Anthony Taylor takes charge of his third QPR game of the season, and first at Loftus Road, as the R’s face Swansea on New Year’s Day.

Referee >>> Anthony Taylor ( Cheshire ), has refereed QPR at Tottenham and West Ham so far this season.

Assistants >>> Simon Beck (Bedfordshire) and Matthew Wilkes (West Midlands)

Fourth Official >>> Lee Probert (Wiltshire)

History

A corner from the lift by Stewart Downing flicked on by Enner Valencia at the near post with an outstretched hand, was turned into his own net at point blank range by Nedum Onuoha, making a first start of the season out of position at right back. Only Robert Green appealed for the handball — possibly because, whatever manager Harry Redknapp and Fernandes said afterwards, Valencia's hands were only raised because he'd been shoved in the back by Charlie Austin and had a goal not been scored referee Anthony Taylor would have possibly awarded a penalty instead.

West Ham: Adrian 6; Jenkinson 6, Tomkins 7, Reid 7, Cresswell 7; Song 8, Zárate 7 (Nolan 76, 6), Amalfitano 6; Downing 8; Valencia 7 (Jarvis 85, -) Sakho 8

Subs not used: Jääskeläinen, Poyet, Cole, Burke, Lee

Goals: Onuoha own goal 4 (assisted Downing), Sakho 59 (assisted Tomkins)

Bookings: Tomkins 48 (foul), Cresswell 82 (foul)

QPR: Green 5; Onuoha 5, Caulker 6, Ferdinand 4, Traore 5; Henry 5, Sandro 4 (Taarabt 67, 6); Hoilett 4 (Zamora 46, 6), Fer 5, Kranjcar 6 (Mutch 78, 5); Austin 5

Subs not used: McCarthy, Isla, Dunne, Vargas

Bookings: Sandro 13 (foul), Henry 88 (foul)

Referee — Anthony Taylor (Cheshire) 6 Here’s something I seem to be saying a lot — nothing to referee, because QPR were so uncompetitive, but he was ok dealing with the bits and pieces that came along. The first goal isn’t something he’ll look back on fondly.

Tottenham 4 QPR 0, Sunday August 24, 2014, Premier League


Anthony Taylor, with nothing to referee all afternoon, blotted his copybook with a booking for Leroy Fer when the Duchman had no choice but to launch a challenge — slightly mistimed — for a loose ball in the Spurs goal mouth. A referee with no feel or understanding of the sport he’s paid to control on that evidence.

Spurs gave their visitors ten minutes of respite before Rio Ferdinand, tempted out of position by the weight of white shirts ahead of him, fouled Lamela 25 yards from goal and Christian Eriksen — all smart touches and game intelligence — whipped a trademark free kick over the wall, off the underside of the bar, and just about back into play.



Spurs: Lloris 6; Dier 8, Kaboul 7, Vertonghen 7, Rose 7; Bentaleb 7 (Dembélé 59, 6), Capoue 7; Eriksen 8, Lamela 8, Cadli 8 (Kane 69, 6); Adebayor 7 (Soldado 80, 6)

Subs not used: Lennon, Holtby, Friedel, Davies

Goals: Chadli 12 (assisted Adebayor), 37 (assisted Lamela), Dier 30 (assisted Lamela), Adebayor 65

QPR: Green 6; Caulker 5, Ferdinand 5, Dunne 2 (Onuoha 46, 6); Isla 4, Traore 5; Barton 5, Fer 4 (Faurlin 68, 6), Mutch 4; Phillips 3 ( Zamora 74, 6), Remy 3

Subs not used: Simpson, Wright-Phillips, Murphy, Hoilett

Bookings: Fer 63 (foul)


Referee — Anthony Taylor (Cheshire) 6 Very little to referee, as one of the teams was completely uncompetitive and refused to put a tackle in of any kind, but I thought the Fer booking was an absolute joke of a decision. A bouncing ball, in the six yard box, with defenders scrambling to get back, and he gets booked for trying to force it into the net? What’s he meant to do? Stand there and think “oh well it’s a chance of a goal, but it’s a little bit high off the ground so I’ll just leave it be.”



