When former referee Steve Conroy described the appointment of Nick Walsh as referee for the upcoming League Cup final as “He’s been the best referee in the country since Bobby Madden”, you could say the contributor to the ‘Get Involved Referee!’ podcast was damning Walsh with faint praise!
It’s a bit like telling the missus the babysitter you booked for your date night came with a better reputation than Rose West. It doesn’t exactly instil confidence.
And when Conroy, as reported in Scottish Sun, then went on to highlight Walsh’s failures this season as part of his apparent reference, you kinda know already the ducks are in a row for Operation Stop Celtic on the 26 February at Hampden.
“I think Nick is the right choice. He’s been the best referee in the country since Bobby Madden left, but he has not been free from talking points or controversy this season, as we saw in the Hearts-Celtic game in October when a Michael Smith handball went unpunished.
“It’s an experienced team overall, with Kevin Clancy as the fourth official and John Beaton the VAR. They are guys who have been over the course before, so overall, it’s the right team. Nick did his first derby during Covid, so he was away from the baying masses, but he covered Celtic’s 4-0 win over Rangers earlier in the season, so he knows what to expect, and he won’t be over-awed.
“Nothing will come as a surprise to him.”
So Celtic will step onto that Hampden pitch looking to defend their trophy against theRangers with a referee who is employed during the week as a PE teacher at Boclair Academy, which works in partnership with theRangers Academy – and having had his own judgement questioned when it came to Celtic already this season – alongside John Beaton on VAR. This the man who decided to wind down from his own Glasgow Derby officiating in The Crown Bar in Bellshill right after he’d overseen a win for his heroes, AND we’re supposed to be relieved that Walsh got the job after the best guy they had previously legged it down south, where he may or may not still have a monthly direct debit set up for his Ibrox season ticket.
Sometimes you have to consider at times if we’re not actually paranoid enough!
Niall J
