The news that John Beaton is refereeing Sunday’s match should not surprise a single one of us. Crawford Allan is going out with a bang. They’ve already given us Don Robertson for Livingston and now we’ve got Beaton. Celtic should be outraged, and behind the scenes I am sure that we are. But on their own heads be it, at Parkhead and Hampden both.
We did what we had to do in the Rodgers case. We secured our primary objective. But we remain at the mercy of decisions such as this, and it’s a decision which reeks, which stinks to high heaven, and especially in light of Willie Collum’s complete absence at league games against the club across the city.
Beaton is an open insult to us. It is an open challenge. It is an implicit threat from Hampden that we might have won a battle, but they can win the war.
Well, Celtic needs to send the clearest possible message to them about that, and I would prefer we did not do it in private but in public. I would prefer that we considered the full range of effects should the match be decided by an “Honest Mistake.”
There are tens of millions of pounds at stake here. At what point does an intervention from Crawford Allan’s little toy soldiers represent an unacceptable risk?
Let me put it this way, Celtic has a responsibility to its own shareholders.
None of us cares about dividends or profit and loss statements when it comes right down to it, but that doesn’t mean that the club does not have a legal obligation to protect those things, to protect the share price, to assure that the club is not disadvantaged.
The potential loss of a guaranteed Champions League bounty, this season of all seasons, is too large to just ignore. Shareholders won’t let the club away with doing that, and nor should they.
Bad enough to lose this title when our own board is responsible for the gross failure to strengthen the team properly … to lose it to the “pattern of assistance” would be a scandal for the ages, and all the more so as it’s being so blatantly telegraphed in advance.
If the people running Celtic have any sense, they will get in front of this.
They should release a statement this week on our concerns over officiating.
They should make it abundantly clear that they will protect the institution from any such intervention. They will send a clear warning to Hampden that if this campaign comes down to an “Honest Mistake” that we will aggressively pursue that matter as far as we can and deliver whatever evidence we’ve accumulated along the way to whichever body is qualified to hear it.
There cannot be any question of meek acquiescence.
There cannot be any question of simply shrugging it off as one of those things.
If we’re robbed of this title – and that would be the appropriate word in the circumstances – there would be no question of simply accepting it in and moving on.
My generation of fans have already seen cheating on an industrial scale go essentially unpunished and it’s the fervent belief of many of us that those currently sitting on our board were guilty of doing too little to prevent that. We’re simply not going to tolerate that again, especially with Desmond and Lawwell still holding the controls.
This club is duty bound to guard us against that to the best of its ability or to take robust action in the event of it. If those running Celtic won’t serve the best interests of the small shareholders then our issue will not only be with Hampden, it’ll be with Celtic itself.
As I said at the time, Celtic had a golden opportunity last week to settle this once and for all.
All we got from most Celtic fans was that Rodgers was guilty and lucky to get away with a one game ban. Brendan Rodgers made a comment within his rights of freedom of expression.
If the the SFA rules state that he isn`t allowed to make comment, that doesn`t mean that Beaton wasn`t incompetent. All it means is that the rules themselves should have been condemned and questioned if they were actually lawful, quoting, for instance, the case of the golf club having to change the rules regarding the admission of women. A KC with the
reputation of DeMarco surely should have been able to tear their evidence to shreds. These
people make their name by getting guilty people off serious criminal acts far less the innocent. This KC/Film Maker should have shown the committee audio and video evidence, even if it went on for days, the reason Rodgers had a gripe and pointed out that he had committed no civil or criminal offence and demanded that his case be dismissed, with the promise that steps would be taken by Celtic Football Club to not only have the rules re-written but be a part of writing them. They should also have been told that if Celtic, as a company, suffers financially because of ongoing cheating that the same evidence would be produced in a Law Court to sue the SFA for their losses. I said after, that time will tell who won. I think the selection of Beaton for Sunday gives us the answer, and a two-fingered one at that.