Reading 1 QPR 1, Saturday November 9. 2013, Championship

Not least because having not taken the chances they’d created at will, Rangers drifted out of the game as the first half wore on. A pathetic dive by Reading academy graduate Jordan Obita attempting to con a penalty out of Danny Simpson — which should have brought a yellow card from referee Anthony Taylor and followed a similarly limp attempt by the same player to extract a free kick by the corner flag — seemed to sum up the home team’s desperation but the incident came as the momentum of the game shifted in their favour. Garath McCleary lashed over from long range — a sign of things to come later in the game — and Pavel Pogrebnyak headed over the bar when placed to do better. The Russian also poked wide under pressure from Danny Simpson when McCleary got in behind Assou-Ekotto and crossed low in the heart of the penalty area.

Amidst it all Green did well to not only save a Baird header from Guthrie’s whipped free kick, but also palm the ball away from a crowd scene in front of him. He sprang from his line to fist the resulting corner away for good measure. Benoit Assou-Ekotto paid the price for being too casual in pursuit of a loose ball by fouling McCleary and picking up a yellow card from Taylor as a result.

But it was hard to shake the feeling that the chance to really put the sword through a nervous looking home team had passed QPR by. Gary O’Neil’s back flick pass to get Matt Phillips in down the right was sexual, but Phillips immediately conceded possession - more fumbling teenage boy than masterful porn star. When Joey Barton attempted to take a free kick quickly and drive the ball to the heart of the penalty area Danny Guthrie, who’d come dressed as a 1972 vagina, was allowed to block the ball from two yards away and set a counter attack away with, bizarrely, no intervention at all from referee Taylor. Andy Hall would never have stood for such nonsense — at least one of the two players involved would have been off, almost certainly the QPR one.

Redknapp, frustrated, withdrew O’Neil for Andy Johnson to add more support for Charlie Austin but the sense that it wasn’t to be QPR’s day only grew stronger when, almost immediately after that final change had been made, Junior Hoilett’s elastic-bands-and-chewing-gum hamstring twanged again leaving the Canadian limping around in the centre of the field, essentially little more than ballast, and QPR down to ten men to all intents and purposes.

For one wonderful moment it looked like the numbers might be evened up immediately when Taylor rushed into a melee with the purpose of a referee with red on his mind, but Pavel Pogrebnyak’s tackle barely looked like a foul at all on second inspection and the Russian could count himself unfortunate to even be booked. When Clint Hill subsequently gave the ball away in his own half and Green was forced into a nervy save with his foot to deny Obita it seemed that the game was drifting away from the R’s for good.

But there was another twist to come. With a quarter of an hour left for play Andy Johnson fed Charlie Austin on the edge of the box and his admirable hold up play drew a foul from Gorkss which Taylor awarded after initially, correctly, playing advantage. That set up a presentable free kick opportunity for the visitors and with Kranjcar and Assou-Ekotto causing distractions on the end of the Reading wall QPR’s best player on the day Joey Barton was able to thread the ball through the eye of the needle and into the far corner of the net. No more than QPR, or the excellent Barton, deserved and celebrated in classy style with the hoisting of an Ale Faurlin away shirt down on the touchline.


Reading: McCarthy 8; Gunter 6, Morrison 6, Gorkss 5, Kelly 5; McCleary 7 (McAnuff 89, -), Guthrie 6 (Akpan 89, -), Baird 6, Obita 5; Pogrebnyak 6 Robson-Kanu 6 (Sharp 89, -)

Subs not used: Federici, Pearce, Cummings, Le Fondre

Goals: McCleary 62 (unassisted)

Bookings: Pogrebnyak 66 (foul)

QPR: Green 7; Simpson 7, Hill 6, Dunne 6 (Onuoha 46, 6), Assou Ekotto 6; Barton 7, O’Neil 6 (Johnson 66, 7); Phillips 7, Jenas 5 (Kranjcar 31, 5), Hoilett 7; Austin 6

Subs not used: Traore, Chevanton, Murphy, Henry

Goals: Barton 76 (free kick, won Austin )

Bookings: Assou-Ekotto 44 (foul)

Referee — Anthony Taylor (Cheshire) 6 One or two odd decisions — Obita should certainly have been booked for his first half foul, and I’m not sure what Pogrebnyak did to stir the official up so much, or why Guthrie was allowed to block Barton’s free kick from two yards in front of the ball — but overall not too bad.

