, such as Carlos Batres of Guatemala, it could help to change their lives.

The 1996 Under-16 European Championship was the first such tournament I took part in. We were only paid expenses and as a result of missing domestic matches it actually cost me money. But I learned a lot and that was the most important thing.

I will never forget this wee guy from Azerbaijan who admitted to me he was making FIVE times his annual salary and would be set for life.

Scottish refs are at the lower end of the pay scale but a trip to Brazil in 2014 would be a nice little earner for Craig Thomson or Willie Collum - good luck guys!

Howler is proof refs need help

2010-06-28T05:01:00Z

Will someone at FIFA pick up the phone to UEFA this morning and ask them how putting assistant referees behind the goals worked out in last season's Europa League? Probably not. But that conversation should have taken place last night.

Frank Lampard's 'goal' was a good yard over the line. While some Scots may snigger at the irony of it all, that shouldn't happen in a World Cup.

If an official was behind that goal, then England would have gone in at 2-2 against Germany. I'm not saying they would have won the game, because they were really poor, but they were done before half-time.

Don't blame referee Larrionda Jorge or even his linesman Mauricio Espinosa. It's not their fault.

A linesman would be in line with the last players, so it's not that easy to spot whether a ball has gone over or not when it all happens so quickly.

The ref would have given the goal if he had seen it. Take it from me, when you're on the pitch it's difficult to make that judgment in a split-second.

So they need help. That means having another official behind the goal, which worked really well in the Europa League.

I'm not the biggest advocate of using technology. For that to work, it would cost a lot of money which FIFA won't go for and I don't like the idea of power being taken away from the ref.

But the poor sod in the middle does need more help. So why not give him another pair of eyes? Mistakes may still be made but this would be much fairer - when a team of officials work together it makes the game far better.

Speaking of assistant referees, I must praise Englishman Darren Cann who ran the line at the Slovakia-Italy game.

Italy thought they had scored to make it 2-2 in the final minute but the assistant quite rightly put his flag up for offside.

Earlier on he correctly spotted that Slovakia's Martin Skrtel had stopped the ball on the line. That's not easy to do when there are so many players between you and the goal.

Cann is not someone I'm familiar with but he's one of the best assistants at the World Cup based on his showing so far.

Referee Howard Webb, I'm sure, would have thanked his mate in the dressing room later when he watched those two incidents on television.

That's how the officials' team should work and it would have helped them secure their next big match which is Brazil v Chile - that should be a cracker and I for one wish these Englishmen all the best.

And it showed it's not always the big teams that get these borderline decisions in their favour. Those were two big calls made against the world champions in a huge game.

The assistant showed great bravery to put up his flag on both occasions. Good on him. I always like to see it when an assistant referee actually lives up to his job description.

One of the loudest and most frequent complaints I hear from supporters is that the guys who run the line - remember when they used to be called linesmen - don't give the ref enough assistance.

That they never raise their flag even when something happens right in front of them because they don't want to get involved.

I can understand the frustration but the fans don't realise that the assistants regularly bail the ref out - I should know as many of our guys in the SPL have assisted me on many occasions.

We've always had a talented bunch who are underestimated because few rarely see the full assistance they provide.

Mexican ref Macro Rodriguez was given superb help during a bad-tempered World Cup game on Friday night between Spain and Chile.

I don't know who whispered in his ear but they did well to catch Marco Estrada's "accidental" trip on Fernando Torres which led to a second yellow card for the Chilean before half-time.

Rodriguez didn't see the incident which took place in the build-up to Spain's second goal.

You are supposed to stop play for a red-card offence, unless someone is just about to put the ball in the net, which makes me think that he was following play when the Liverpool man took a tumble out of his sight.

He would have needed eyes in the back of his head, which is what his assistant is supposed to provide, to catch it.

No flag went up but that says to me that someone used the headset to communicate that Estrada had tripped up the Spanish striker. That's good teamwork. It should happen a lot more.

Thank refs for all the excitement

2010-06-21T05:01:00Z

Devil's advocate is a role I'll gladly take when assessing the performance of referees at the World Cup.

But the judge and jury will be the millions of fans who believe a whistler has robbed their team in South Africa.

