Neil Lennon has voiced his opinion on Brendan Rodgers’ decision to explicitly mention John Beaton in his critique of the VAR decisions during Celtic’s match.
While Lennon empathises with Rodgers’ frustration, particularly given the contentious decisions that saw Celtic reduced to 10 men and then penalised with a penalty against them, he advises caution against naming officials in such critiques.
The incident involving Yang’s sending-off, which Celtic has appealed and expects a verdict on Tuesday, and the penalty awarded against Tomoki Iwata for an alleged handball, have stirred significant controversy.
Lennon, speaking on the PLZ Soccer show, acknowledged Rodgers’ right to feel aggrieved, especially considering the history between Rodgers and Beaton, referencing past officiating in a derby match at Ibrox during the boss’ first tenure.
Despite agreeing with Rodgers that the game seemed to be “re-refereed” due to VAR intervention, Lennon highlighted the potential repercussions of calling out officials by name.
He said: “I’ve been there myself and I know the emotion and how aggrieved Brendan would have felt after the game.
“There is history between him and John Beaton, you look back at the derby at Ibrox when he could’ve at least sent two or three players off for the opposition.
“Anyway, naming him is not great. He’ll be in hot water for that. The rest of his comments I don’t have a problem with because the game was re-refereed yesterday. Although the bottom line is, it’s all down to Don Robertson’s interpretation of what he saw on the VAR, allegedly.”
