The SFA’s appointment of John Beaton for the last Old Firm derby was seen by some as the Hampden chiefs sending out a message they wouldn’t be dictated to when it comes to choosing their match officials for big games.
Beaton had come under fire when Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers named him in a furious rant following a Scottish Premiership defeat to Hearts at Tynecastle. And now, with Willie Collum being named as the man in the middle for Saturday’s derby at Parkhead it could easily be viewed as the SFA doing the same thing with Rangers.
It comes after Ibrox chiefs – not for the first time – made it clear they wanted Collum kept well clear of fixtures involving them following controversy during the last Old Firm derby at Parkhead during the festive period. But the SFA are backing their man as the 45-year-old takes charge of the biggest clash between the rivals since… well, since the last one. But there is a huge amount riding on this one with just three points separating the two sides at the league summit with three games to go. Here, Record Sport looks back at some of his most controversial moments.
Gers festive fury over VAR role
This was the most recent row involving Collum and Rangers. The Ibrox club reacted furiously when Collum, on VAR duty, dismissed a possible penalty kick from Clydesdale House despite slow motion replays showing Alistair Johnston had handled the ball inside Celtic’s box. It was only after Collum’s intervention that subsequent graphics proved the award would not have stood in any case as Rangers striker Abdallah Sima had drifted offside moments earlier during the attacking phase of play (APP). But that didn’t stop Rangers demanding showdown talks with the SFA during which they called for Collum to be blackballed from officiating at any of their future matches, something from which manager Philippe Clement distanced himself.
Raging Roma
It's not only in Scotland where Collum has found himself under fire – controversy has followed the whistler while on duty abroad. And that was evident when was forced to apologise to Roma after he awarded a last-gasp penalty against Chris Smalling during a Europa League clash with Borussia Monchengladbach. Collum mistakenly thought a handball offence had been committed by the on loan Manchester United defender in the Serie A side's draw. Italian media outlet Corriere dello Sport didn't hold back in their assessment of Collum branding him "unacceptable" after his howler. Edin Dzeko also hit out at Collum's "incredible" decision. The striker: "I don't understand how the referee was so sure it was a handball, there's no way. It's incredible."
Kiss off, Willie
Rangers were left raging when Collum sent off Daniel Candeias for BLOWING KISSES towards Anton Ferdinand during a match against St Mirren. The Portuguese winger was given a second yellow card for putting his fingers to his lips and gesturing at Ferdinand after Alfredo Morelos’ injury-time goal sealed a 2-0 win in Paisley.
Then Gers boss Steven Gerrard called it “embarrassing”. But worse was to follow as the club released a stinging statement which later saw them hit with FIVE charges and fined £6000. They launched a wide-ranging attack that called Collum's ability into question and appealed the sending off - citing "underlying issues" with his performance. Rangers said: "It was an inexplicable decision by the match referee, Willie Collum. It defies belief this same referee, who got it so blatantly wrong last Saturday, is awarded one of the biggest matches in Scottish football this weekend while Daniel Candeias is denied the right to go to his work. This, frankly, is unacceptable. Furthermore, it is understood that a number of people within the Scottish FA are in no doubt Mr Collum’s judgment was flawed and Rangers shall also now be submitting a formal complaint about the performance of this referee. The manner in which he reacted to an incident involving our player made it obvious he did not give due consideration to his decision."
One Del of a row
Anger towards Collum over the years hasn’t exclusively been left to the Old Firm. Former Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes put the blame on the whistler for a damaging 3-1 defeat at Inverness when the Dons were in an unlikely title race. With the game in the Highlands poised at 1-1, McInnes said Collum was “conned” Caley Thistle's Ross Draper as the midfielder grimaced after he and Ash Taylor stretched for a loose ball inside the penalty box and the home side were awarded a penalty. Collum was heading to Euro 2016 to represent Scotland in France that summer but he came under fire in the build-up and pundit Michael Stewart said at the time: "It beggars belief how Willie Collum can still be refereeing at the top level of this game.”
Livid Lenny calls out ‘bottler’ Collum
Neil Lennon let rip at Collum for his performance in Celtic’s 3-1 Old Firm defeat to Rangers at Parkhead in October 2010. The Irishman accused Collum of bottling out of red-carding Lee McCulloch and of wrongly awarding Rangers the penalty that sealed a 3-1 victory. The spot kick was awarded for an alleged foul by Daniel Majstorovic on Kirk Broadfoot but Lennon claimed the whistler couldn’t even SEE the incident because he had his back turned.