The officials have been named for the biggest Old Firm derby in several years and in John Beaton, the SFA have appointed a referee who is no stranger to the consequences of not giving Celtic everything they want.
There is never a game between Rangers and Celtic that goes quietly with current manager Philippe Clement, who is usually calm and composed, perplexed at some of the decisions in the last encounter.
It is John Beaton’s fifth Old Firm derby but, after recent comments made by Brendan Rodgers, it is one that carries an eerie similarity to one that saw the official take drastic action.
Old Firm pressure isn’t anything new for John Beaton
We’ve all heard the “always cheated, never defeated” line when it comes to our city rivals and, in 2018, this is exactly what route they chose to take.
Celtic had it all their own way up until Steven Gerrard’s arrival that summer with Beaton’s last derby being a 5-1 win for Brendan Rodgers.
It’s safe to say, that after years of unrivalled success, that they didn’t take losing well at all.
John Beaton had to contact the police after receiving threats online and didn’t referee another Old Firm match for two years despite being widely praised for his handling of the game at the time with Celtic fans campaigning to the SFA the next time he was chosen for a derby.
When asked how the fallout from the game affected him, the experienced whistler said via The Glasgow Times:
“It was a tough time for me and had a massive impact. It was probably a turning point in terms of seeing the scrutiny that we are put under in games like that.
“The pressure on those games is incredible and it’s such a unique rivalry. It’s about survival for the referees, players and managers.
“You have to manage your way through those games as best as possible.
“The feeling immediately after the match was that it had gone well for us a refereeing team. But clearly the media fallout was such that the perception of my performance had very quickly changed.”
No referee should have to deal with that sort of personal attack with Rangers fans quick to react to the fallout online.
Did he get things wrong? Yes.
But so does every referee.
Willie Collum and Kevin Clancy have had far worse in terms of Old Firm displays and they have never had to fear for their safety.
What doesn’t help matters is comments like those recently made by Brendan Rodgers that were designed to purely to deflect from his own deficiencies and ramp up the pressure on one of the country’s best.
“In such a tight title race that can make the difference. I also think that VAR is not the problem here. That’s clear. It’s competence.
“I think the first one is a great example of the game being refereed outside of the pitch. The referee made the decision and someone outside made another decision to say it was a sending off.
“That’s the game being refereed outside of the field and in big games that costs you.
“For John Beaton to actually look at that in VAR, supposedly under no pressure, and say that was sending off? I find that incredible.
“The second one is worse. If you have a penalty go against you for that then there will be penalties every single weekend and midweek.”
Rodgers knew what he was doing.
John Beaton didn’t make any decisions in Celtic’s loss to Hearts, it was all Don Robertson.
All Beaton did as VAR was refer the on-field referee to the monitor for a second look, Robertson didn’t have to issue a red card or award a penalty.
The referees in Scotland are poor, there is no getting away from that, but Beaton is one of the more consistent ones.
Rangers will be hoping that he is as brave at the weekend as he was in 2018 and doesn’t shy from making decisions in fear of the consequences.
