Spare a thought for the man in the middle as Old Firm prepare to go head-to-head at Ibrox…and pray that he’s not all we’re talking about once the dust has settled

It’s been said that the best referees are the ones you hear nothing about.

The ones who are more than happy to let the football take centre stage for 90-odd minutes at the weekend before fading into obscurity.

That’s certainly how John Beaton hopes tomorrow’s Old Firm derby plays out. Best of luck with that, John.

The truth is that the man set to take charge at Ibrox is on a hiding to nothing. Regardless of how he actually performs, he can’t win.

That comes with the territory, of course, and it’s always been the same old story when Glasgow’s big two lock horns.

Beaton has enough experience in this fixture over the years to know all about the pressure that goes along with it, but even he must be feeling the weight more than usual.

First and foremost, its significance in this most extraordinary of title races cannot be understated. It’s normally one or the other that are doing the chasing as we approach the business end of the campaign.

However, these days both are looking up in the table at Hearts, who are just 10 games away from doing the unthinkable and clinching their first top-flight title since 1960.

The Gorgie men have the opportunity to move seven points clear when they take on Aberdeen at Tynecastle this afternoon. Indeed, few would bet against it.

Do that, and they can sit back, relax and watch on as the chaos unfolds in the south side of Glasgow less than 24 hours later.

Everyone keeps waiting for the wheels to come off, but by this stage, there should be no doubt about whether or not Derek McInnes’ men have the ability — and character — to stay ahead of the pack.

Simply put, Rangers or Celtic can’t afford to lose any more ground this weekend. Defeat for either might well be enough to torpedo their title chances altogether.

And, like it or not, Beaton will almost certainly have a part to play.

Needless to say, his task hasn’t been made any easier by what transpired in the fixtures involving these sides last Sunday.

The failure to award a foul for Kerr’s tackle on Moore last week will have piled pressure on refs 

Having battled back from 2-0 down to draw level at Livingston, referee Ryan Lee somehow failed to see Mikey Moore being cleaned out by Cammy Kerr on the edge of the Livi box in stoppage-time just as the winger was about to pull the trigger.

For that not to be deemed a goalscoring opportunity was frankly ridiculous. We’ve seen players sent off for fouls on the halfway line, never mind 18 yards from goal.

At the very least, VAR David Dickinson should have had a word in his colleague’s ear to flag up that he might want a second look on the pitchside monitor.

Nothing doing though, much to the frustration of Rohl, who, to be fair, didn’t use it as an excuse for his team’s meek display against a side whose last victory came in the second week of August.

Meanwhile, 30 miles away, Celtic were left furious after Auston Trusty was sent off following a VAR intervention which saw whistler Matthew MacDermid come across to the touchline to watch multiple angles of a tussle between the defender and Hibs’ Jamie McGrath.

With MacDermid having seen the incident close up and determining that there was nothing in it, this was a perfect example of how VAR is — as Martin O’Neill put it later in the week — re-refereeing the game.

The Northern Irishman’s fierce criticism came a day after his employers released a statement calling for a review into how VAR was being implemented.

That may well happen in time, but for now, all it’s done is turn the heat up on Beaton and VAR Steven McLean at Ibrox this weekend, and played right in to the hands of supporters on both sides of the Old Firm divide who believe conspiracy rather than their team’s own incompetence will be to blame should they fail to see their side lift the Premiership trophy come May.

Beaton awarded Rangers a penalty after Alastair Johnston’s foul on Fabio Silva in 2024

What a load of nonsense.

The referees are human, mistakes are going to happen, and hindsight is a wonderful thing — especially when it comes to this fixture.

Nick Walsh and his officials likely regret their decision not to give Trusty his marching orders when the defender caught Rangers keeper Jack Butland on the head in November’s Premier Sports Cup semi-final, prompting a meeting between club representatives and the SFA which did little to ease the tension. Rangers had every right to be aggrieved.

On the same day, the decision to award Rohl’s side a penalty when Djeidi Gassama’s strike hit the arm of Anthony Ralston as the Celtic full-back threw himself to the floor to make the block was also questioned.

Whether you agree with the outcomes or not, it’s a huge leap to suggest that Scottish officials are going into games looking to favour one team over another.

Whether some of them are good enough to be operating at the top level is a different discussion.

But in the here and now, Beaton can only focus about being the best version of himself in the Ibrox pressure-cooker. Which will be easier said than done with 50,000 baying for blood in the stands.

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope we’re talking about the football rather than the man in the middle on Monday morning. It would make a nice change wouldn’t it?