Willie Collum the peacemaker at Hibs v Celtic on Saturday

Neil Lennon won’t have to wait long to see more of Willie Collum with Hugh Dallas’ legacy being the fourth official at Saturday’s Hibs-Celtic clash at Easter Road.

After his inept display at the Hamilton-Celtic game last night Collum will be on the touchline at Easter Road ‘keeping the peace’.

Craig Thomson will referee Saturday’s match.

Lennon wasn’t slow to savage Collum after last night’s performance coming less than three months after his ‘eyes on the back on his head’ derby debut between Celtic and Rangers on Saturday.

Ironically Collum shouldn’t have been in charge of last night’s match with Mike Tumility listed for the original fixture on December 18.

Why someone then decided to bring in Collum AND appoint him as fourth official on Saturday really needs explaining from the SFA.

During the first half of last night’s match Collum was forced to have words with Lennon after having his attention alerted by fourth official Stevie O’Reilly.

Sitting a few rows behind the tunnel at New Douglas Park it was impossible not to notice the interfering role of the fourth official.

The dug-outs are an emotional area in a football ground- Lennon and Billy Reid are both under intense pressure as their club’s scrap for every point with every decision possibly match changing.

Rather than apply common sense to a high pressure situation O’Reilly sought to get involved in the match as much as possible with constant dialogue with both dug-outs.

With their jobs on the line and an attention seeking referee like Collum desperate to be the star of the show the last thing that managers want is to have a wise cracking fourth official constantly talking to them.

Collum on Saturday will no doubt seize the opportunity to spread his infamy through further run-in’s with Lennon. It’s a photo opportunity that the school teacher will be unable to resist.

With his appeal against a six match touchline ban coming up at Hampden next week the Celtic boss needs every support possible from within the club.

No stone should be left unturned to ensure that Lennon is given complete backing in his bid to be treated in the same manner as every other SPL manager.

As John Reid said at the club AGM: “We’re not looking for special treatment and never claimed to be better than anyone else but we won’t be treated as less than anyone else.”

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