I can’t sit in the stand for my own safety, that sums things up in this country. I would have sat in the directors’ box but I was told for my own safety that it wasn’t a good idea.
Beaton is far from a lone wolf, it seems that all of the referees that reach the top under Crawford Allan have adopted similar decision making patters, in marked contrast with how UEFA match officials deal with the two Glasgow clubs.
Once Borna Barisic, Connor Goldson and Ryan Kent were signed Gerrard’s Starting XI was very settled, strangely their on field discipline improved from the worst in the SPFL Premiership to the best. Red cards going from eight to 0, yellows from 48 to 26.
Imagine the boost Celtic’s title hopes would get it John Beaton and Don Robertson were removed from their rota for the eight remaining matches?
I have to say I think this is a very common sense decision. When you look at that, it strikes his arm, he is on the goal line, he has no chance of avoiding that. It is kicked from two or three yards.
It’s likely one or both positions will be filled by suitable people without any prior connection to Scottish football.
A quick skim shows that the 3.5 seasons before Crawford Allan took over as head of Refs, Celtic had 5 penalties awarded v Rangers, under C Allan Celtic have had zero pens v Rangers.
Alan Muir, David Dickinson, Steven McLean and John Beaton are now getting additional appointments with the role of referee, Fourth Official or VAR out of bounds for Collum.
Strangely, last night they remained silent with no explanation over the VAR review and the decision not to award Celtic a penalty. In a tight title race goal difference could be a factor at the end of the season.
With Crawford Allan limiting himself to one staged interview a year and SFA Chief Ian Maxwell in a near permanent state of hiding the standard of refereeing and accountability is at an all-time low.