Usa, Germany and Australia were joined by New Zealand yesterday as nations who've had key decisions going against them.

It's been a slow burner but the World Cup has exploded into life amid a spate of controversial calls. Once again we have the man in the middle to thank for bringing excitement.

Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu thought he'd hit a last-minute winner for America against Slovenia only for it to be ruled out.

I can't say for sure what the referee's thoughts were but I believe he blew for a foul by Michael Bradley who was spotted wrestling to get free of a Slovenia defender who had been holding him seconds earlier.

Officials are trained to spot holding and blocking offences but on this occasion the ref missed other incidents where he might have awarded a penalty. Unfortunately the ref spotted Bradley's incident which was the most minor.

Then New Zealand were denied a historic win over Italy when Tommy Smith was rightly ruled to have tugged Daniele de Rossi's jersey inside the area to concede a penalty.

Justified The big difference was the ref in the Italy game saw clearly what happened, unlike the USA controversy where the whistler had last-minute mayhem and penalty-box chaos to contend with.

It was wrong to rule it out and I admit it was a big call but don't tell me it could cost the Americans the chance to qualify.

Of course it played a part but, like the Germans before them who felt aggrieved at Miroslav Klose's red card against Serbia, they had 90 minutes to get the result and couldn't.

Attackers missed sitters and defenders could have done better.

Human error applies to coaches, players and officials and each mistake has a bearing on the result but seldom is it the sum-total cause of whether a team wins or not.

Harry Kewell may take some convincing of that but again his sending off for handball on the line against Ghana was justified if the referee deemed it deliberate.

Harry tried to con the official by pointing to his chest when the ball clearly hit him on the arm and prevented a goal.

The ref concluded Harry moved his body towards the ball and deemed it intentional so had to make that call.

Wolves boss Mick McCarthy was waxing lyrical about one whistler and his naivety was embarrassing although he wasn't alone.

Young Spanish referee Alberto Undiano came under fire for his display in the Germany game where he sent off Klose for two bookings.

It was no surprise to me there were eight yellows flashed and one red because he operates in a country where they officiate by the book.

Germany may feel aggrieved at the second booking for Klose but technically it was correct and coach Joachim Low can't blame that decision on the defeat. He should have known the referee has a style that is strict and to the letter of the law.

When a player is booked it should serve as a warning about their future conduct and Klose didn't heed that.

I wouldn't have sent the German off because a second yellow must be believable, which this one wasn't, although it was a foul and Undiano enforced the rule book.

Germany were guilty of not doing their homework on the match official and I wonder how many coaches do.

I remember Alex McLeish phoning me before Hibs were due to play in Europe, against AEK Athens, for the first time under his stewardship.

He wanted to know what to expect from the referee operating under UEFA's instructions. That attention to detail continued and I told him before a game against Steaua Bucharest the ref was a stickler for shirt pulling.

So he warned his players and Steaua had a man sent off for doing it twice in the first half.

It amazed me other coaches in this country didn't tap into domestic refs' knowledge of international colleagues.

The World Cup is a celebration of different footballing cultures and that includes referees so teams must to some groundwork.

In my experience European clubs like having a Scottish ref in charge because we allow more physical contact than officials from other nations.

As told to Gordon Parks

Lose plot and lose the title

2010-06-14T05:29:16Z

Neil Lennon should take a leaf out of South Korea's book when it comes to putting total focus on the football rather than getting in the faces of referees.

The Celtic boss has been quoted as saying he wants his side to have "two or three players around the ref to let him know if challenges had been too heavy".

It's a remark which made for great Sunday morning headlines with words like fight and war being used to reflect the Irishman's comments about how he wants his players to approach the game and to challenge match officials if they feel they are not doing their job properly.

Sunday morning headlines with words like fight and war being used to reflect the Irishman's comments about how he wants his players to approach the game and to challenge match officials if they feel they are not doing their job properly.

It's also a million miles removed from the attitude the players have been taking so far at the World Cup with the energy and concentration being on skill and entertainment.

The Koreans have typified everything that has been good about South Africa 2010 so far with their excellence in technique and focus to their opening game against Greece.

