Celtic boss Neil Lennon has revealed he was encouraged by Monday's meeting with the Scottish Football Association's compliance officer, Vincent Lunny.
A delegation of Scottish Premier League managers, including Steve Lomas, Kenny Shiels and Jim Jefferies, met with Lunny at Hampden following a recent plea by Lennon for better communication between bosses, referees and the SFA and clearer guidelines on acceptable behaviour.
Lennon has not been in trouble this season but fellow Irishmen Lomas and Shiels have found themselves in hot water recently.
St Johnstone manager Lomas, currently subject of an eight-match touchline ban, faces further sanctions after being called before an SFA disciplinary hearing later this month for kicking a water bottle during his team's 1-0 defeat against Hibernian on 28 November.
Kilmarnock manager Shiels has been served with two separate notices of complaint from the Scottish FA.
The Rugby Park boss has to explain critical remarks made about referee Euan Norris after his side's defeat to Inverness on 3 November, and he faces further scrutiny after protesting against the red card shown to his captain Manuel Pascali during a home defeat to St Johnstone last month.
Lunny will meet with all the SPL bosses in the new year but Lennon believes progress has already been made in a bid to eradicate some of the tension between managers and the authorities.
"It was very productive," he said, ahead of Wednesday night's William Hill Scottish Cup fourth-round replay against Arbroath at Gayfield Park.
"It wasn't a question of any heated arguments, it was just points being put across from both sides and John Fleming (SFA's head of referee development) came in for the last hour or so.
"Alex Smith, head of the managers' association, was there and we are hoping to draw up a few proposals to take to Vincent and see where that takes us.
"One rule was brought up, (what can be said in post-match press conferences) we feel that there is a vague sort of grey areas in the rules and sanctions on managers as well.
"I don't want to go into in-depth because there was a lot of things said that will remain private but it was very productive."
Top Scottish referee Craig Thomson believes there remains a healthy respect between officials and managers, but admits he would like to turn the tables on critical bosses and see them taking over the whistle.
Category One referee Thomson, along with Bobby Madden, was at Hampden on Tuesday to undertake their FIFA referee medicals at the Sports Medicine Centre and afterwards he spoke, with a degree of humour, about his idea which he believes would help mutual understanding.
"I would love managers and coaches to referee a match, just to see what it is like," Thomson told Press Association Sport.
"Yes, they do it at training but maybe just to referee a match to see how difficult some of the decisions are and I would love to go and watch them.
"And maybe for us to go more into their training grounds, even to help referee training games as well, that is an opportunity to build up relationships.
"The more and more contact with each other, outwith the matches, I think is a benefit.
"I would like to think we have a good relationship with the managers, we get a lot of respect from them which is what we are really looking for.
"They are not going to agree with every decision and it would be foolhardy to think that would be the case.
"But I will always say to the coaches that my door is always open.
"We all know how emotional the game is and so after the 15-minute window we are happy to speak to any coaches that come to the door."
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Margaret Aspinall is chair of the Hillsborough Family Support Group and her son James, 18, was among the 96 people who died at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium in April 1989,
She believes standing should be unthinkable despite the growing campaign spearheaded by the Football Supporters' Federation (FSF) for safe standing.
Mrs Aspinall, who notes there were several issues behind the Hillsborough tragedy, said: "There are 96 reasons why it should not be allowed.
"There were 96 dead at Hillsborough and it could have been a lot more.
"Standing should never, ever come back. I do not think there is anything safe about standing.
"I feel insulted that while people are trying to fight for justice for Hillsborough, that this campaign is growing now."
The FSF's Safe Standing Campaign is supported by Aston Villa, Brentford, Bristol City, Burnley, Cardiff City, Crystal Palace, Derby County, Doncaster Rovers, Hull City, Peterborough United, Watford, AFC Wimbledon, the Scottish Premier League, the Safe Standing Roadshow and Stand Up Sit Down.
It aims to persuade the Government, football authorities and clubs to accept the case for introducing, on a trial basis, limited sections for standing at selected grounds in the stadiums of Premier League and Championship football clubs.
So far 52 MPs have backed an early day motion (EDM) tabled by Roger Godsiff, the MP for Birmingham Hall Green, on October 15 2012.
It calls for the introduction of a pilot of new standing technology - called rail seats - at football grounds.
Rail seats, which are widely used in Germany, are robust metal seats with a high back including a sturdy rail that fans can hold. The seats can fold up flush and be locked between the uprights creating wider clearways than along rows of normal seats.
Aston Villa and Peterborough United have already agreed to a small scale trial of the technology.
This is a safer option than what is currently happening at football grounds where swathes of fans choose to stand during matches, campaigners argue.
It could be a safer way to help manage crowds when spectators do not listen to calls by ground staff and stewards to sit down, they claim.
Football clubs, safety experts, police officers, academics and football supporters came to Westminster today to meet MPs and ask them to support a small-scale trial of safe standing areas in the Premier League and Championship.
