Absolutely embarassing- watch John Beaton book Kyogo Furuhashi against St Mirren

John Beaton turned in a predictably ‘erratic’ performance during Celtic’s 2-1 victory over St Mirren.

The constant time wasting of the visitors was ignored while they picked up a succession of free-kicks for simply falling over anytime a Celtic player was close by.

It made for a frustrating night for the players and fans who had watched a similar masterclass in game management from the Lanarkshire based referee at Ibrox on Sunday.

Nothing really sums up Beaton better than the booking of Kyogo Furuhashi late in the first half while Saints keeper Zak Hemmings tried to time waste.

As Kyogo ran towards the keeper, to force him to lift the ball and clear it he was obstructed twice by Marcus Fraser before the panicked Saints defender fell to the ground in time honoured style.

Rather than award Celtic an indirect free-kick Beaton gave a foul against Kyogo and booked the Celtic striker for his attempt to keep the match flowing.

That’s absolutely embarrassing booking given by Beaton to Kyogo. #BeatonIsCheatingAgain pic.twitter.com/XwBfXMlUiG
— Michael McCahill (@MichaelMcCahi10) November 1, 2023

Beaton has a long track record in matches involving the Glasgow teams in the SPFL Premiership with a classic performance at Ibrox in December 2018.

Alfredo Morelos was given licence to kick, grab and trample of any Celtic player, completing the 90 minutes without even picking up a booking.

After six days of criticism on social media Celtic issued a sheepish statement, pretending that they had a concern for the health and welfare for their players:

Celtic Football Club is surprised that there will be no disciplinary action taken by the Scottish FA regarding the incidents during the match on December 29, which have been widely addressed in the media.

It is reported that no action was taken because the match referee saw all of the incidents in question.

Given that the referee took no action at the time, this tends to suggest that such conduct, which in one instance led to a Celtic player, Anthony Ralston, being injured, is acceptable in Scottish football. That cannot be right.

On the day, Celtic did not play well enough to win the match, something we accept. However, this issue goes beyond the result of the match.

Celtic is not the only club this season to raise concerns regarding the standard of officiating at matches in Scotland, concerns which have also been shared by many commentators on the game.

In order to fully understand what is going on, Celtic, our supporters, Scottish clubs and the general Scottish football public need transparency in these matters, and we therefore call on the Scottish FA to allow the referee, John Beaton, to explain these decisions publicly as well as any match officials involved in other similar circumstances.

In the meantime, we have requested a meeting with Scottish FA Chief Executive, Ian Maxwell, and the Association’s Head of Refereeing.

After tea and biscuits at Hampden and a reminder of his role in the summer of 2012 Lawwell dropped his demands with Beaton continuing to be on the rota for top matches including the 2020 and 2023 Scottish Cup Finals.

And to think that same ref allowed el buffalo to stamp, kick and 0unch 3 different players in one game and still stayed in the park 🙈🙈
— bradders (@pbradders67) November 2, 2023

Lots of stats swivel around the time of the 2018-19.
John Beaton penalties since 2018-19:
Rangers awarded 9*
Conceded 0
Celtic awarded 3
Conceded 3
*correction https://t.co/jV8xC7EwRP
— Lint (@Zeshankenzo) October 30, 2023