Bobby Madden will take charge of Celtic vs Livingston on Saturday, the Scottish FA have confirmed today.
Madden serves as referee for the fixture, with John McCrossan and Stuart Stevenson running the line. Steven McLean will oversee the dugouts as the fourth official.
The last match involving both Celtic and Madden provoked plenty of controversy. He was the man in the middle when the Bhoys travelled to Pittodrie at the start of the month.
Madden charged Celtic with a ludicrous amount of fouls, 27 in total. That was despite having 61% of possession across the 90 minutes. Aberdeen in contrast were deemed to have only committed 10 fouls. Three Celtic players were handed yellows, with none given to Stephen Glass’ outfit. [BBC]
The constant whistling against Celtic really hampered the flow of the game. Almost every time a Hoops star pressed Aberdeen Madden took issue. Every 50-50 went in favour of the home side. It was desperate stuff.
Celtic supporters were left perplexed by the approach, with many taking to social media to voice their displeasure at the time, despite a morale-boosting victory. It’s often said by rivals that Celtic fans only moan when referees cause us to drop points, but these days that’s untrue.
The other refereeing mystery that day came from Nick Walsh, who took charge of Rangers vs Hibs at Ibrox and sent off Ryan Porteous. Walsh will again be the referee of the Rangers game this weekend as they face Motherwell away from home on Sunday.
With scrutiny of refereeing decisions increasing week on week, both Madden’s and Walsh’s performances will be watched closely by Celtic fans again this weekend. Here’s hoping for a better performance than the Pittodrie shambles.
In other news, Celtic set to take bold new media step and it is supporters who will benefit.
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