STEWART REGAN'S Scottish Football Association could well rue the day it delivered the red card to the widely respected Hugh Dallas. I say widely respected in the sense that such respect for the former World Cup Final fourth official is to be found worldwide, if not in some parts of his own dark wee land, where the strident voice of the minority can drown out the majority. A prophet without honour etc...... Such respect, within the portals of UEFA's Swiss headquarters has been presented to Scotland this weekend by the most experienced staff football writer in the country, the Sunday Post's, Ron Scott. Scotty's range of contacts have been built up over the best part of half a century, and his experience gives credence and weight to any story he writes. Big Ron is not prone to taking what we call in the inky trade, a flier. So hats off to him and the Sunday Post for breaking an exclusive which may well have the Celtic minded, plus Peter Kearney of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, shivering even more than the rest of the nation in the freezing weather. For far from seeking to oust him from their corridors of power, UEFA may actually be planning a promotion and a full time job for Dallas. It would seem Stewart Regan's SFA, along with Peter Kearney and the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, don't carry much clout in Switzerland. In fact, Dallas could now find himself appointed to a job at UEFA which would put him in charge of all the referees from all the Associations and Federations in Europe. Such a lofty perch would allow Dallas to determine just where the SFA's referees' reputation stood, by deciding which refs handled Champions League and Europa Cup ties. Including, of course, picking which officials take charge of Celtic's European matches. There have been conflicting stories about how the fall out from the way Stewart Regan's SFA dealt with Dallas will affect his status within UEFA. One tale suggested Regan would have to give Dallas his approval for him to continue to sit on the UEFA Referees' Committee. The clear implication from this tale was Regan would be cast in the role of axeman again. However, according to the Sunday Post's well researched exclusive, that is not the whole story. Regan is, for the moment, powerless, and will only be able to put the boot into Dallas again when the UEFA Referees' Committee is reformed. By which time, again according to Ron Scott's impeccable Swiss sources, Dallas will be in line for a full time and much more powerful job within UEFA. On the home front, we do not yet know how the swift sacking of Dallas by Regan's SFA will play out. For a start, nowadays it is extremely difficult for any organisation to sack someone for one breach of discipline. The usual procedure involves verbal warnings, followed by written warnings. A first offence is usually no more than a warning. Certainly that is the view the SFA took regarding Celtic's rant about no fair minded person agreeing Scott Brown deserved to be sent off in February's Old Firm game, won by Rangers. My inside track information is the the reason the SFA - in its pre-Regan days - deemed a mere censure appropriate, is it was Celtic's first offence. A different criteria appears to apply now that Regan has tightened his grip on the SFA, though we must await further judgements involving clubs to see if that applies across the board. Meanwhile, the options for Dallas begin with his right of appeal to his former employers. That would be heard by George Peat. Should the appeal be dismissed the next step is for Dallas to instigate proceedings in an Industrial Tribunal and have his day in court. One option for Regan's SFA would be to allow this to drag on until the brink of a Tribunal hearing, and then offer to enhance any pay off to Dallas - and include a confidentiality clause. I know from a source close to Dallas that he has been advised to fight the good fight, all the way to an Industrial Tribunal. Then the question can be asked as to why a man who has served the Scottish Football Association so well for so long should be booted out of the door just 72 hours after the intervention of Peter Kearney from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland? It is at that point FIFA, who are aware of what is going on, would decide whether or not there is a case for Stewart Regan's Scottish Football Association to answer. By which time Dallas may very well be ensconced in a position of even greater power with UEFA in Switzerland, just down the road from where FIFA's movers and shakers are to be found.
Do you want to rim David Leggat Mennie?? Your obsessed with his inane ramblings. Pope's actually summed it up perfectly... I doubt even newsbot would pick"articles" from this cretin! Tam Cowan's a better "jornalist"
"Such a lofty perch would allow Dallas to determine just where the SFA's referees' reputation stood, by deciding which refs handled Champions League and Europa Cup ties. Including, of course, picking which officials take charge of Celtic's European matches." Well he cannae pick his 'friends' like Stuart Dougal and Dougie McDonald so who gives a ****? I don't know this David Laggat is but his writing is embarrassing.
Just to , erm , clarify then ; the sensational new twist on dallas being sacked is that....... he might get a different job somewhere else ? This guy is a bit of a tube , he should spend a little more time thinking and a lot less time looking for kaflics under the bed.
I said Leggat was a joke and this just proves it. Count how many times he says "Catholic Church" multiply that by 5 and you have his bigot quotient. It's pretty high.
thats the old way of calculating ; Ive got one of those new Ronco "Bigot-o-meters " for measuring that kind of thing
