Scottish Premiership Title Race Heats Up: Referees Under Fire in Nail-Biting Championship Battle

Even if you feel a sense of paranoia, it doesn’t necessarily mean others are conspiring against you.

As the Premiership title race draws to a thrilling conclusion, predicting who will hoist the trophy on May 13 seems nearly impossible. Unfortunately, one thing is almost certain: the team that falls short will likely point fingers at the referees.

The aftermath of Sunday’s matches is expected to mirror the narrative of every post-game interview throughout the remaining 10 or 11 fixtures.

Celtic’s manager, Martin O’Neill, was incensed when VAR intervened to eject Auston Trusty and argued that his squad deserved a penalty shortly thereafter when Liam Scales was allegedly held by a Hibs player in the penalty area.

However, zeroing in on a single incident can be misleading. Every team in every match can highlight a moment they believe should have been in their favor but wasn’t. It’s simply part of the game.

Rangers felt they deserved a foul for Cammy Kerr’s challenge on Mikey Moore

Celtic defender Auston Trusty leaves the field after being sent off during the 2-1 loss to Hibs 

This player should have been sent off, we should have had a penalty, why was there was so much stoppage time? This might sound like the language of the desperate but there is a more sinister aspect to it as well.

A long time ago in the annals of history, let’s say when Sir Alex Ferguson took the reins of East Stirling back in 1974, managers decided that applying pressure on referees would give their team an edge in the pursuit of victory.

Sir Dave Brailsford’s ‘marginal gains’ philosophy, infamously applied to British Cycling and Team Sky, is the principle that breaking down every component of performance and improving it by just one per cent creates a compound, significant, and winning advantage.

In football terms, this has translated to: let’s put pressure on the referee to favour our team at the expense of the opponent.

The thinking is that, in the white heat of the action, in stoppage time perhaps, the referee will feel that extra bit of pressure to give Team X a decision. That decision could give a team an equaliser, a victory. Maybe even a title?

The sight of a manager frothing at the mouth after a match as they discuss the refereeing decisions that ALL went against them is a staple of football all over the world. You can set your watch by it.

Danny Rohl was unhappy with referee Ryan Lee’s performance in Rangers’ draw with Livi

Man Utd legend Sir Alex Ferguson was a master of applying pressure on referees

For supporters discussing the weekend’s action at the water cooler on a Monday morning, the teams change but the sentiment is the same. The referee was a disgrace. We were robbed.

For the officials, this criticism is part of what managers like to call the ‘noise’ of football. Sure, it’s not helpful or welcome, but it is to be factored in and ultimately ignored.

Referees accept that being the panto villain is their role in football.

Do you think officials in Norway are garlanded for their astute performances? 

Are Belgian whistlers cheered off the park for yet another display of shrewd officiating? 

Of course they aren’t, yet you would sometimes get the impression Scottish football believes it has a monopoly on what is perceived as poor referees and awful decision making.

The men in black may wince when they see managers, pundits or supporters criticising their performances and questioning their motives. But they won’t be surprised. 

And in a career where venomous condemnation comes regardless of performance, you can forgive them for turning a blind eye to these ‘appraisals’.

When their team’s need for a goal is great, the natives at Celtic Park and Ibrox will claim for a penalty whenever the ball is delivered into their opponent’s 18-yard box. 

Create the noise, make the claim, give the referee a decision to make. What’s the point in having 50,000 fans if you can’t try to sway the referee?

Referee Matthew MacDermid sends Auston Trusty off after a VAR review

Referees and VAR could have a big say in the destination of the Premiership title

Handball! Penalty! Did you see something? No, but the VAR needs to have a look at that again. There must be something.

As the heat is cranked up in the title race this battle fever will be ramped up tenfold.

Come May, at least one of these officials will be cast into the spotlight as The Man Who Cost Us The Title.

The truth is a lot harder to swallow for fans and managers alike.

There is no agenda against your team. Referees don’t go into matches trying to play their small part in the global conspiracy to deny Team X the Scottish title.

Officials get it in the neck after every big game. When the confetti cannon fires and the medals are handed out in May, referees know that only brickbats are coming their way.