Phil Hay's spalte i YEP:
Wise right to seek peace
(By Phil Hay - Inside Elland Road)
Unless he is striving for notoriety – and with certain referees you can never be certain – Danny McDermid will be feeling a little sorry for himself this weekend.
It was bad enough that McDermid was chased from the pitch at Gillingham by a shower of missiles last Saturday – an occurrence which is generally reserved for fixtures on the continent and in South America – but his involvement in Swindon Town's defeat to Swansea City on Tuesday evening did not, by all accounts, constitute a return to form.
This has been one of those weeks for McDermid, who is clearly as human as the rest of us.
The Football Association are extremely supportive of their officials, but it is notable that the Londoner has not been included in the list of appointments for this weekend's Football League fixtures. Later this month he will be asked by the FA if and why, in the aftermath of Leeds United's 1-1 draw at Gillingham, he ordered Dennis Wise to go forth and multiply.
United's manager being who he is, there has been some discussion over whether Wise taking offence at obscenities is the pot calling the kettle black.
The FA, if they act appropriately, will not even consider that.
The issue over McDermid's language is straightforward enough – if the abuse of match officials contravenes the governing body's rules then referees cannot break those regulations and keep a straight face. Traffic police do not maintain their integrity by gaining convictions for speeding.
But the post-match altercation between Wise and McDermid was a minor extension of the real problem on Saturday, and diverted attention from a more relevant a question of how the appointment of referees is decided.
It went largely unreported last season that United's final home game against Ipswich Town on April 28 was originally due to be officiated by Nigel Miller.
Miller was the referee who Wise had wanted to throttle at Southend a month earlier; the game with Ipswich was the point at which Leeds were destined to let go of their Championship status.
To even consider Miller's involvement seemed inexplicable, and the decision was duly reversed. Cheshire's Michael Jones took the job on and did so professionally in difficult circumstances.
Saturday's fixture at Gillingham did not carry the gravitas of April 28, but it might still have occurred to someone to ask whether the circumstances were right for a referee of McDermid's experience.
Leeds were carrying seven straight victories, and Gillingham were carrying the weight of a very poor start to the season.
There was also predictable tension between United's supporters and Gillingham chairman Paul Scally, which helped to turn the atmosphere sour.
It was not, at first glance, a fair scenario for a referee with only one season in the Football League behind him.
McDermid is extremely inexperienced, which is no reason to criticise him.
The most proficient referees started somewhere and somehow, and English football is not so flush with officials that is can afford to toss willing participants by the wayside whenever the mood takes it.
Wise himself would not take any pleasure from seeing McDermid's confidence or enthusiasm destroyed by last Saturday's game.
It is fair to say that McDermid's decision-making at Gillingham was almost defensible – all four of the yellow cards shown to Jermaine Beckford and Tresor Kandol would certainly stand up when tested against the FA's own regulations. But the context of a game which had no obvious malice meant that only Kandol's booking for sarcastic applause was truly necessary. McDermid clearly knows the rules; Saturday was a lesson in what happens when they are applied to professional football without common sense.
Leeds, however, should be careful. It is not altogether surprising, having been forced to beat a rapid retreat by a hail of objects, that McDermid snapped in the tunnel, and you wonder what England's refereeing fraternity will have made of that. This certainly seems like an appropriate time for Wise to follow through with his plan to meet with Keith Hackett, the general manager of the Professional Game Match Officials Board.
Wise should raise the issues concerning him, and remind Hackett that United's disciplinary record has, with the exception of the game at Gillingham, been respectable so far this season.
Hackett, meanwhile, might like to proffer a little advice as to how Leeds can help to prevent a repeat of the problems witnessed at Priestfield. Then they can bury the hatchet.
It would be beneficial if clubs and officials engaged in meaningful dialogue more regularly, rather than settling their grievances in press conferences and behind the closed doors of disciplinary hearings.
McDermid was the wrong referee at the wrong time, and no more than that.
There is little sense in looking for an agenda.
If Wise and Hackett can smooth the water quickly then so much the better; a running battle with officials this season is not what United need.
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/leeds-united-columnists/Wise-right-to-seek-peace.3262470.jp?articlepage=1