The discipline of all the teams has been superb and the whistlers have remained in the background.

I've long since believed players who indulge in squabbling with the referee are not 100 per cent focused on their job. It may be that Lennon wants his players to show more passion and commitment but the World Cup has shown you can prove you are up for the contest without going toe to toe with match officials whenever a decision doesn't go your way.

There are obvious failings in the standard of Scottish football at the moment and my hope is we can learn a thing or two from the way the game is being played in South Africa. We haven't seen players charging about or losing the plot with any refs. We've seen great touch, movement and ability.

It's been about the best players in the world displaying their talent and showing respect for the men charged with implementing the rule book.

Lennon may want his team to go mobhanded in a bid to voice their on-field grievances and that's disappointing.

I remember taking charge of a Rangers game against Dundee United at Tannadice which they won to seal nine in a row back in 1998 when I was a relatively inexperienced referee.

They had characters like Paul Gascoigne, Ally McCoist and Andy Goram in the dressing room and Gazza was the one who was having a nip at me from the moment I walked into their room to inspect the boots before the game.

He was hyper and I was getting it non-stop from the first whistle. It was a massive game for me and a huge test but after a couple of minutes of taking verbals from Gazza I had a word in his ear as play was raging on.

I told him if he was so focused on the referee his mind wasn't on the football and he was letting down his team-mates.

From that moment on Gazza didn't bother me again and just concentrated on helping his side win the game.

Football needs to get back to basics and making the referee a target is just a nonsense. Can you imagine what would happen if a whistler had a critical word in the ear of a player after missing a sitter or misplacing a pass.

Refs do it occasionally as part of goodnatured banter with players but we don't want it to become a serious issue.

It shouldn't be acceptable for players to bombard a referee with complaints and my argument about the footballers focusing on their game is a valid one.

We've seen at the World Cup what can happen when the ref fades into the background and the game is all about the ability on view from guys who are at the top of their profession.

Surely the focus for Celtic and Lennon should be on their football rather than a rallying call from their manager to get in the faces of officials and challenge decisions.

As England keeper Rob Green knows better than anyone, mistakes are a part of the game.

He admitted 50 million Englishmen aren't pleased with him but cheer up Rob, there are around 5m Scotsmen who thought you did great.

Small world

2010-06-07T05:17:05Z

A financial inspector from Mali, a shopkeeper from France, a travel agent from Hungary, a fireman from Sweden and a Brazilian journalist - who are they? I'll tell you. They are referees at World Cup 2010.

Naturally, as Scotland don't have a referee in South Africa, I'll expect a wail of complaints from cynics wondering how these guys get the job. Well, those referees are there because it's a world game.

Just because these countries don't have the top clubs in the world competing at Champions League level does not mean they don't have top officials.

Eddy Maillet from the Seychelles, for example, has refereed at major tournaments such as the African Nations Cup and will have had work on other continents.

I was fourth official to Hugh Dallas when we were sent to South America to do Uruguay against Brazil in 2001.

It was incredible. There is a massive rivalry there that makes Scotland and England look tame and it was wild in Montevideo.

Eddy will have proved to his observers he can handle it.

We like to think we are a big footballing nation but I was fourth official to Hugh again when he took charge of the Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich in 2000.

After the game, Real full-back Roberto Carlos, who was a star for Brazil, complained about why such a big game was being officiated by guys from a small country.

I might be biased but I felt Hugh was as good a referee as I had ever seen and FIFA classed him among the best, so it would therefore be wrong for us to take Carlos' attitude.

Eddy is obviously a top-level referee to get the World Cup.

One point I do accept is that a number of experienced names will not be there and there is a simple reason. Unless you are seen as the best in your country, you don't get to go and even then only 12 were chosen to go from Europe.

There are a couple of exceptions to the rule this year with New Zealand and Mexico having two representatives but generally speaking it's one per country.

Manuel Gonzales of Spain, for example, won't be there because his nation have given the nod to Alberto Undiano. Alberto is more a talent for the future but he is not the most experienced.

As with players, it's not always the best who go to a World Cup.

