Due to remarks he made about the VAR’s performance against Hearts, the Parkhead manager is being charged with SFA.
Brendan Rodgers acknowledges that he doesn’t regret criticizing John Beaton, but he maintains that there was no personal grudge against the senior official behind it.
Rodgers, who accused Beaton and referee Don Robertson of “incompetence” following Sunday’s contentious loss at Tynecastle, may face an SFA rap and possibly even an Old Firm derby day suspension. In a series of post-match interviews, the Parkhead manager made a point of identifying Beaton as the person in charge of the VAR technology, perhaps placing the blame on him for the choice to red card Hyung-jun Yang and give Hearts a penalty late in the game.
This prompted former Celtic manager Neil Lennon to speculate that Rodgers and Beaton had a history dating back to Beaton’s first tenure in the hot seat, in January 2019, when Beaton required police protection after taking command of a contentious Old Firm derby at Ibrox. It’s also been likened to Rangers’ attempt, in the eyes of some in their ranks, to demonize Willie Collum by insisting that the team’s best referee be barred from officiating any of their games.
However, Rodgers is adamant that Beaton is not Celtic’s worst enemy. “That shouldn’t be the case, and I’m not saying that—I’m talking about one game here,” the speaker stated. I’m referring to the weekend’s game. I’m not referring to any other games or legacy problems.
“John has been an excellent referee in games. Therefore, I don’t find that objectionable. That was my perspective on that particular game, which is what I’m talking about. It has nothing else to do with it. Let’s concentrate on playing football and making wise choices.
However, Rodgers maintains that he has no regrets in mentioning Beaton by name. “No,” he said. No, everyone of us is responsible. There is no doubt that he was in the VAR. Therefore, it’s not a secret—I haven’t made any reference of anyone who would have remained anonymous.
“My main argument was that the person who examined it had that experience. John has been officiating major games for a time now. Therefore, I wasn’t criticizing John for having his name out.
“It was more like, ‘This is a great referee handling the match, and purportedly a top referee in VAR, off the clock. However, they were still in error. For me, it is the greater concern.
“That two of your best referees were involved. The previous week, we had an amazing one with Willie Collum. “Have a look at this Willie,” was yelled in order to dismiss the player.
“Willie Collum, he gets a little stick. However, you know what? “No, no, no-it’s not!” he said as he rushed over and took a quick glance at the screen. Although it didn’t appear to be a sending off in the game, he was clearly called upon to have a look at it.
When he is carpeted on the sixth floor of Hampden on March 28, Rodgers says he will defend his case and maintains that Beaton and Robertson made poor judgments that changed the course of the game. “Hopefully, you get to the right decisions if you work as a team and have experience,” he stated.
“The game was significant.” Clearly, that’s the reason they were there. Thus, you’re expecting that the important choices would be wise ones. In all honesty, I didn’t even believe they were huge decisions, even though they had significant ramifications. Not when you genuinely know that the referee in the match made the correct call.
“And then, after seeing the penalty, every football fan will realize that there is no possibility in the world that it was a penalty.
It’s clear that you people don’t experience that feeling, which is frustration. When something like that happens during a game and you are asked to remark on it. You don’t most of the time. But I thought that was a crucial point.