QPR 0 Manchester United 2, Saturday February 23, 2013, Premier League

The visitors brought a pantomime villain to rev the crowd up still further. Ashley Young embarrassed his sport with a dive for a controversial penalty against QPR at Old Trafford last year, and even had the gumption to try it on again in the first meeting between the two this season. On the second occasion Hill and Shaun Derry — sadly absent here — picked him up from the turf and delivered a few home truths. This was the first opportunity for the Rangers fans to do likewise. Five minutes in Zamora administered a dose of his own medicine, pinching a dangerous free kick from the winger with a theatrical fall that referee Anthony Taylor was happy to blow for. Esteban Granero, starting in the middle of midfield with Stephane Mbia between wingers Taarabt and Andros Townsend, delivered the ball poorly and it was easily cleared.

Redknapp sent on Loic Remy in Zamora ’s place and he immediately cut inside from the left flank and fired a powerful shot on goal that De Gea got a strong hand to and saved but thereafter the Frenchman was eliminated from the game by a talented and well drilled United defence that had already suffocated the influence of Taarabt. The Moroccan’s only serious impact on proceedings came late when Michael Carrick seemed to have upended him right on the edge of the penalty area but Taylor waved appeals for a free kick away. In the end the Super Hoops were reduced to moving Samba into the attack as an auxiliary centre forward. Ferguson’s technique of pinpointing one or two key opposition players, removing them from the game, and then allowing his own attacking threat to spread havoc had worked perfectly once again.

QPR: Cesar 7, Bosingwa 5, Hill 6, Samba 5, Traore 6, Townsend 7 (Hoilett 70, 5), Granero 4, (Jenas 45, 4), Mbia 5, Taarabt 5, Mackie 4, Zamora 6 (Remy 60, 6)

Subs not used: Green, Onuoha, Park, Wright-Phillips

Man Utd: De Gea 6, Rafael 8, Ferdinand 7, Vidic 7, Evra 6, Young 6 (Valencia 67, 6), Carrick 7, Giggs 8, Nani 7, Hernandez 7 (Rooney 61, 6), Van Persie 7 (Welbeck 41, 6)

Subs not used: Lindegaard, Evans, Anderson, Cleverley

Goals: Rafael 23 (unassisted), Giggs 80 (assisted Nani)

Referee — Anthony Taylor ( Cheshire ) 6 I noticed on the interactive player ratings he was down as low as a two from 38 votes which I struggle to understand. There were the usual moans about him being rather accommodating of Alex Ferguson’s team — Evra conned him into stopping a QPR attack with a non-existent injury, Taarabt was definitely fouled on the edge of the box, the late Samba header should have been a corner and not a goal kick — but he also allowed Clint Hill to hack away at Hernandez without a card and I didn’t come away thinking he’d been overly biased or one sided. No major decisions wrong and no cards — I didn’t think he was too bad.

QPR 0 Liverpool 3, Sunday December 30, 2012, Premier League

Mbia may have been slightly more use had he not spent the entire match diving pathetically to the floor and feigning injury under minimal, or sometimes non-existent, contact. This began as early as the second minute and when referee Anthony Taylor rightly ignored his pleas for a free kick Suarez tested Cesar with the first shot and the Brazilian keeper was lucky that Joe Allen — recalled to the Liverpool midfield — scuffed the rebound wide after the ball was spilled out to him.

Mbia had play stopped for treatment on a mythical facial injury after another shameful piece of play acting in the nineteenth minute, but did win a free kick on the edge of the area a moment later which Taarabt drilled into the wall. Taylor turned down half-hearted appeals for a handball penalty.

Three minutes later, with lessons not learnt, Rangers allowed a two on one situation to develop from a short corner and then left centre back Daniel Agger unmarked in the centre of the goal and he notched the third goal with a firm downward header that Cesar may have done better with. Two minutes after that, with lessons not learnt, Rangers allowed a two on one situation to develop from a short corner and then left central midfielder Jordan Henderson unmarked in the centre of the goal but he shot wide. Five minutes after that, more space for Suarez in a wide area, a further penalty box farce after he cut the ball back, and Nelsen had to clear Gerrard’s shot off the line. Gerrard then shot over after Taylor allowed Enrique to play on after what appeared to be a deliberate hand ball.