I am just using him as an example but Michael McGlinchey couldn't get a regular game for Motherwell last season but is in South Africa because his country, New Zealand, qualified.

Ryan Giggs is one of the greatest players of his generation in the world and he hasn't graced this stage because of the country he represents and that's just the way it works.

There will be a few cultures from the continents and referees will see things differently from each other.

Diving may be seen as part of the culture in South America and it could be argued a South American referee may not come down as hard on it as, say, a European. A referee from South America may be more likely just to tell the player to get up.

Like the players trying to win the World Cup, the ultimate accolade in our profession will go to the man who referees the final and it is usually a South American or a European.

Europe has had the last two with Pierluigi Collina of Italy and Luis Medina Cantalejo of Spain.

If a European is to make it a hat-trick you could narrow it down to a select batch of candidates.

Roberto Rosetti of Italy would be in the shake-up, even though I don't like his style. Switzerland's Massimo Busacca is also very good and stands as much of a chance as anyone .

Howard Webb from England is operating at a very high level in the Premiership every week and also had the Champions League Final which went very well for him.

The opening game is also an honour and that goes to Ravshan Irmatov of Uzbekistan. That takes us back to the first point. No one should think he won't do a good job just because of where he comes from.

As told to Craig Swan

Night I looked like a proper charlie after mistake in Istanbul

2010-05-31T05:01:00Z

I read with interest that Rangers striker Kris Boyd is being lined up for a possible move to Turkey with Kayserispor.

That got me thinking about my own refereeing experiences in that particular country and of their unique brand of fanatical supporters.

I made the biggest mistake of my international career refereeing in Turkey.

A vital European Championship qualifier between Turkey and Hungary in 2007.

It was my last season as a FIFA official and close to my last game.

The Turks were returning to their home stadium for the first time in four games after a ban.

It was 0-0 at half-time but I had booked Zoltan Gera, then of West Brom, and in the second half Gera breaks away and is one-onone with the keeper. The hitman takes it round the keeper on my blind side and goes down.

As far as I am concerned it's a stonewall Hungary penalty and the Turkish keeper is going to be sent off - a brave decision in Turkey.

My assistant though shouted in my earpiece: "It's a dive, no penalty".

I trust my assistants implicitly and I knew he wouldn't get the call wrong.

So from thinking I am sending off Rustu the Turkish keeper, I am now ready to red card Gera.

I produce the red card for Gera and he shouts - "I play in England, I do not dive".

The assistant is certain and just as Gera walks off and the police are on the threshold of storming the place, order is restored.

The keeper then picks up the ball and gives me an enormous wink that said 'Thanks, what a let-off'.

I knew then we had called it wrong and I didn't need to look at a replay. The keeper's actions told me all I needed to know but I had made the decision and could not change my mind.

Turkey went on to win 3-0 and my blackberry was soon bombarded with messages from Hungarian fans calling me the biggest corrupt cheat that ever crawled the planet.

The Hungarian press wanted to fly me to London to discuss the decision but I was still a FIFA referee and I could not talk about it.

Imagine I had given the decision against the Turks.

I remember a Champions League Qualifier when Galatasaray played a team from Luxembourg - hardly the most high-profile match - but 6,000 Turkish fans turned up at 9.30am.

During the game there was a Galatasaray claim for a penalty which was never a spot kick and referee Kenny Clark got it right.

I was running the line and the missiles rained down on me. I was knocked to the floor by a litre and a half bottle of coke.

I was unaware that John Underhill is nose down and been laid flat on the turf.

John has been hit and there is absolute mayhem and the riot police are getting involved.

We calm everything down and after the game, John is frantically trying to reach his wife.

It turns out John was scudded on the head by a bag of nuts - PEANUTS.

John is desperate to reach his wife Rosemary and I couldn't understand why.

He wanted to tell her that everything was fine and that he was okay.

I said she would be none the wiser but he insisted she would see the drama unfold on News at Ten.

John was convinced that he would be on the News at Ten after the Galatasaray supporters went mental.

Turkish fans are fanatical and are madly passionate about their football.

But don't get me wrong, the Turkish people are generally among the friendliest in the world.