I’m amazed that there are still some Celtic supporters willing to give the SFA refereeing dept the benefit of the doubt,I honestly can’t think of one half decent ref in Scotland in modern times. Some are just less bad than the worst of them, VAR should have helped them but they’ve even made an a%se of that.
If Beaton gives Old Firm Sevco three penalties on Sunday and Celtic get six, I`ll retract my previous thoughts.
Anyone who backs any ref.in this country is bonkers, they are all tarred with the same brush and go through the same system.
Celtic shareholders have already started the process of getting answers via a resolution with the sting in the tail to be a swerved at AGM or before.
If you are a shareholder then check
https://sentinelcelts.com/2024/03/22/resolution-on-refereeing-standards/
and follow the instructions to have your concerns voiced.
100 shareholders need to sign up with instructions for delivery at the link.
Some already have, many more are needed to convince Celtic and SFA that enough is enough.
The ACSOM statistician fully backs the resolution that he mentions at end of ACSOM podcast.
I have read all the comments and agree with most. What would happen if cheatin-b had a howler? I reiterate, Champions Glasgow Celtic a-head in the game, wee powder keg Kyogo scores a screamer, silence in the shit-pit… then… The scumbag-lowlife-follower-cheatingbasbeaton changed the game in an obvious and ridiculous manner to give the current-buns and advantage, then; when the tables have turned, allows more cheating to allow the haters to win. What do we do? Can a team call the referee a cheatin-bas and walk off. I am being very extreme. But change is now!
I was looking forward to the game until the officials were anounced. The SFA and all the masonic lodge can go somewhere else, they are not welcome.
As I have mentioned here before, the real issue we should be pursuing as a club with regards to two of the officials appointed for Sunday, is ‘Conflict of Interest’. Two of the referees are and will be seriously conflicted at Sunday’s match and we all know the background in both cases.
UEFA Rules State:
Referees undertake to inform UEFA without delay of any potential conflict of interests that they may have in respect of their appointment, including, any connection that the Referees may have with a national association, league or club taking part in a UEFA competition. Can the SFA in all honesty view these appointments as impartial? Do the SFA require referees to declare any ‘Conflict of Interests?
However, the next salvo coming in our direction from the authorities, is the post-split fixtures. We will be due three homes matches and two away. Based on the table at present, our away fixtures will be two from St Mirren, Dundee or Kilmarnock as we have only played them all once away from home this season. Sevco are due two at home and three away. They are due to play us at Parkhead and have only visited Tynecastle once this season, their third away match could be either Kilmarnock or Dundee both for a third time.
We all know who will be going to Rugby Park!
I chopped my reading on your article short when you mentioned the board are responsable for Celtic possibly losing the league this year. Its absolutely diabolicle that Celtic are in this position. James…like me your Celtic through and through and the board including the Major shareholder Desmond are nothing short of disgracefull. This support follows them all over the world and they don’t deserve the people who love them. Print this James, please print this for all to see
It’s an awful choice for us I now genuinely expect to lose. But I think we should have dealt with this years ago when we were the only big team in the country and weeded out this problem and insisted allegences and former season ticket holders are declared. We didn’t so we now have this. When you watch this guy ref every 50/50 goes against us. They will def get a pen. I am not big on hammering refs but this is the worst appointment we could have in my view.
Have often thought our club is complicit in whatever is going on in Scottish football. There is far too much factual evidence to see this from any other standpoint.
Celtic should refuse to take part in this farce on Sunday unless Beaton is removed from the role. Blow the whole corrupt game up while the football world looks on. Let UEFA investigate it. Yes, we may be handing them a title, but if it brings the real change needed in Scottish football it’s worth it. It will be the last title they’ll win. I’m sorry to say it’s time for the nuclear option.
Is it true that Nick Walsh who is one of 2 in the VAR room, coaches Rangers Youth players? If so, that is completely outrageous.