Managers and referees attend SFA meeting in Scotland

The Scottish Football Association is hosting talks between referee representatives and Ladbrokes Premiership managers following a season of controversies.

SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell and compliance officer Clare Whyte were due to meet with managers at the gathering in Perth on Thursday night.

Press Association Sport understands the meeting was scheduled early last month, before Celtic called for the SFA to allow referee John Beaton to explain why he took no action against Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos following a series of derby incidents.

The likes of Rangers, Aberdeen and Kilmarnock have also been critical of the SFA disciplinary procedures and Hearts manager Craig Levein has been vocal about refereeing standards.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was hoping to get some clarity on certain items.

“It is good to communicate and I am sure there will be positive action afterwards,” said Rodgers, who reiterated his backing for referees to move full-time.

“It is a very difficult job referees have but you are always looking to improve.

“Whether a coach, manager improving players, we want to try to help everyone be better so that communication between the managers and referees is important.

“I am sure it will be a really important meeting.”

Rangers boss Steven Gerrard added: “We’ve had the invite, we respect that and I’ll go along and listen to what’s being said. If I’m asked what my opinion is on certain things then I’ll give it.”

Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes hoped the meeting would be a watershed moment.

“We were quick to support it and hopefully we can get a positive outcome on a lot of aspects,” he said.

“Hopefully there is a wee bit more clarity about the procedures and how a lot of decisions are made and how they get to that outcome.

“Hopefully we can stop having too much debate about referees and the whole procedure part of it.

“We have an obligation to respect authority but I do think the authorities have to help managers and the game itself and referees to have more common sense to everything.”

Dundee boss Jim McIntyre also felt the meeting would be important.

“It’s always good to have communication with the referees and you can air a few things that you feel have maybe gone against you and see what the process of the decision was behind it,” he added.

“Because nearly every club will have been in an appeal process this year and you would like to know how decisions have been made.”

Kilmarnock manager Steve Clarke had made other plans before receiving an invitation but he hopes the meeting leads to fruitful change.

“More clarity, a better structure, and a good understanding between everybody in the game,” he said when asked what he wanted out of it.

“There is a lot of good people in that meeting and hopefully they can find a good way forward.

“It might not be immediate, it might be a slow process but somewhere along the line the referees have to go full time and that will improve the decision-making and, if you can add VAR to that, you will have a much better game and a much better product.”