‘In the frame’… Crawford Allan says 45-year-old could be referee for huge Celtic vs Rangers clash

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This season’s title race is probably going to be one of the closest we have seen for years at Celtic.

With Rangers closing the gap at the top of the table in recent weeks coupled with Celtic now seemingly halting their stuttering form with a good performance against St Mirren on Sunday, it does seem like the next Glasgow Derby has the potential to decide the destination of the league title.

Celtic will face Rangers at Ibrox on the 6th of April in what will be one of the most important derbies of recent times.

The potential for this to be an explosive encounter is high on the potential title-decider and the game will need a strong referee.

And the SFA Head of Referees, Crawford Allan, has dropped a massive hint on who could be taking charge of this fixture.

Allan said [Daily Record], “Willie [Collum] will be in the frame with every other referee for consideration for games, whether they be in the league, in the Cup or whatever.

“We’ll make that decision nearer the time.”

Indeed, this revelation has come after yesterday’s future over VAR and the decisions that the video referee has still managed to call incorrectly but what can’t be denied is that this is a very unusual statement from Allan.

Willie Collum’s Celtic record and Glasgow Derby history

Collum has taken charge of 90 games in total involving Celtic. Out of those games, the Hoops have won 68, drew 12 and lost 10.

In that, the controversial referee has issued 119 yellow cards, seven red cards and awarded 23 penalties.

Remarkably, out of the eight Glasgow Derby matches that Collum has officiated since 2010, Celtic have only lost one. And it was in that year the Hoops last experienced a defeat under Collum as they lost 3-1 at Celtic Park.

Celtic’s biggest win was the 5-1 ‘Dembelition Derby’ back in 2016 where Brendan Rodgers and Moussa Dembele taught our Glasgow rivals a huge footballing lesson at Parkhead.

The last Glasgow Derby Collum officiated was the 1-0 win over Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden. [Transfermarkt]

Are we likely to see a result like that this time at Ibrox this season? It’s unlikely but in recent years having Collum as the man in the middle has done Celtic no harm despite his lack of popularity amongst the fans.

In other news, ‘Outstanding’ £15m striker could be available for free this summer, he’s perfect for Celtic