Boycotts have no part to play in improving refereeing standards

IF THE events of last Sunday at the Brandywell were eminently regrettable then, arguably, what has followed is equally lamentable enquiries by the Senior Clubs' Disciplinary Committee and/or the FAI, an internal one by Derry City, legal action by James Coll, a boycott by the Bohemians directors.

Heaven knows where it will all end, but hopes that some of the protagonists might kiss and make up recede by the minute. It seems, alas, that the horse has bolted.

Ideally, though, the fall out should be limited to the normal procedures of the Senior Clubs' Disciplinary Committee. It would help, of course, if the National League's procedures were not so open to criticism and so inconsistent. Be that as it may, should the saga end up in the courts or with boycotts by club officials, it will clearly gone too far.

It surely doesn't have to come to that. As it is, heavy sanctioning is likely, particularly for Healy and Derry. Even if the Derry board stand full square behind Healy, and he himself decides to remain at the helm, a lengthy touchline ban and a fine seem the least he can expect.

One Bohemians player leaving the Brandywell merely whispered "he'll have to go" in reference to the Derry manager. The word from Derry suggests that is unlikely to happen, but for Healy and the club to dilute the anger from Dalymount and elsewhere then more than Healy's generalised post match apology is required.

It would not be good enough for Derry to merely allow time to pass in the hope that it all goes away. At the very least it would do no harm if Healy apologised to Coll directly.

Healy is undoubtedly a central figure in the episode. In so much as I know the man, I've found Healy highly intelligent, a deep thinker about the game and life, somewhat intense and highly strung. Increasingly of late, the pressures of management have made him appear even more highly strung.

There may well have been personal reasons for his excessive behaviour on Sunday. He will somehow have to learn other means of releasing his pent up emotion after, or perhaps more pertinently, during games. But he appeared genuinely recalcitrant after the game, and if he can extend that towards Coll and Bohemians then I don't think he should be run out of the league or the club. There's a danger, after all, that we make Healy and Derry the pariahs of the domestic game.

Their's is a unique and sensitive standing in the National League. They're proud of their vigilant self controlled security arrangements at Brandywell games. Two incidents at Shamrock Rovers games apart, they maintain they have an unblemished record. The two Cup semi final replays of two seasons ago with Bohemians were the highlight of that season, with well behaved and controlled packed houses, and no outlandish refereeing slants that I can recall.

Equally regrettable, therefore, is the decision by the Bohemians president, secretary and treasurer not to attend games in the Brandywell in the future often, the case when decisions are made in the heat of the moment. The Bohemians president Tony O'Connell maintained he "had nothing against the Derry people" yet on mature reflection he might come to agree that his decision is hurtful to the Derry club and supporters.

lf their stance is, as they say it is in protest against refereeing standards at the venue, then how does it achieve their stated objective? The Bohemians officials are boycotting the Brandywell not the refereeing fraternity.

Brian Kerr, as RTE Radio One's analyst, augmented Bohemians' view that visiting teams don't always get a fair crack of the whip at the Brandywell. It's a view shared by many others. But if this is so, it is an indictment of weak refereeing, not the home club. (This is perhaps the kernel of this and many other problems, and at one other venue last weekend less violent anarchy prevailed.)

After all, it happens the world over and it's a view that is also held about the Showgrounds, where referees have to run the gauntlet of the home fans in the shed end as they vacate the pitch through the mesh tunnel towards the dressing rooms.

In fact, there is one manager (not Damien Richardson, lest Dalymount folk think otherwise) who believes that Bohemians receive unduly favourable treatment from referees because, he says, Paddy Daly, the chief referees' inspector, has close links with the Phibsboro club.

This would no doubt be regarded as risible by Bohemians, and I can't say I recall any evidence for it when the invariably excellent Daly refereed games involving Bohemians. Indeed, I can recall one heated top of the table encounter at Milltown in the 1980s when Daly had to run the gauntlet of angry Bohemians' fans after awarding Shamrock Rovers two late free kicks which led to the decisive goals in a 3-2 win.

But it merely serves to emphasise how perceived injustices will always vary in this game. So where will it end? Will all club officials ultimately boycott all away games?

I've no doubt that the decision was made with honourable intentions but, frankly, I don't see what it achieves.