Scottish referees lead the line

Life as a referee is a lonely existence. Every decision is analysed to infinity and rarely is everyone happy.

Not a week goes by in Scottish football without a refereeing controversy dominating the back pages and phone-ins.

At times like these having your friends around you is essential and, if the experiment going on here in Cyprus proves successful, the football authorities might be about to offer our poor refs some respite.

A crack team of Scottish whistlers led by Iain Brines, under the watchful eye of Hugh Dallas, took charge of the U-19 European Championship qualifier between Georgia and Cyprus with the sixth official looking on from between the dug-outs.

Yes, that's right, the sixth official!

Here's the idea. Two extra assistants patrol the goal-line with all officials wired up to offer immediate advice to the referee.

Some might think it will only complicate things but, having seen this in action and listened in on the officials' chit-chat during the game, in my view it really seems to work.

Uefa president Michel Platini is the driving force behind this experiment, looking to minimise incorrect decisions, which increasingly are the most important and most talked about aspect of the game.

And Platini's general secretary, David Taylor, shares the Frenchman's enthusiasm.

"I think there's something in it," he told BBC Sport.

"It looks as if it's helpful to referees in terms of improving control of certain aspects of the game.

"It's control of the penalty area, holding, pulling, pushing that sort of thing. It's useful in terms of penalty-kick incidents.

"These are pretty critical and crucial decisions in games. And to have another pair of eyes seeing it from a different angle cannot do any harm."

William Gaillard, the special advisor to Platini, explained to me that often referees are caught up behind play with difficult angles which means on occasion they might think contact has been made between players.

With this system, the goal-line patroller can immediately confirm or pre-empt an incorrect decision by offering advice from a much better and closer angle.

If adopted, it's expected that this system would only be used at the top end of the game.

For those who believe technology should be used in football it seems this is another nail in the coffin, at least for the foreseeable future.

The authorities believe it is a game for the people, managed by people and going down the route of television replays will lead to the interruption of what's meant to be a free-flowing spectacle.

The results of this experiment will be discussed by Fifa and their international board in February.

If it gets the go-ahead, players, managers, fans and referees might, for once, all be in agreement. Then again, probably not.