So apart from the heat and the mad fans, Boyd has nothing to worry about.

As told to Anthony Haggerty

Refs paid their dues

2010-05-31T05:00:44Z

I keep hearing that referees in this country are not being held accountable for their actions and decisions.

Well, those who believe that should go and have a word with Scott McDonald and Colin Brown.

These two Grade One officials have just been downgraded by the Scottish Football Association and I can tell you that, throughout the season, several referees were 'rested' as well for a period of time.

Nobody knew about it and the referees were not tarred with a failure brush as they have, like players, been guilty of nothing other than being a bit off-form.

They duly suffered their punishment for that but in a quiet and humane way.

There was no song and dance about it and they came back to referee as if nothing had happened - the way it should be.

Major league

2010-05-24T05:01:00Z

A bag of balls, a collection of shirts and a head full of happy memories - those were my mementoes from Euro 2004.

And I'll guarantee every official who takes part in the World Cup returns home this summer with similar, wonderful souvenirs.

The pinnacle of every referee's career, like that of any player or manager, is to be chosen to represent your country at a major tournament.

My highlight came in Portugal as I spent 16 days on the outskirts of Porto immersing myself in every aspect of the European Championships.

The retirement of Hugh Dallas the season before looked as if it might deny Scotland a presence at the finals.

But such was the impact he made in the game that UEFA were clearly well disposed towards our referees.

I was chosen as a fourth official, initially for three matches over 10 days, but dedicated myself to the role to such an extent I was invited to stay on for an additional two games.

In the end they looked to extend my stay still further - beyond the quarterfinals - but a family holiday had already been booked and so I returned home with terrific tales to tell my wife and kids.

Major tournaments are no holiday camp for officials as a detailed map of fitness and preparation work was laid out for us by UEFA's top coach, Werner Helsen.

A morning rise at 7 o'clock was followed by a cycle around the local countryside for up to an hour before breakfast and a walk to the practice pitch.

Officials with games the following day were given light workouts, while those who had been in action 24 hours earlier were given recovery sessions in the gym and pool.

For the rest it was a demanding session of varied physical activity.

And although we were encouraged to play head tennis and two-touch passing drills to wind down, games of football involved physical contact and were frowned upon.

Boredom was rarely a factor because there were games to watch on television and even matches to attend, not to mention our own duties. Four of my five games were in Lisbon and that gave me a change of scenery for a couple of days at a time.

We were free to come and go as we pleased, although I suspect security will be tighter in South Africa.

Two days after his contentious but correct call to deny England's Sol Campbell a winner against the hosts, Swiss referee Urs Meier was heading to reception in the team hotel's lift. Suddenly he was pounced upon by a reporter from an English tabloid waving a red card as a photographer took a picture.

Meier had received death threats - and that could have been a clown with a knife.

The Portuguese, who would later lose to Greece in the final, provided me with my tournament highlight. I was fourth official to Anders Frisk when they defeated Spain 1-0 - their first victory over their neighbours in 26 years. The atmosphere in the Jose Alvalada Stadium in Lisbon was sensational.

If there was a down side for me, it was the absence of compatriots as groups of officials from other countries understandably teamed up to spend time in each other's company and speak their common language.

However, I often bumped into familiar faces, given this was a time when Scottish football had attracted players of the quality of De Boer twins Frank and Ronald and Henrik Larsson.

Celtic's Bulgarian midfielder Stilian Petrov kindly gave me his shirt from the match against Sweden when Larsson scored the goal of the tournament and I was fourth official.

Before the game between France and Denmark, I walked into the French dressing room to check the boots and found Rangers defender Jean-Alain Boumsong sitting next to Patrick Vieira, a study of concentration with headphones planted firmly on his ears.

Vieira was charm personified, an absolute gentleman. We spent a few minutes chatting pleasantly about Scotland and after the match, which Greece won 1-0, Boumsong also presented me with his shirt.

Uefa produced only 12 balls in that tournament for each game, all of them individually stamped with the date and match details. I was lucky enough to secure one from each of the matches in which I was involved and I cherish them still.

