The SFA have confirmed the appointment of experienced referee John Beaton for Celtic’s trip to Pittodrie. The Scottish Champions travel to the North East to face Aberdeen as they look to exact revenge after the Scottish Cup Final in May.
Beaton takes charge with David McGeachie and Graeme Stewart assisting.
Meanwhile at Clydesdale House, Andrew Dallas is on VAR and he is assisted by Alan Mulvanny.
Beaton last took charge of Celtic in April with Brendan Rodgers’ side dismantling Killie 5-1 and before that it was the February meeting against Jimmy Thelin’s side at Celtic Park; which also ended in a 5-1 win for Celtic.
Beaton is one of the SFA’s top referees and has recently been away on UEFA duties. Trips to Pittodrie are often difficult afternoons given the conditions but in the early part of the season, the pitch should be in a good state – meaning that Celtic can get the ball moving quickly. The Dons showcased that they’re willing to be overly physical to disrupt Celtic and it’s important that the referee affords the Champions protection from this.
Celtic managed to get across the line on the opening weekend in the defence of the Scottish Premiership with a late strike from Luke McCowan sealing the points. Celtic were aggrieved not to take the lead earlier through Callum McGregor, who was penalised for a handball but replays didn’t appear all that conclusive as to where the ball struck the skipper at close proximity.
Experienced referee? Aye, no one more experienced than cheatin Beaton FFS. And Dallas on VAR . SFA in full attack mode.
I don’t know what replays you were watching but CelticTV showed the ball hitting his elbow. It also appeared to show McGregor’s elbow move towards the ball. It was the correct decision. However, the 2 or 3 handballs committed by St.Mirren went unpunished.
I also believe we would have ended that game with a far greater score had certain players passed the ball to Nygren who got himself into unmarked positions and was frantically signaling for the pass. McGregor, Yang, Hatati and Forrest all failed to pass it to him and their decisions came to nothing.
As for St.Mirren’s manager trying to blame Celtic for “time wasting” – he made a substitution 30-seconds into the 5-minutes of added time. He needs to take a look at his own stifling tactics. So, going by his logic, every St.Mirren defeat this season can be put down to Celtic time wasting? BTW, was the VAR sleeping against St.Mirren?
Finally, look at the injury inflicted on Jota against Aberdeen. If i remember correctly, no action taken against the culprit by the incompetent officials. Celtic need to be making a major fuss whenever these decisions go unchecked. Jota’s career could easily have been ended.