The last time Martin O'Neill's men visited Rugby Park they secured the victory which confirmed the title, but the match ended in controversy with Killie assistant boss Billy Brown lambasting McCurry's performance. Kris Boyd had a seemingly legitimate "goal" disallowed and a host of contentious decisions went in the visitors favour, leaving Brown apoplectic claiming that Old Firm bias from refs had "been going on for 100 years". He was severely reprimanded by the SFA for his outburst.
By appointing McCurry for this fixture, the SFA and SPL will be piling even more pressure onto the referee, as his every decision will be subject to even more intensive scrutiny.
The lack of fore-thought and judgement has been shown before in the decision to pair Killie with Inverness Caley as a New Year's Day fixture