I will forever be thankful for the thrill of sharing a stage with officials such as Meier, Pierluigi Collina, Lubos Michel, Frisk and Markus Merk, who are probably as good a group of officials as football has ever seen.

But I'm not one to hark on about a golden age and I have faith enough in the training of referees and clarity of instruction given to the middle men this summer that a new generation will emerge, as confident as before.

Unfortunately, Scotland will not be represented this time. Our last referee to take part in a World Cup was Hugh, who was fourth official in the final itself in 2002 when Brazil defeated Germany in Yokohama. However, Craig Thomson was involved in Euro 2008 and he made the initial group of 53 officials selected by UEFA to be put forward for FIFA's showpiece this time.

Craig did not make the cut but he is young enough and gaining more and more experience at Champions League level. It must also be remembered only 12 whistlers from Europe will be going to South Africa and the top nations such as England, Italy, Spain, France and Germany must be represented.

Willie Collum is emerging to challenge him for a place at Euro 2012 and the next World Cup in 2014.

That will be their time. I'll put my shirt - and a bag of balls - on it happening. It will be an experience to beat them all.

REPLAYS A TURN-OFF FOR REFS

2010-05-17T05:29:17Z

In their wisdom the SFA opted to make full use of the big screens at Hampden.

Major incidents were re-lived on the televisions around the ground just seconds after they occurred.

I'm not a fan of replays being beamed out this way.

Saturday's Scottish Cup final thankfully was about the football and positive elements of the occasion rather than controversy and refereeing decisions.

The only real talking point was the shout from Dundee United fans for a penalty when Danny Swanson went down under a challenge from Alex Keddie.

It was a big call and that's where the problems arise.

What if the referee had got it wrong and it had been a decision that cost one side the game?

It's a recipe for more controversy and heaps additional pressure on the man in the middle.

I remember when Hugh Dallas was at the World Cup in 2002 and FIFA clamped down on using replays.

When a referee does call an incident wrongly, even if he called previous ones spot on, that fuels a sense of injustice for players and fans.

If it was a big decision then it could also cause the referee major issues for the rest of the game.

If we could guarantee the team who are hard done by were to accept the decision in the manner it was given - as a genuine mistake - that would be fine.

But we sometimes have teams who would harbour that sense of injustice. And it could detract from their performance.

Sometimes it fires up teams. But live action replays on big screens only serve to polarise the referee's position and allow teams to look for a fall-guy as the reason they've been beaten.

I refereed my last cup final in 2008. Rangers may have lifted the trophy that day but Queen of the South more than made them work for that success.

Ross County's terrific achievement of reaching the final added to the sense of nostalgia this weekend for me.

I'm out in Barcelona with my daughter Emma and we're here for their game against Real Valladolid. She's become a massive football fan and I promised her this trip as she has had exams.

It's been 10 years since I refereed in Barcelona. It was Halloween night in 2001 and yes I dressed up as referee for the Champions League game against Fenerbahce.

One of the best players I ever refereed was Rivaldo and he scored a sensational free-kick in injury time to win the game. Spanish football brings home to me perfectly just why the Scottish game is struggling financially.

The cynics who can't grasp why Celtic and Rangers can no longer compete at the highest level should have a walkabout around the Nou Camp.

We went on a tour of the famous stadium on Saturday and there were more people milling about than you would get from the combined attendances from the SFL games any weekend.

People were buying strips with Lionel Messi's name on the back - easily £100 right away.

I bumped into Dunfermline assistant boss Gerry McCabe on the plane and he shares my love for Spanish football.

It's hard to understand how touch, passing and movement can vary so much from country to country but unfortunately it does.

The game in Scotland is brought into clear focus when you watch these guys operating at the highest level.

And it's why I'm tuned into La Liga on a Saturday night.

I'd take an action replay of this any day of the week.

As told to Gordon Parks

A Winter of discontent

2010-05-10T05:41:17Z

Jeff Winter's ill-considered comments about Aiden McGeady's conduct during the Old Firm game weren't just offensive to Celtic.

They also did everybody involved in Scottish refereeing absolutely no favours.

This is a former English referee who's never had any experience of handling an Old Firm match performing the equivalent of lobbing a Molotov cocktail into this country.

