Dallas vow of silence broken within 24 hours

Surprise surprise, less than 24 hours after claiming 'I will make no further comment' to the SFA website Hugh Dallas was breaking his vow of silence today on Radio Scotland.

In an interview with Chick Young Dallas again went into detail about the SFA's tracking system and how they follow up on all correspondence.

The postal system in use at Hampden is unlikely to ever be a talking point amongst football supporters, players or manager.

"No one has explained the Royal Mail saga or Royal Mailgate as we call it," Dallas joked. "Comments from managers, coaches and also club directors is something that we treat very seriously.

RESPONCE
"They are frequenly in contact with me and they always get a responce. All of the copy letters, the Royal Mail tracking, the recepit of letters from Motherwell have all been catalogued and listed and sent back to Motherwell."

Perhaps if equal attention was given to refereeing standards as to following the post Jim Gannon would have less to complain about.

Dallas once again avoided the question of poor refereeing, Gannon's most outspoken comments on refereeing came after his opponents, Dundee United, had had two players sent off against Motherwell.

Bringing up Craig Thomson's performance in the October 4 Rangers-Celtic game reopened an old sore with Dallas.

Such were Thomson's errors that day that Dallas came out and admitted that he had made ONE mistake, other contentious incidents involving penalties and bookings were quickly swept over by the admission of one mistake.

EXPLANATION

No explanation was given for the mistake, we weren't told if the referee was unsighted or why he failed to award Celtic a penalty which would likely have also involved a booking for David Weir.

"I thought that the Dallas soap opera had finished in the 80s," Gannon replied when told about the latest comments from the man that was fourth official at the 2002 World Cup Final.

"The SFA PR machine is much stronger than hours they get on the front pages of newspapers and the BBC website."

Gannon's intervention and comments are a welcome breath of fresh air to Scottish football where too often mistakes and incompetence are excused with the time honoured 'these things even themselves out over the course of the season' excuse.

An invite to explain his comments is bound to be heading Gannon's way, that hearing at the SFA could be as explosive the great 'Who Shot JR' mystery of the eighties.

Touchy Dallas blasts back at Gannon and blames the Royal Mail

Referee supremo Hugh Dallas has launched an unprecedented attack on Motherwell boss Jim Gannon.

From behind his desk at the SFA where he has the title of Head of Referee Development Dallas said: "I am astonished by the personal attacks made by Jim Gannon, which have questioned my honesty and integrity, and wish to set the record straight on the chain of events that have created an air of tension and negativity."

Dallas then goes into a civil service like explanation over letters opened and unopened, the chain of command and the general breakdown in communications between Hampden and Fir Park.

At no point does Dallas explain, justify or answer the issues raised by Gannon about the quality of officials and the channels of communication between the SFA and the clubs although clubs have their responsibilities as they make up the SFA.

Paper chasing about 'I did this' and 'he said that' does nothing to address the issues, there is a tone to Dallas's statement which seems to infer that he is bigger than Gannon and who is Jim Gannon to publicly criticise Hugh Dallas?

NEGATIVE

Dallas statement said: "The type of adverse media coverage generated by Mr Gannon - which is extremely uncommon in Scottish football - has a negative effect on the confidence of referees and is counter-productive."

On their own Gannon's comments relating to decisions effecting Motherwell are stinging enough- bringing in the performance of Craig Thomson at the Rangers-Celtic match has clearly got under the skin of Dallas.

"His dissection of refereeing decisions involving Craig Thomson, one of UEFA’s elite referees, is wholly unnecessary," Dallas added.

The purpose of the Dallas statement is unclear, if he thought that it would end the matter he must be living in a parallel universe.

SCRUTINY

Adding fuel to the fire is a more reaction, the timing, on a Friday tea-time within 24 hours of a full SPL card will only put the referees that Dallas is so keen to protect under greater scrutiny.

Dallas, who was fourth official at the 2002 World Cup Final concluded by saying :"I will be making no further comment.”

I suspect that there will be lots more comment on this statement.

Dallas statement on the SFA website