Peterborough United chief executive Bob Symns, who attended the conference at the House of Commons, said it was a matter of choice and in the modern-day age of new technology this may be the safe way forward.
On the Hillsborough family response and the introduction of all-seater stadia after the tragedy, he said: "I have no problem with that - it was a reaction which I respect because they wanted to do something.
"I would say to you that if rail seats had been available at that time, could we not think that could have been the preferred option?
"It has since been shown that it was fans standing up that was responsible for the Hillsborough disaster and it was certainly a disaster."
Mr Symns said he "completely respects" the opinions of the Hillsborough families and other people in the game who may have reservations.
He said he "understands their opinion" as he has been at grounds facing crowd issues.
"With the greatest of respect, I think this is something new. What I am asking is that this be piloted. This is about choice. This will be for football clubs who are interested in it," he said.
"We can pull all the evidence together. If a football club and their supporters are interested in it, then we should trial it.
"We are not going back to standing stadia. We are talking about democratic choice for the game we love. Many people want to stand."
Mr Symns suggested that a trial at Peterborough's 15,000-capacity ground, which still has terracing, would be at the home end and made available to about 2,000 season ticket holders.
He noted the rail seats are all numbered.
Mr Symns said: "Everybody would be identifiable and it would be a safe area. I am sure that it will be used by families, women, children and senior citizens."
The reintroduction of standing at football grounds should be seen alongside other hi-tech developments in recent years, such as goal-line technology, 4G pitch preservation systems and improved access control, according to Mr Symns.
Better stewarding and stadium design than was available in the 1980s is also helping to make grounds safer, according to Superintendent Steven Graham of the West Midlands Police.
He said no link could be made between hooliganism and standing stadia, as the fan who threw a coin at Rio Ferdinand during the weekend's heated Manchester derby was in a seated area at the Etihad Stadium.
Introducing rail seating would not "roll back" British football to the hooliganism-scarred days of the 1980s, he suggested.
His belief is that police commanders "would not be riddled with fear" if they were policing a ground that had standing seats.
He argued: "We have got very little experience of what standing would look like in a 21st century football ground in the UK. We have experience of it from the 1980's in the UK and we have experiences of it today in Germany.
"We are not proposing tearing up football grounds.
"We need to start gathering some data so that people in the industry can make decisions to give supporters the best customer experience."
The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) needs to be convinced that a move towards standing would enhance safety and security but they are willing to be part of talks about the issue, a spokesman told the meeting.
He also noted that not all people in Germany are supportive of standing facilities at sports grounds.
The FSF says football has changed dramatically since the Taylor Report first recommended all-seated stadia in 1990, but one thing that has not changed is the desire from supporters to stand.
While standing is officially banned throughout the Premier League and Championship, the reality is very different, they claim.
A campaign spokesman said: "Week in, week out football supporters stand in their thousands at top level English football, all of them in accommodation that is unfit for purpose and usually to the detriment of other fans who prefer, or are forced, to sit.
"Meanwhile technology has moved on apace and we see fans across the globe - in Germany, Norway, Sweden and the USA - standing safely in properly designed and managed areas, paying lower prices and generating better atmospheres. In short, England and Wales are being left behind.
"Nobody associated with the Football Supporters' Federation's safe standing campaign wants to return to life on the terraces of the 1980s.
"Looking to the future, there's a tremendous opportunity to solve some of the profound problems in the modern game by introducing new standing technology."
Oxford are expected to name influential striker Alfie Potter in their line-up.
The forward, 23, was substituted by manager Chris Wilder in the 61st minute against Aldershot after he picked up a slight knock. Wilder withdrew him as a precautionary measure and is confident he will be fine to face Stanley.
But Wilder will be without Simon Heslop as he serves the first of a three-game ban for his red card against the Shots. Oxford's appeal against the decision was rejected on Tuesday meaning the midfielder will miss out.
Jon-Paul Pittman (shoulder) and Andy Whing (knee and ankle) will not feature with injuries they picked up during the dramatic 3-3 draw with Stanley which forced the replay, but they received some positive news from the scans and trips to the specialists.
There were fears their campaigns could be over but both are expected to return within four to six weeks.
Striker Tom Craddock came on shortly after half time in Saturday's 1-1 draw having barely trained since his return from a broken rib and he is expected to be involved again.
Accrington boss Leam Richardson will run the rule over experienced forward James Beattie ahead of the tie.
The striker, 34, missed his side's 1-0 defeat to Burton after picking up a niggle in the pre-match warm-up, but could make a full recovery in time to face the U's.
Richardson will be boosted by the return of captain Dean Winnard who served his one-match suspension during the Burton clash.
The defender collected his fifth yellow card of the season during the 3-3 draw against Oxford last weekend so had to sit out on Sunday.
Rotherham loanee Danny Schofield will not be in the side as he is ineligible to represent Accrington in the FA Cup.