Mbia was then yellow carded for diving, and much like the Liverpool goals there was a masochistic part of me that enjoyed seeing it. Taylor rightly pointed out that it was the third or fourth occasion he’d fallen to the ground theatrically and the yellow was richly deserved.

Wright-Phillips was booed as he left the field to be replaced by Fabio, and Anthony Taylor was cheered for finally producing a yellow card for Lucas Leiva after two quick fire fouls on Taarabt moments after he’d generously let Allen off again for kicking the ball away down the field a long time after the whistle had blown. The Leiva free kick only created another opportunity for an argument over the taker though and although Mbia had earlier tested Reina with a shot the Spanish keeper needed two attempts to hold, he was way off target with the set piece and I took that as my cue to leave with five minutes left on the watch.

QPR: Cesar 4, Onuoha 6, Nelsen 5, Hill 3, Traore 3, Wright-Phillips 2 (Da Silva 80, -), Diakite 2 (Granero 63, 3), Mbia 3, Mackie 4, Taarabt 4, Cisse 2 (Derry 46, 6)

Subs not used: Green, Ferdinand, Faurlin, Hoilett

Bookings: Mbia 56 (diving), Da Silva 90 (foul)

Liverpool: Reina 6, Johnson 7, Agger 7, Skrtl 7, Enrique 6 (Suso 71, 6), Allen 7 (Carragher 87, -), Henderson 8 (Lucas 64, 6), Gerrard 8, Downing 7, Sterling 6, Suarez 9

Subs not used: Gulacsi, Coates, Shelvey, Assaidi

Goals: Suarez 10 (assisted Henderson ), 16 (assisted Downing), Agger 28 (assisted Gerrard)

Bookings: Leiva 82 (foul)

Referee — Anthony Taylor ( Manchester ) 7 Very little to referee in such an uncompetitive game. I thought he called the Mbia simulation card exactly right and should have produced a card sooner, but was rather generous with Joe Allen all afternoon and might have given a foul on Adel Taarabt in the area more consideration than he did — would have been a soft one though.

Arsenal 1 QPR 0, Saturday October 27, 2012, Premier League

When everybody’s favourite Mad Malian did chop down Olivier Giroud in trademark fashion ten minutes before half time he was lucky to escape a booking from referee Anthony Taylor and then grateful to see Lukas Podolski drill the subsequent free kick into the wall.

QPR’s balance between caution and optimism was a little too heavily weighted in favour of sitting deep and absorbing. When they started the second half with a more positive outlook they posed Arsenal problems immediately. First a direct run to the heart of the defence from Hoilett drew a foul on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area. As Hoilett crashed to earth the ball rolled through to Zamora who was offside. For reasons known only to referee Taylor — though I suspect crass incompetence had plenty to do with it — he awarded the free kick for the offside rather than the foul, even though the ball only went through to Zamora in the first place because Hoilett had been chopped down.

Granero found himself somewhat overrun at the start of the second half with the freedom afforded to Cazorla continuing to cause issues. He was nevertheless very unlucky to be booked by Taylor who awarded an incredibly soft free kick on the edge of the box that Cazorla struck through to Cesar via a deflection from the wall which took the pace off the shot. Three minutes later he tripped Arteta and Giroud repeated the Cazorla trick of smacking the free kick into the wall and through to the QPR goalkeeper. Granero was issued a final warning for this foul, and he showed admirable composure and restraint to avoid a second booking in an overworked central midfield for the remainder of the game — something his team mates would do well to learn themselves.

Then, a brain explosion. Stephane Mbia, playing reasonably well at centre half next to Ryan Nelsenand between Jose Bosingwa and Armand Traore, chased a ball out towards the corner flag after clearing a set piece. He was fouled by Thomas Vermaelen as he did so but instead of accepting the free kick which would have allowed QPR to calm the game down and clear their penalty area, Mbia lashed out wildly at Vermaelen’s knees. The Belgian collapsed to the ground despite barely being touched, but that was hardly the point. Nor, really, was Mikel Arteta standing offside when he subsequently won the game a few moments later.

I have two theories as to Mbia’s thought process: ether he didn’t realise the free kick had been given to him, and wanted to deliberately trip Vermaelen up so he couldn’t run freely back into the penalty box; or he knew he’d got the free kick, so decided to try and injure an Arsenal player with a free-shot as it were. Either way, it was one of the thickest things I’ve ever seen a footballer do (right at the top of an ever-increasing long list) and it would eventually cost QPR the game. Mbia, bizarrely, sprinted off the field as if Rangers didn’t want the clock running down.

