Willie Collum

[+old caley girl]

I see on Twitter the Hearts fans up in arms re Willie Collum. Apparently they think he picks on them due to the number of sending offs when he is referee. 

This got me thinking how many of our players he has sent off. Is it up there with the 9 Hearts quoting? Anyone know?

[Guest]

Embarrassing and Old Firm-esque stuff from the Hearts fans. 

Anyway, in answer to your question; in the past 5 seasons Collum has refereed 21 of our games and has sent off 5 of our players:

Tremarco v Falkirk and Christie v St. Mirren last season, Meekings v. St. Mirren and Tansey + Watkins v Dundee United the season before that. I think we can all agree that Tremarco's was justified and I can't remember the other ones. Stats from here: http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=966&season_id=145

 

Edited August 30, 2015 by Guest

[Yngwie]

Robbie Neilson and John Hughes have both been referred to the Compliance Office for their post-match comments about refs.

[Row S]

Michael Stewart didn't sit on the fence on Sportscene either. Talked about big decisions made by Collum being questionable in a lot of matches, not just Hearts' ones.

[Sneckboy]

I count 'only' 8 red cards for Hearts in 37 games refereed by Collum - which tallies with the total worked-out on the Hearts forum, Jambos Kickback. (should have looked there first!)
For comparison, I've totalled the number of sendings off for Premiership clubs in all Willie Collum matches, in all competitions. Interestingly, he's taken exactly the same number of Kilmarnock and Hearts games, but there's a significant difference in red cards! Doesn't stop Killie fans moaning about him, though!

[Guest]

Would be interesting to see the same chart for all other refs. Also, would be good to analyse each decision to see if they were correct or not as the frequency itself doesn't prove incompetence or bias. But don't worry Sneckboy, I'm not asking you to do all that!

[+HawkeyeTheGnu]

Robbie Neilson and John Hughes have both been referred to the Compliance Office for their post-match comments about refs.

interestingly, Yogis comments are pretty much the same as he made about Dallas after the St Johnstone game when Raven was sent off. No compliance officer then, though. 

I'm pretty sure that if it wasn't for who his father was, Dallas would be nowhere near the top of Scottish refereeing. 

Embarrassing and Old Firm-esque stuff from the Hearts fans. 

Anyway, in answer to your question; in the past 5 seasons Collum has refereed 21 of our games and has sent off 5 of our players:

Tremarco v Falkirk and Christie v St. Mirren last season, Meekings v. St. Mirren and Tansey + Watkins v Dundee United the season before that. I think we can all agree that Tremarco's was justified and I can't remember the other ones. Stats from here: http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=966&season_id=145

 

something need to be done to remove him from Scottish football. 

The Christie red card v St Mirren was pretty soft, and at least one the one against Utd seemed harsh, particularly when he let an assault from behind by Paton on Mckay go completely unpunished. 

To be fair to Collum, I thought he was OK in the cup final, but I have seen him ruin a large number of games. The fact that you notice it in games between two neutral sides (so aren't going to get animated by marginal decisions) highlights just how bad he is. 

[Scotty]

Collum is a neep (for want of a better word), and the big problem with him is that he is so inconsistent that you never know what you are going to get. He is the poster child for all that is wrong with refereeing in Scotland (and beyond). Inconsistency is the biggest frustration most fans have, whether it be from refs or indeed our clubs ! Fear not though Collum haters, refereeing is just as bad and as inconsistent on this side of the pond ... so much so that MLS and SPFL refs could easily switch jobs ! I have stats for all the refs against TFC and some of it makes crazy reading too !

Collum had a pretty good Cup Final but lets be honest, when we heard he was getting that game we wondered two things ... how the **** the SPFL could award him the showcase game of the season and how he was going to ruin it. In the end, it was the best game I have seen him referee and there cant really be any complaints about sending off Tremarco or most other incidents in the game.

 

[Alex MacLeod]

He must have what UEFA look for in a good referee though. He had five champions league matches and one euro qualifier last season.

[Huisdean]

Embarrassing and Old Firm-esque stuff from the Hearts fans. 

Anyway, in answer to your question; in the past 5 seasons Collum has refereed 21 of our games and has sent off 5 of our players:

Tremarco v Falkirk and Christie v St. Mirren last season, Meekings v. St. Mirren and Tansey + Watkins v Dundee United the season before that. I think we can all agree that Tremarco's was justified and I can't remember the other ones. Stats from here: http://www.soccerbase.com/referees/referee.sd?referee_id=966&season_id=145

 

Only thing I would say about Tremarco's (and slightly off topic) was that if that was a sending off, what about Craig Gordon's foul vs Ross County on Day 1 of the season?. Collum was the ref that day as well.

Back on topic, the standard of refereeing at the home matches so far has been as poor as it has ever been so not just Collum that is poor (although he is about the worst to be fair!)

 

[AlexJones]

If Scottish football managers have a problem with soft red cards ruining games, the first thing they should do is tell their players to stop play acting. Hearts are as bad as anyone in this regard. They deserve no sympathy.

 

[Broonerz]

Collum would love the fact we have a thread about him. Being the centre of attention is what he and the other refs these days crave.

Like everyone else, I never intentionally have  paid money to watch said clown in action, though it doesn't feel that way. Always feel he is trying to be the star of the show, and more often than not games involving him end up with lengthy discussions about his dubious talents.

the fact UEFA rates him, tells you everything that is wrong with football. Used to be you never noticed a good referee, but funnily enough we can just about name them all now.

