Stephen Robinson yesterday called for the Premiership to have full-time referees and VAR officials.
The St Mirren boss believes such a move would be a step forward in improving decision-making and the standard of officiating in Scotland.
He spoke out days after the Buddies released a statement blasting the non-award of a penalty in last weekend’s 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone when Elvis Bwomono was tripped in the box by Drey Wright.
Referee Dan McFarlane did not point to the spot while VAR cleared his decision.
Dundee United were the next club to share their frustrations with the current system as they withdrew from the key match incidents panel and demanded an overhaul of VAR.
Robbo understands errors will be made and reiterated that officials are acting with honesty and integrity — with no conspiracy against Saints.
He also pointed out that the club is in regular communication with referees’ chief Willie Collum. However, the Northern Irishman also believes things have got to get better and he feels day-to-day working would help those out in the middle.
Speaking at Saints’ Ralston training ground as preparations ramp up for Monday night’s Scottish Cup fifth round clash with Hearts, he said: “We have no criticism of the referees. Referees are going to make mistakes.
“They made mistakes when I played. They’ll make mistakes long after I’m gone and that’s human nature. We want to see the mistakes rectified better; more often because that’s what VAR was introduced for.
“If you do something full-time and you do it more often — you make decisions on a daily basis — you will get better at it and it’s something we have to look to do with the top league.
“Give these referees a better chance being full-time, putting more money into that, putting more money into the VAR to be full-time and improving the actual VAR set-up we have in this country.
“I did a course where I had 10 questions as a referee and 10 decisions to make. I got nine of them wrong! So, I am certainly not the person to be giving advice on refereeing but the logic is if you do something full-time you will be better at it.
“There has to be a way to help these referees. They can’t be subject to abuse; that’s just not acceptable. We have to help them.
“We make mistakes. I make loads of them — and you hope your assistant manager or somebody at the club corrects you and that’s what VAR is there for — to help limit the mistakes.”
No refereeing system will ever be foolproof but Robbo is convinced there will be more correct decisions if officials are focused solely on football; and he says it’s no longer good enough to sit back and huff that there’s no money.
“It’s never going to be perfect,” he added. “Willie agrees and we’re all on the same page. Funding’s hard to come by but we have to find a way. We can’t just say we haven’t got it.”
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