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The National
an hour ago
- The National
SFA draft in pilots to speak to referees in bid to improve VAR use
The country's leading match officials were shown clips of pilots communicating with each other in 'life or death situations' at a gathering at the national performance centre outside Edinburgh on Sunday. Howard Webb, the head of refereeing at PGMOL in England, turned to pilots and air traffic controllers two seasons ago following a number of high-profile VAR controversies in Premier League games and enjoyed positive results from doing so. Collum felt the presentation at Oriam at the weekend was an invaluable exercise and is optimistic that Scottish referees, who have been working with SFA VAR manager and former FA Cup final referee Martin Atkinson since last October, will be more effective during the 2025/26 campaign. Read more: 'We have had aviation experts in, pilots,' he said. 'They showed us good examples of critical situations, of life and death situations. People think football is life and death, but it is not quite the same. But it is an intense environment and we wanted to know how people communicate there. 'Sometimes the VARs are speaking and they are not really asking the right open question. They could be leading the AVAR. But the pilot is not asking the co-pilot questions that he is just going to agree with. You actually see some examples where they physically sit back. There was lots about communication. 'Another key thing was that nobody in a cockpit uses the words 'I think'. It needs to be concrete, it needs to be, 'Here is what it is actually showing, here is what the outcome is'. Rather than saying it is something that I am thinking, we need it to be more factual.' Collum continued, 'In England, there was a couple of high-profile decisions which there was a negative reaction to. There was a lot of debate about the communication after a Spurs game against Liverpool. England were the first to say, 'We need to have a real serious think about what is being said in the room'. 'It can't just be a run-of-the-mill conversation, we need to be able to use the right phrases, we need to have the right processes'. What we are finding through aviation, is that you need robust processes. We definitely think that in England you can see evidence of that. (Image: Paul Devlin - SNS Group) 'In the short time that Martin has been in position, we are already seeing better evidence of that. If you had gone into the VAR room before Martin came in and talked about communication, it would have been really busy with people talking, saying too much. 'Now, if you go in you would think, 'Something is not working right here because I am not hearing anything'. But it is about speaking when you need to speak so that it is relevant. We also know that talking, talking, talking can make people tired. So we don't want our VARs and AVARs being tired.' Collum revealed that the country's Class 1 referees were played footage of pilots communicating with each other after a plane engine had caught fire in mid-air during the get-together at Hampden. 'We saw examples of that yesterday,' he said. 'Nobody can deny that the pilots adrenalin is pumping and they are fearing, they're frightened, they're worried. 'It is about keeping calm because you have got a process and you know to follow that process. We want the same. When there are critical, difficult decisions for the VAR to make they have a process there.' Read more: Collum continued, 'The pilots also analysed a lot of our clips and said from a technical point of view they didn't know what the right or the wrong decision was. But what they did say was, 'Could there have been less talk? Could there have been a different approach? Could there have been a more open-ended question to the AVAR?' 'They see a lot of similarities between what is happening in the VAR room and the cockpit. Again it is not life and death, but in football, maybe even in the west of Scotland, it is up there.' Asked if he had any intention of tapping into any other industries going forward in an attempt to improve the use of VAR and the standard of officiating in Scotland, Collum said, 'Martin has come from a police background. We don't want to go way out there and way wide, but any industry that can help us we would be keen to use it. I think a few guys were put off flying yesterday, but it was a good exercise.' Former FIFA Elite Referee Collum replaced Crawford Allan as the head of refereeing at the SFA last year and has had to contend with criticism from clubs, managers, players and supporters about mistakes which his officials have made in big matches during his first year in his new role. However, he stressed that he and his staff at the governing body are working tirelessly to get major calls right and insisted he had positive relationships with numerous major stakeholders throughout the Scottish game. (Image: Rob Casey - SNS Group) 'I deal with the technical people at clubs, the playing staff,' he said. 'I am building my relationships with the players and I think we need even more contact with them. 'We are working hand in hand with the PFA for the time ever in Scotland. We had a meeting with the PFA Scotland chairman Michael Devlin yesterday. 'We've got nothing to hide. We want to show people what we are about and the coaching we are delivering. I've always said to any club they can pick up the phone any time or come here and watch any clip with us and we'll talk them through it. I don't control what the clubs decide to do. 'But on my part the door is always open. I welcome them coming and engaging with us. I would prefer that than anything that goes public, but at the end of the day I don't control the clubs or what actions they take. But I am confident I have built up good relations with every club and every coach in the country. 'We can learn from each other. I don't want anyone thinking that the only time managers will engage with me is after bad decisions. I have very good relationships where I feel we are learning from what they are saying to us as well, including the players. I know I have played my part with the door being wide open.'