[Scarlet Pimple]

 The MLS refs are a wee bit too hasty to blow for,  and  award, fouls . The players are equally far too quick to make these fouls , especially when it  is a spot where danger near the goal is apparent.

The cynicism and lack of demonstrating that they know  the difference between right and wrong is significant in this league. It's all about money and little about ..."let the best man win". So refs blow for every small or big infraction. A shoulder charge  is usually milked  for everything as if his heart has been attacked with a machete.The lack of rectitude and correctness in the attitudes of both teams bothers me so much that I just get  fed up watching it.

The best ref I saw at a Whitecaps game in Vancouver was a South American who was big and brawny, but very cool, quiet and decisive. He brooked no arguments  and made it very clear  right from the start that  the infraction was real and the guy who made the challenge needed to stop whining like a wee *****,  accept it and get in with it. 

So what happened was that you rarely saw the ref after that and the game progressed with little chirps of the whistle to a satisfying conclusion. Talking to the players extensively is useless but in this case his steady, quiet and completely unruffled demeanour sent a clear message that he was in charge and they had better understand it.

Willie seems to be a bit of a histrionic nut but he did a good job of the Final for both teams and he may get very much better as time progresses. Like my South American laddie he kept his whistle  tone down and did what a ref is supposed to do, interfere as little as possible and maybe keep the heid a lot more. I think the players respond to that since they know that he really wants a fair game for both sides.

[KirkieRobRoy]

Saw a fair bit of Collum (and Dallas) in the Juniors before they got promoted to glory. General opinion about both is that they were mince and there was both relief and amusement that they wouldn't be seen in the Juniors any more. They sure can pick 'em.

[wynthank15]

Frequency column above is as bad as collum is a referee 5 sent off in 25 games is 20% 8 sent off in 37 is 21.62% etc

[IBM]

Chick Young said that Willie Collum had a great game today  but some may ask what does Chick Young know about football

[Sneckboy]

Frequency column above is as bad as collum is a referee 5 sent off in 25 games is 20% 8 sent off in 37 is 21.62% etc

The column is titled as 'frequency' and not 'percentage'.

[Charles Bannerman]

Should it not have the heading "Infrequency" instead, given that the units, as written, are "Games per red card" and hence the bigger the number, the less frequent are the sendings off? Since the table is intended to reflect how often clubs' players have been sent off, it might be better to have the reciprocal (1 over) of the figure there or, since these will be small numbers such as 0.027 for Kilmarnock, multiply them all by 100 which would give "sendings off per 100 games".... which is, as wynthank has also expressed it, the percentage.

[bigman]

I have said it before what he lacks is man managment skills. Refs used to have a  word in your ear as they went past you, no fuss no bother but you knew you had been told, the game benifitted from this approach. The ref earned respect. The game is about football not individuals, having said that some players need to look at themselves.

[Sneckboy]

The statistical facts are clearly presented. Obviously it's unfair to simply look at the number of red cards he's issued to each club. Games officiated has to come into the equation. 

This can be demonstrated as a ratio, as 'games-per-dismissal' (as I did, above), as a percentage or as a reciprocal number x 100...there are many ways to display those facts - but. the 'order' remains the same regardless of how the 'decisive' column is worded.

[+DoofersDad]

Should it not have the heading "Infrequency" instead, given that the units, as written, are "Games per red card" and hence the bigger the number, the less frequent are the sendings off? Since the table is intended to reflect how often clubs' players have been sent off, it might be better to have the reciprocal (1 over) of the figure there or, since these will be small numbers such as 0.027 for Kilmarnock, multiply them all by 100 which would give "sendings off per 100 games".... which is, as wynthank has also expressed it, the percentage.

No it shouldn't.  As you correctly state, Sneckboy has expressed the figures as games per red card and even if a red card is infrequent, the measure is still one of frequency.  So, someone might ask "How frequently did Andy Barrowman score for us?" to which you might correctly reply "Very infrequently".

[wynthank15]

Getting back to the subject,  did anyone see Collum's performance in the champions league between Gent and Lyon? Two Gent players straight red carded the first was never a red. He gives a corner to Lyon that was a bye kick from which they scored and according to the commentary should have sent off Feri of Lyon for what was described as a two footed assault. Collum should be nowhere near professional football except as a spectator. I can only wonder at what club directors and players must think when they see his name down for their game not to mention the fans having their entertainment ruined for which they paid good money. Short highlights and commentary.

http://www.footytube.com/video/KAA-Gent-vs-Olympique-Lyon-371241

http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/lyon/champions-league/live-commentary/live-commentary-gent-vs-lyon_246533.html#$nv4lz7&&ftu+wmHgEeWp2BKxit6XgQ$

 

[bigman]

Would appear to have had a not bad game at the Derby. I was not at the game watched it on alba  seemed to be ok

[Caley Mad In Berks]

Just been selected as one of 3 Brits to referee at the Euro 2016 finals!  Maybe just as well Scotland did not qualify!

[Sneckboy]

40 minutes ago, Caley Mad In Berks said:

Just been selected as one of 3 Brits to referee at the Euro 2016 finals!  Maybe just as well Scotland did not qualify!

Just read that, too! Now that UEFA regard him as one of the top 18 refs in Europe, his ego will be off-the-Collum!