And it's hard enough for officials in this part of the world to deal with agendas and conspiracies in an era of suspicion without any outside interference.

McGeady was perfectly correct to take evasive action and get out the way of Lee Mcculloch's challenge at Celtic Park. The Rangers player, who'd earlier been booked, had to go.

Winter should have a better appreciation of what referees go through than to make an ill-judged comment on the action taken by Callum Murray in only his second Glasgow derby.

Jeff's a sometime after-dinner speaker in Scotland but I'd hate to think his wellpublicised remarks were designed to make himself better known.

There are former referees on the dinner circuit who court controversy because of the material they use.

What I would say to them is that if some of their stories relating to their time in the game are true then they should be ashamed of themselves.

If, on the other hand, they're saying outrageous things to get a laugh then they should get themselves some new material.

Jeff did himself no favours with his rash statements about McGeady and then referring to Neil Lennon as a "hate figure".

It's demeaning from his own point of view and it only complicates life for those who are trying to officiate in an environment where they're often accused of being biased in favour of a certain club.

Referees here can sometimes be accused of courting the limelight but nothing could be further from the truth.

You start out small and you hope to work your way up to the level where one day you're in charge of a match that's live on television.

But if TV didn't exist you'd be able to reach the pinacle of your profession without drawing that much attention to yourself.

It's television that makes you well known, not a craving for publicity and the spotlight.

Referees are trying to give something back to the game, not make something out of their involvement in it.

As told to Hugh Keevins

You call me a ref apologist.. sorry but you are so wrong

2010-05-10T05:41:15Z

Dougie McDONALD will this week go from the game nobody wanted to the match everyone was after.

His handling of the relegation decider between Kilmarnock and Falkirk was impeccable and now he can enjoy taking control of the Cup Final on Saturday.

The match at Rugby Park, with all of its potential consequences, was a poisoned chalice for a referee.

If you don't get the high-profile game when you're at the peak of your powers you think to yourself, "Why not me?" And if you do get to handle it you still say, "Why me?" It wasn't Dougie's fault the two clubs involved found themselves in a do-or-die match on the last day of the season but he would have probably been blamed if a contentious decision had taken somebody down.

That's the burden which can be carried by officials - and I know that from personal experience.

The time I missed Rangers' Kyle Lafferty feigning injury and wrongly sent off Aberdeen's Charlie Mulgrew affected my confidence so badly I gave up the game rather than affect the outcome of subsequent matches.

Refs do appreciate the outcome of matches can affect livelihoods, even if we didn't put those clubs in positions of peril.

But this has been the season when we've taken the blame for everything, myself included.

The object of me becoming a Record columnist was to give an ex-referee's insight.

But I've been accused by ex-pros of being an apologist for my former colleagues. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The only point I'm trying to make is some controversial decisions might not be black and white.

Craig Thomson's failure to award Celtic a penalty against Rangers at Ibrox when Shaun Maloney went down under Davie Weir's challenge? Categorically wrong.

Scott Brown sent off for his challenge on Lafferty in the next Old Firm game at Ibrox? Open to conjecture.

Did Darren O'Dea handle the ball in last week's derby? I can understand why the ref didn't give a penalty.

Some decisions are just questionable and you have to live with that.

You don't need to agree with my point of view on that one but it's based on 20 years of experience at the sharp end.

I know I won't change everyone's mind but there's no conspiracy and there ain't no game without a referee.

Fal guy bro gives Stevie SPL chance

2010-05-10T05:41:14Z

No doubt Stevie MacLean would have been rooting for his brother Brian when he turned out for Falkirk at Kilmarnock on Saturday.

I'm sure Stevie, one of our most promising young referees, will have been disappointed to see his sibling relegated but it's an ill wind that blows nobody any good.

He took control of the Aberdeen-Hamilton Accies match a week ago, his first ever in the SPL, and rightly sent off Zander Diamond and Ricky Foster.

And he's likely to get more games in the top flight without anyone suggesting there would be a conflict of interest if his brother was playing for one of the teams involved.

Stick the head on penalty

2010-05-03T05:01:00Z

I once sent off a player and awarded a penalty when the ball was 50 yards from the actual incident.

