Scrutinised referee handed Celtic League Cup tie

Under-fire Willie Collum has been confirmed as the referee for Celtic’s League Cup tie against Ross County in Dingwall next Wednesday. [SFA]

He’ll be joined by assistants Alan Mulvanny and David Doig, with Craig Napier taking up Fourth Official duties.

Despite referreeing in Scotland undergoing something of a shake-up this season with Bobby Madden moving to England and preparations being made for the mid-season introduction of VAR, Collum last refereed a Celtic game in April, when he took charge of the champions’ 2-1 win at Ibrox.

This has been a relatively rare occasion for the 43 year old, who only oversaw three other Celtic games last season: a 3-2 win at Pittodrie in February, a 2-0 win over Hibs in January, and a 2-0 win at Fir Park in October, showing three or less yellow cards on each occasion.

Collum has been criticised heavily in the last week for his performance in Rangers’ 2-2 draw with Hibs at Easter Road that saw the Ibrox side reduced to 9 men, as well as receiving a controversial penalty in the first half.

One of those red cards has subsequently been reduced following appeal, with the sending off shown to John Lundstram deemed only worthy of a booking on review.

Ross County themselves have had a run in with the SFA Compliance Officer this week but with wholly different results, the Dingwall side will be without Jack Baldwin and Ross Callachan after the pair were handed two match bans for challenges in County’s 1-0 win over Kilmarnock on Saturday.

It’s par for the course in Scottish football, as refereeing discourse is rarely far from the discussion, with VAR likely only to accentuate matters, its unconventional mid-season introduction has itself been a matter of heavy debate.

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Scrutinised referee handed Celtic League Cup tie