Hugh Dallas admits to 'disappointing' season for match referees

Dallas met with 11 of the 12 Scottish Premier League managers at Hampden last Friday – the departure of Eddie May from Falkirk prevented a full turnout – and acknowledged that a spate of high-profile mistakes has created an air of tension among the refereeing fraternity.

The most recent uproar came during the SPL game between Motherwell and Rangers when referee Calum Murray, at the behest of assistant referee John Gilmour, appeared to wrongly rule out a Ross Forbes goal when the home side were leading 1-0. Dallas claimed the meeting with the SPL managers was "extremely fruitful" but accepts the frequency of mistakes needs to be addressed. "The conversations were enlightening, and at times robust, but I have always been in favour of open dialogue with managers face to face or over the phone rather than via the media," said Dallas.

"Consistency was again high on the agenda. It is what we all strive for but as I explained, the problem with perceived consistency is that it is open to interpretation and opinion.

"I would say this has been a disappointing season with some disappointing decisions which I wish we didn't have to analyse and talk about. We examine these in detail at the Referee Development Department and the first question we always ask is 'Why?' In order to understand the reason behind it we need to hear the reason.

"Obviously there have been incidents this season I have been uncomfortable with. I am not going to sit here and pretend mistakes have not been made but it is how the referees learn from these that is important.

"These mistakes have been honest ones but they are still mistakes and should not be happening.

In saying that, they have to be accepted as part of human nature in the way that players and managers make mistakes. Promisingly, there was an air of understanding from the meeting and that is why such gatherings are important, to get the feelings of the clubs prior to our winter training camp. The comments and feedback, as well as our own impressions, will form the basis for that camp. It is also useful to use that time to reflect on the first part of the season and tighten up in a few areas." Dallas has been perturbed by the more sinister conclusions drawn by callers to radio phone-ins but revealed the managers were not swayed by talk of conspiracies.

"There have been a lot of conspiracy theorists given a platform this season but there was not a mention of such talk in the meeting," he said. "To do so would be to dignify this nonsensical and dangerous minority. What we will strive to do is reduce the number or errors but there is a responsibility on the part of the players to help the referee make the correct decision.

"We have seen this weekend – and in previous weeks – situations that only become clear when broken down and reviewed in slow motion from a variety of television camera angles. The referee has only one angle and a split second to make his judgment and this should not be forgotten."