Arsenal: Mannone 7, Sagna 7, Mertesacker 6, Vermaelen 6, Santos 6, Arteta 7, Wilshere 7 (Walcott 67, 6), Ramsey 6, Cazorla 7, Podolski 6 (Gervinho 71, -) (Arshavin 81, -), Giroud 6

Subs not used: Martinez , Koscielny, Jenkinson, Coquelin

Goals: Arteta 84 (assisted Ramsey)

Bookings: Giroud 59 (foul)

QPR: Cesar 9, Bosingwa 6, Nelsen 8, Mbia 6, Traore 7 (Onuoha 73, 6), Wright-Phillips 5 (Mackie 79, 6), Granero 7, Diakite 6, Taarabt 7, Hoilett 7, Zamora 5 (Cisse 72, 5)

Subs not used: Green, Ferdinand, Ephraim, Faurlin

Bookings: Granero 52 (repetitive fouling), Taarabt 86 (dissent)

Red Cards: Mbia 79 (violent conduct)

Referee — Anthony Taylor ( Manchester ) 5 Got the sending off right, but the officials should have disallowed the Arsenal goal so that’s a big decision they got wrong. I felt he was mediocre overall, booking Granero for very little, failing to award Hoilett a free kick on the edge of the box for an obvious foul, and just generally not inspiring much confidence that he had much control of a poor match that didn’t take a lot of refereeing. A poor official in my opinion.

Wolves 0 QPR 3, Saturday September 17, 2011, Premier League

While Wolves chances were few and far between QPR looked capable of scoring every time they went forward. Jay Bothroyd hit a free kick straight at Hennessey at the midway point of the first half after referee Anthony Taylor had awarded a soft free kick for a foul on Wright Phillips by Karl Henry who looked very off the pace of the game in general. Within a minute the impressive Traore had been allowed to maraud forward from left back right to the heart of the Wolves penalty area before Berra got in a strong block on his shot.

Taylor added four minutes at the end of the game (who would have thought it?) and Kenny was quickly called into action for a second time in as many minutes when Jamie O’Hara curled a free kick over the wall after Luke Young had been penalised by referee Taylor for a foul on Hunt when he seemed to have taken the ball. Kenny came up with a camera save as O’Hara threatened to find the net for a consolation strike.

The game did end on rather a sour note. Karl Henry, comprehensively outplayed by the QPR midfield, put in a gratuitously violent tackle on Barton as the ball went over the deadball line. It was a blatant free kick and yellow card but referee Taylor gave neither and Henry had been allowed to get away with a really nasty piece of play born out of pure frustration. The Wolves fans rejoiced in Barton’s pain and he responded by holding up the scoreline on his fingers and blowing them a kiss. While he picked himself up and made his way back downfield Anton Ferdinand then fell victim to an elbow in the side of the head by Wolves sub Sam Vokes as the pair went up to contest a long ball. Barton than waded into the ensuing gathering with plenty of finger pointing during which Anton Ferdinand was booked for taking his protests too far.

There didn’t seem to be any hard feeling on the QPR man’s part at full time as Barton went to shake Henry’s hand but something was clearly said between the two because the mood quickly turned ugly again and they had to be separated by team mates. This altercation apparently continued off down the tunnel as the teams left the field.

Wolves: Hennessey 6, Stearman 5, Johnson 6, Berra 6, Elokobi 5 (Vokes 46, 5), Kightly 5 (Guedioura 46, 6), Henry 5, O'Hara 6, Jarvis 6 (Hunt 73, 5), Ward 5, Doyle 5

Subs Not Used: De Vries, Hammill, Milijas, Foley

Booked: Guedioura (foul), Vokes (use of elbow)

QPR: Kenny 7, Young 7, Gabbidon 7 (Hall 83, -), Ferdinand 8, Traore 8, Derry 7, Faurlin 8, Barton 8, Wright-Phillips 8, Taarabt 6 (Smith 75, 6), Bothroyd 6 (Campbell 73, 7)

Subs Not Used: Murphy, Buzsaky, Connolly, Puncheon

Booked: Bothroyd (foul), Faurlin (foul), Ferdinand (dissent)

Goals: Barton 8 (assisted Wright Phillips), Faurlin 10 (unassisted), Campbell 87 (assisted Traore)

Referee: Anthony Taylor ( Cheshire ) 6 Some odd decisions, but no major ones wrong. I struggled to see how the booking for Jay Bothroyd could be justified, and the whole incident at the end of the game between Barton and Henry could have been avoided had Rangers been awarded the free kick for the blatantly obvious Henry foul down by the corner flag.

