Don Robertson has been assigned the task of refereeing Celtic’s Premier Sports Cup tie at Fir Park against Motherwell on Wednesday.
It’s the third Celtic game of the season for the experienced whistler, who also oversaw the 3-1 victory over Ross County in Dingwall, and the 2-0 defeat to St Mirren in Paisley last month.
The Fir Park clash will be one of the last between two top flight teams in Scotland not to feature VAR, with the technology being officially implemented 48 hours later at Easter Road for Hibs’ Premiership game against St Johnstone.
The SFA website details the full appointment list for the fixture, with linesmen David McGeachie and Calum Spence joining the fourth official Craig Napier.
Robertson refereed his share of Celtic games last season, and came in for some serious criticism from Ange Postecoglou after Yosuke Ideguchi was on the receiving end of a brutal tackle deemed only worthy of a yellow card in the 2-1 win over Alloa in the Scottish Cup in January.
As reported by The Daily Record at the time, Postecoglou said: “I think the referee’s role in any game is to be the protector of both sets of players and to make sure there’s an environment there that protects players from incidents like we saw.
“It wasn’t just the one that caused the injury, I thought there were quite a few challenges he could have taken better control of. For me, that’s one of the primary roles of any referee.
“I will be honest, I told some of the lads towards the end of the game to just not to bother going into tackles and just look after themselves because I didn’t want any more injuries.
“I just didn’t feel there was control of that environment. Sometimes players are just reckless, but that doesn’t mean it is excusable.
“We had a player who had a serious injury, there’s a couple of others who were lucky to escape from that, and that is why I was disappointed with the way the night panned out.
“I don’t question referee’s decisions. I’ve never used them as an excuse.
“But, in terms of protection of players, that’s where referees have to be vigilant because we’re told they will be at the start of every season.”
The fixture has already been the subject of much discussion before a ball has been kicked due to the kick-off oddity, the Fir Park clash begins at 6:15pm to allow both it and the other televised quarter-final at Ibrox to take place on the same day.
Motherwell’s CEO waded in to explain that both clubs had taken issue with the fixture timing, which will see travel headaches for both sets of supporters, but particularly Celtic’s much-revered away fans.
Given the noise surrounding the fixture already, it would nice for all involved if Robertson had a quiet game with little incident on Wednesday, but as is often the case in Scottish football, nobody will be holding their breath in that regard.
In other news: Celtic star Turnbull taking tips from boyhood heroes in the Champions League
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