The Herald Scotland
an hour ago
- The Herald Scotland
SFA draft in pilots to speak to referees in bid to improve VAR use
Howard Webb, the head of refereeing at PGMOL in England, turned to pilots and air traffic controllers two seasons ago following a number of high-profile VAR controversies in Premier League games and enjoyed positive results from doing so. Collum felt the presentation at Oriam at the weekend was an invaluable exercise and is optimistic that Scottish referees, who have been working with SFA VAR manager and former FA Cup final referee Martin Atkinson since last October, will be more effective during the 2025/26 campaign. Read more: 'We have had aviation experts in, pilots,' he said. 'They showed us good examples of critical situations, of life and death situations. People think football is life and death, but it is not quite the same. But it is an intense environment and we wanted to know how people communicate there. 'Sometimes the VARs are speaking and they are not really asking the right open question. They could be leading the AVAR. But the pilot is not asking the co-pilot questions that he is just going to agree with. You actually see some examples where they physically sit back. There was lots about communication. 'Another key thing was that nobody in a cockpit uses the words 'I think'. It needs to be concrete, it needs to be, 'Here is what it is actually showing, here is what the outcome is'. Rather than saying it is something that I am thinking, we need it to be more factual.' Collum continued, 'In England, there was a couple of high-profile decisions which there was a negative reaction to. There was a lot of debate about the communication after a Spurs game against Liverpool. England were the first to say, 'We need to have a real serious think about what is being said in the room'. 'It can't just be a run-of-the-mill conversation, we need to be able to use the right phrases, we need to have the right processes'. What we are finding through aviation, is that you need robust processes. We definitely think that in England you can see evidence of that. (Image: Paul Devlin - SNS Group) 'In the short time that Martin has been in position, we are already seeing better evidence of that. If you had gone into the VAR room before Martin came in and talked about communication, it would have been really busy with people talking, saying too much. 'Now, if you go in you would think, 'Something is not working right here because I am not hearing anything'. But it is about speaking when you need to speak so that it is relevant. We also know that talking, talking, talking can make people tired. So we don't want our VARs and AVARs being tired.' Collum revealed that the country's Class 1 referees were played footage of pilots communicating with each other after a plane engine had caught fire in mid-air during the get-together at Hampden. 'We saw examples of that yesterday,' he said. 'Nobody can deny that the pilots adrenalin is pumping and they are fearing, they're frightened, they're worried. 'It is about keeping calm because you have got a process and you know to follow that process. We want the same. When there are critical, difficult decisions for the VAR to make they have a process there.' Read more: Collum continued, 'The pilots also analysed a lot of our clips and said from a technical point of view they didn't know what the right or the wrong decision was. But what they did say was, 'Could there have been less talk? Could there have been a different approach? Could there have been a more open-ended question to the AVAR?' 'They see a lot of similarities between what is happening in the VAR room and the cockpit. Again it is not life and death, but in football, maybe even in the west of Scotland, it is up there.' Asked if he had any intention of tapping into any other industries going forward in an attempt to improve the use of VAR and the standard of officiating in Scotland, Collum said, 'Martin has come from a police background. We don't want to go way out there and way wide, but any industry that can help us we would be keen to use it. I think a few guys were put off flying yesterday, but it was a good exercise.' Former FIFA Elite Referee Collum replaced Crawford Allan as the head of refereeing at the SFA last year and has had to contend with criticism from clubs, managers, players and supporters about mistakes which his officials have made in big matches during his first year in his new role. However, he stressed that he and his staff at the governing body are working tirelessly to get major calls right and insisted he had positive relationships with numerous major stakeholders throughout the Scottish game. (Image: Rob Casey - SNS Group) 'I deal with the technical people at clubs, the playing staff,' he said. 'I am building my relationships with the players and I think we need even more contact with them. 'We are working hand in hand with the PFA for the time ever in Scotland. We had a meeting with the PFA Scotland chairman Michael Devlin yesterday. 'We've got nothing to hide. We want to show people what we are about and the coaching we are delivering. I've always said to any club they can pick up the phone any time or come here and watch any clip with us and we'll talk them through it. I don't control what the clubs decide to do. 'But on my part the door is always open. I welcome them coming and engaging with us. I would prefer that than anything that goes public, but at the end of the day I don't control the clubs or what actions they take. But I am confident I have built up good relations with every club and every coach in the country. 'We can learn from each other. I don't want anyone thinking that the only time managers will engage with me is after bad decisions. I have very good relationships where I feel we are learning from what they are saying to us as well, including the players. I know I have played my part with the door being wide open.'
