Bill Leckie has pointed the finger of blame at Chris Sutton as he details the old ‘wife and kids/loved ones’ line over threats apparently made to John Beaton that came to light a couple of hours after a statement from Celtic.
Celtic’s statement on Friday looking to improve refereeing standards through transparency certainly seems to have ruffled the feathers of a ‘man of the people’ who claims to be a St Mirren supporter. Nicky Campbell though otherwise in 2012 discussing administration at Ibrox.
Sutton called for greater accountability from the SFA as they washed their hands of punishing Alfredo Morelos, tweeting ‘Only in Scotland’ after favoured media sources were briefed that no retrospective action would be taken against the Ibrox striker.
If Harry Kane or Mo Salah had got away with Morelos’ performance against Celtic in an EPL match there would have been a full scale enquiry with the match referee demoted without trace rather than whooping it up with his mates in a Spurs or Liverpool boozer.
Taking aim in The Sun Leckie claims: “Harness this to the paranoia that poured out of Parkhead — flames fanned by pundits with agendas that makes Donald Trump look like a Mexican immigrant’s best buddy — and suddenly the man in black becomes the man in the middle of a playground ring of fury, bullies homing in on him from all angles.
He adds: “Take Chris Sutton. Please, take him and dump him on St Kilda to analyse the mating rituals of puffins, rather than subjecting us to any more of his pantomime-villain punditry.
“He says Beaton’s handling of Morelos was either down to incompetence or a conspiracy.
“He quotes “a friend” who phoned him to say that it seems the SFA want Rangers to win the league, though presumably this will be a different SFA from the one whose most dominant string-puller is the chief executive of Celtic.
“To Sutton, it’s all a game, a wind-up but to Beaton and his family, it’s a living nightmare and, sadly, plenty of football people have been where they’ve been this past week, drowning in a sea of slime poured on them by morons whose IQ rises when they step in a cow pat.
“I’ve had it myself plenty of times; the demands for your job, the promises that they’ll come to your house, the hope that your wife and kids get sick.
“Luckily, I’ve always had bosses who offer support, both legally and emotionally. Unfortunately for Beaton, it seems he’s just the latest to discover the SFA aren’t made of the same stuff.”
It seems that when someone else calls out the SFA Leckie jumps ship from his diddy-club badge of honour to becoming a defender of the old guard and establishment.
