Blundering John Beaton will referee Saturday’s derby match at Ibrox.
The Lanarkshire based referee was at the centre of controversy at the weekend when he denied Hearts two penalty claims that infuriated Craig Levein.
Steven Naismith did pick up a yellow card for trampling on the calf of Lewis Ferguson which was an improvement on Beaton’s decision not to take any action when he kicked out at Jonny Hayes in August while the winger was grounded.
‘I was totally wrong in my reaction . . . I had the red mist,’#Hearts star Steven Naismith opens up on angry reaction towards #Celtic winger Jonny Hayeshttps://t.co/tzwfluhWpD #HMFC pic.twitter.com/zowTJzbYX6
— Capital City Press (@CCP_sport) August 23, 2018
Steven Naismith admits he was ‘totally wrong’ in reaction to Jonny Hayeshttps://t.co/VeD20oJRyJ
— Edinburgh News Sport (@edinburghsport) August 23, 2018
Beaton has been in charge of both Celtic v Hearts matches this season, his last match involving Steven Gerrard’s side was the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden when they lost 1-0 to Aberdeen.Â
Saturday’s match won’t come as much of a shock to the Lanarkshire official after he was on fourth official duty for the September meeting between the two clubs. After that match Steven Gerrard claimed that Beaton shouted ‘FOUL FOUL FOUL’ into his microphone when Ryan Jack fell to the ground as Tom Rogic set up the only goal of the game.Â
Extreme right-wing Tory MP Douglas ‘Red Card, Red Card’ Ross will be one of the assistants with another Lanarkshire favourite, Bobby Madden on call as fourth official.