I'm going back 18 years when I took charge of an amateur game in Easterhouse, Glasgow. I believe Wellhouse were one of the teams and I made my decision while wondering how I was going to get out of there alive.

It was a peculiar moment. The keeper launched a punt upfield and while everyone's eyes were on the ball, he followed through by spitting on an opposition striker who had been trying to put him off his kick. Come to think of it, he may also have head-butted him just for good measure.

It all took place inside the box so I gave a penalty. In addition, the keeper had to go.

The players weren't quite sure what was going on but while I wasn't sure I would get safely to my car at the end, I was certain I knew the rules.

Just because the ball was miles away, a foul inside the box is still a penalty whenever the ball is in play.

I was reminded about this on Saturday when Willie Collum called it absolutely right by giving a spot-kick to Falkirk in their game against St Mirren.

When Saints captain Chris Innes head-butted Brian McLean, the red card was easy to spot. But I bet not everyone realised it was also a penalty.

It happened inside the box and the ball was in the hands of St Mirren keeper Paul Gallacher. That means the ball was in play. That means it was a penalty.

Had Gallacher been about to take a goal kick, no penalty would have been given because the ball was not in play.

It's all there in the rules but at times I'm sure some players have no idea why a decision is given even when it's down in the book in black and white.

And it angers me when anyone watches an incident a number of times and STILL calls it incorrectly, no matter how obvious it is.

Everton assistant manager Steve Round couldn't have been more wrong when he claimed his side's goal at Stoke should have stood.

A corner was played in and Phil Jagielka scored with a great header. The problem was that Ayegbeni Yakubo had been standing right in front of the Stoke keeper.

You can't be offside directly from a corner but when the ball is played out and an attacker heads it towards goal, you are offside if you've decided to block the keeper or impede his vision as you are involved in active play.

Referee Howard Webb and his officials were quite right to disallow the goal. Yet Mr Round wasn't having it. What chance do the refs have when a coach can't see what is right in front of them? Hearts fans will say Dougie McDonald couldn't see what was right in from of him when he awarded Hibs a penalty in the derby on Saturday.

I was at Easter Road and thought at the time it wasn't the correct decision from my vantage point high in the Main Stand. As it turns out, even Hibs' John Rankin, who went down in the box, told the ref no foul had been committed.

Now there's something that doesn't happen every day.

However, I bet it didn't happen immediately after Dougie had blown for the award.

The ref has to go with his instinct and while I thought it was wrong on this occasion, I immediately noted that Dougie's positioning was spot on.

Also, the pundits on Radio Scotland were far from being in agreement when I listened to them on my drive home. And they got to watch the incident again and again. There was certainly no 100 per cent agreement . I watched it when I got home and you couldn't say conclusively there had not been a slight touch on Rankin inside the box.

That's why I have doubts about television evidence because the camera can lie. It may well be that Rankin simply tripped over his own feet.

However, despite what the most rampant Jambo might insist, not everyone could say for sure that it wasn't a penalty after replaying it a couple of times.

Opinion is divided, especially in Edinburgh. Maybe Hearts defender Marius Zaliukas will come out and let people know if indeed he made contact because the slightest clip on an ankle when players are running at pace can cause them to be illegally impeded.

What Dougie will be happy about is the fact it didn't have an impact on the final result as Hearts ran out 2-1 winners. Maybe he should be congratulated by the Jambos fans for giving their team the desire to kick on and win.

I was delighted to see Dougie has been given the Scottish Cup Final this season as he is arguably the country's top ref.

It's also great for Dundee United and Ross County that the SFA has put a very strong team of match officials in charge with Willie Colum fourth official alongside assistants Francis Andrews and Tom Murphy. I wish them all the best for their big day.

Going back to the Edinburgh derby, my daughter Emma and I thoroughly enjoyed the game. It was frantic as always and really riveting.

There was no maliciousness and great credit to the players for working with the referee team to ensure it was always in control but I did count 23 fouls in the first 30 minutes. Later that night, in the Villarreal-Barcelona game, there were three fouls in that time. Our game is just a little bit different but I like it in its raw state.