Daily Record
2 hours ago
- Daily Record
Rangers are a million miles from being Champions League ready but hold the anger and hear me out
Record Sport's Scott McDermott is in Athens ahead of Wednesday's huge tie against Panathinaikos and shared his thoughts Let's put the cards on the table. Rangers under Russell Martin are nowhere near ready to be a Champions League side. This latest Ibrox squad are a million miles away from being equipped for the group stages of Europe's biggest competition. But before the Bears start rattling their cages, hear me out. It would be easy to have a go at the manager, Kevin Thelwell or even the club's new American owners for not getting things done quicker. If you were being mega-harsh, you could argue that - knowing for months the schedule of these Champions League qualifiers - there is no excuse for not being tooled up properly. But the bottom line is, circumstances over the summer dictated that. The timeline of Andrew Cavenagh and 49ers Enterprises' takeover at Ibrox - as well as their search for a new gaffer - meant it was always going to be near-impossible to be ready. And despite Gers' 2-0 first-leg victory over Panathinaikos in Glasgow last week, that's still the case. Put it this way, if you'd told Ibrox punters they'd kick off their Euro campaign with a forward line of Kieran Dowell, Danilo and Findlay Curtis, they wouldn't just have laughed in your face. They'd have been calling The Samaritans. Which is why, with Martin's squad heading to Athens for Wednesday night's return, he actually deserves huge credit for pulling off a result. Let's be honest - and the manager touched on it afterwards - Rangers were woeful in the first half against the Greeks and lucky not to be two down. If Panathinaikos had anything about them, they'd have killed the tie off early and left Martin and Co licking their wounds. But a bit of resilience, as well as two moments of magic from young Curtis and Djeidi Gassama, allowed them to put one foot in the next round. If they can avoid getting burnt in the Athens heat to progress - then potentially beat Swiss outfit Servette who are ahead in their tie - it would be a minor miracle from Martin. Because despite making several summer signings, he'll know there's still a mountain of work to do at Ibrox. His second string isn't good enough. That was proven at the weekend when a load of fringe players failed to take their opportunity in a friendly against Middlesbrough. Martin questioned the attitude of some of the players. But given what we've witnessed from this group over the last few years, he really shouldn't have been too surprised. He's still in the early stages of the weeding out process at Ibrox, irrespective of what he might say publicly. And in terms of more players coming in, expect at least a few more before the transfer window closes. It's no secret that Martin wants another two wingers. By my reckoning, he'll still want a centre-back, left-back, sitting midfielder and a striker as well. All of which goes back to just how ready - or not - they are to challenge for a place in the Champions League. A section of the support will believe this second leg in Greece is Gers' biggest game of the season, due to the lucrative prize money on offer. But it's not. In fact, I'd argue their Premiership opener against Motherwell at Fir Park on Saturday night is far bigger. Of course, reaching the group phase of the Champions League and pocketing more than £40million would be an unexpected God-send for Cavenagh and the Americans. But the best route for Rangers into that competition is to be champions of Scotland - and establish themselves again as the country's top side. When the owners arrived, they said their number one priority was to become Scotland's top club again and that means winning the title. For too long now, since Steven Gerrard turned up as gaffer, it feels like Europe has become the be-all and end-all for a generation of supporters who have been starved of domestic success. Obviously, they've been given some glory nights in the Europa League which culminated in reaching the 2022 final in Seville. Some punters wouldn't swap that for the world, so I get it. But too many fans - and players for that matter - have got used to being second best in Scotland. And until that attitude changes, they'll continue to trail Celtic in the league. That's Martin's biggest challenge, above everything else. It should be all that matters this term. He's not daft. He'll know that winning the Premiership this season has to be the main goal. And that means getting off to a flyer at Fir Park on Saturday. The last two Rangers managers - Michael Beale and Philippe Clement - took their eye off the ball early in their league campaigns. Beale lost to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park, while Clement could only muster a draw with Hearts at Tynecastle. They were preoccupied with other things like European qualifiers and, in the Belgian's case, having to play home games at Hampden. They were behind the eight ball from the off, couldn't recover to catch Celtic, and paid the ultimate price. Martin can't afford to do the same. So as much as this Panathinaikos test is a big game, like he said himself, it shouldn't define the season. Defeat to Motherwell might. With a 2-0 advantage in Athens, it should be enough to take Rangers through to a possible meeting with the beatable Servette. Whatever happens after that? Martin and the Rangers fans should treat it as a bonus, given where he's at in this latest Ibrox rebuild. See off the Greeks and they'll be guaranteed group stage football of some sort in Europe until Christmas. And at this point in his tenure, that would be a case of job done. Then he can concentrate on what really matters. To hit the ground running in the league, beat Celtic at Ibrox on August 31 - and give themselves a chance of delivering what Cavenagh and the Americans really want. To be champions next May.
