Brendan Rodgers' beef with John Beaton rooted in Celtic history as Neil Lennon 'uncomfortable' with personal attack

Neil Lennon admitted to feeling ‘uncomfortable’ with Brendan Rodgers’ personal post match attack on whistler John Beaton.

Rodgers was left furious after dropping three points at Tynecastle on Sunday and blamed the defeat on key decisions made by match ref Don Robertson and VAR Beaton. The Celtic manager twice referred to Beaton by name during a tetchy interview with broadcasters Sky in the immediate aftermath of the 2-0 defeat.

And former Parkhead boss Lennon believes Rodgers’ resentment towards the official is a long running legacy stretching back to his first stint in the hot seat - when Beaton needed police protection after taking charge of a heated Old Firm derby at Ibrox in January 2019. When asked about Rodgers calling out Beaton’s part in Sunday’s decision making process Lennon said: “I’m a little bit uncomfortable about that but it’s not for me to say. That’s for other people to maybe take him to one side and have a word with him on it.

“Obviously there’s a history between Brendan and John from one of the games at Ibrox a few years ago and obviously he’s emotional after the game. But again, it’s Don’s decision, ultimately. John’s just told him to come and have a look at the incident.”

Rodgers appeared to point a finger of blame at Beaton for asking Robertson to review footage of flashpoint between Celtic winger Hyun-jun Yang and Hearts full-back Alex Cochrane. Yang had been booked for raising a high boot but that yellow card was upgraded to a straight red after Robertson had been called to the pitch side monitor.

And Rodgers was even angrier when Hearts were awarded with a penalty late in the first half for a hand-ball incident which Beaton had spotted on the screen at Clydesdale House. Celtic lodged an appeal to