Brendan Rodgers 'comfortable' with John Beaton refereeing Old Firm
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is adamant he has no issue with John Beaton refereeing Sunday's cinch Premiership title showdown with Rangers, despite his withering assessment of the official's performance the last time he was involved in a Hoops match.
The Parkhead boss ended up with a one-match touchline ban for his comments following the 2-0 defeat at Hearts last month after saying he had witnessed "incompetence" from the officials.
Beaton was on VAR duty that day and was namechecked by Rodgers after a match in which he played a part in flagging up the incidents that led to the sending off of Yang Hyun-jun and then a penalty award against Tomoki Iwata.
Rodgers, however, insisted he was "comfortable" with the choice of referee for Sunday's Old Firm derby at Ibrox.
"These games are for the top referees and I've always said that John Beaton is one of the top referees in the country," stressed the Hoops manager at his pre-match media briefing on Friday afternoon.
"He's been allocated the game, I'm comfortable with that. He's refereed games that have been there before.
"My point (after the Hearts defeat), like I said before, was for that one game. I wasn't talking about John Beaton's career as a referee.
"My gripe was on that day. They will feel they have to appoint someone who is experienced and John is one of the top, experienced referees in the country."
Asked if he expected Beaton to be under extra pressure because of the fallout from Celtic's defeat at Hearts, Rodgers said bluntly: "Don't know. Not interested. Only interested in Celtic."
Rodgers knows the level of scrutiny on officials is part of the modern game and feels they have to accept that they are paid to be accountable for their decisions.
"If you switch on Sky they will have programmes about referees, so I just think there's naturally a focus now on officials," he said.
"And naturally there will be that because the game is so scrutinised now. And obviously, if you're on the field, your performance will always be scrutinised and be looked at, like it will be if you're sat in VAR as well - or at least it should be - because that's what they get paid for.
"They'll get a salary in their bank for that and it's not for nothing. They're accountable for decision-making in the game. I just think it's a natural part of the game now, whether it's players or officials, there is a real scrutiny on them."
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