Kevin Clancy will take charge of his first ever Glasgow derby on Sunday when Celtic travel to Rangers. The 35 year-old has never refereed the fixture before, but he was the fourth official in March’s heated affair that the Hoops won 2-1.
While Clancy’s appointment has shocked some, it really shouldn’t have been a surprise. In fact, it could have been easily predicted given the recent history of the fixture concerning fourth officials and referees.
John Beaton’s appointment in the New Year derby came after he had been fourth official in Celtic’s September win. Bobby Madden was in the same role at New Year and took centre stage in March. So it was no surprise to see Clancy take the step-up for Sunday’s match.
The referee last took charge of a Celtic match in February when he presided over our 4-1 win against Motherwell in Brendan Rodgers final match. In total he has dished out 147 yellow cards and eight reds in 35 games this term.
A hostile environment
It is important that we keep our discipline in the hostile atmosphere at Ibrox on Sunday. The Rangers players and supporters will be baying for blood after the last clash. They lost their heads while our men wound them up that day. They will want to exact some revenge.
It is crucial that we keep 11 men on the pitch and don’t let any of their players get under our skin. Rangers have a tendency to overstep the mark this season and the likes of Alfredo Morelos and Andy Halliday will be prime candidates to do so yet again.
The Ibrox side got away with murder in their December win. We’ll just need to hope that Clancy is more forthright than Beaton was.
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