West Brom 2 QPR 2, Monday December 14, 2009

On the rare occasions Rangers attacked they looked firstly to Taarabt’s skill and then to Agyemang’s power. That strong running of the target man almost yielded a penalty just before the break when Mete got caught the wrong side and then climbed all over Agyemang in the penalty box. Had the QPR man gone down a penalty would have been almost certain but he was honest, stayed on his feet and fired a terrible shot wide of the goal. This was the second time in the game Agyemang could, and probably should, have made more of serious contact in the penalty area and while his honesty is commendable we deserved at least one spot kick for the fouls on him if not two. There was less honesty on show from Taarabt a moment later as he first of all dived for a free kick that was given, and then jinked into the area and dived again after receiving it short but referee Anthony Taylor waved the appeals away.

Having weathered the initial storm Rangers then took the lead in fortuitous circumstances just before the hour mark. Adel Taarabt saw an ambitious long range shot deflected wide and while he was complaining about a perceived stamp from Mattock in the build up Watson hit a corner towards Gorkss and heavy pressure from the Latvian forced Olsoon into a flying header into his own net. Replays suggested that Gorkss had been very physical with Olson and in all honesty had probably fouled him but referee Taylor gave nothing and there were few complaints from the home side as QPR players gathered around the penalty spot for a sheepish celebration.

Di Matteo removed full back Zuiverloon and sent on giant driveway drug dealer Roman Bednar while QPR replaced Agyemang with Pellicori. I would say ‘the tiring Agyemang’ but it’s impossible to tell with Dave as he looks knackered pretty much from the kick off. He had tried his best to lead the line but should have gone over for at least one penalty and I still cannot shake the belief that he should only ever be used as a 20 minute impact sub towards the end of matches. Had we started with Simpson, who looked a little lost wide in midfield, up front alone and then replaced him with Agyemang late in the day on Monday we’d have been much better off I think and that idea was given further weight by Pellicori’s completely ineffective nine minutes on the field during which time only his chronic lack of pace and fitness were on show. He too looked completely knackered within seconds of arriving on the field, not a desirable attribute for somebody presumably sent on to work the centre backs and prevent them knocking long balls into our area unchallenged.

Still for all of that criticism one reasonable penalty shout from Roman Bednar, who fell like a mighty oak under challenge from Gorkss in the penalty area, was about as scary as the final five minutes got for Rangers as stoppage time approached.

West Brom: D Kiely 8, G Zuiverloon 7 (R Bednar 85, -), A Meite 5, J Olsson 6, J Mattock 5, C Brunt 6, G Jara 6, G Dorrans 7, J Thomas 8, L Moore 5 (C Wood 64, 6), S Cox 7

Subs not used: R Allsop, M Cech, F Teixeira, Y Mulumbu, S Martis

Booked: Brunt (foul), Cox (dissent)

Goals: Thomas 67 (assisted), Cox 90+3 (assisted Bednar)

QPR: R Cerny 6, P Ramage 5, D Stewart 7, K Gorkss 8, T Williams 6, Routledge 6, M Leigertwood 7, B Watson 6, J Simpson 5 (F Hall 90, -) A Taarabt 7 (A Faurlin 81, -), P Agyemang 6 (A Pellicori 84, -)

Subs not used: R Taylor, R Vine, M Alberti, J Parker

Goals: Olsson own goal 56 (assisted Watson), Gorkss 62 (assisted Watson)

Referee: A Taylor ( Manchester ) 7 Not too bad overall although he turned down very decent penalty shouts from Agyemang twice and Bednar late in the game. It could easily be argued that Gorkss fouled Olsson for his goal but Taylor was at least consistent in always allowing physical contact from corners and that’s all you can ask really. Allowed the game to flow, showed few cards, hardly noticeable for long periods.

QPR 0 Derby 2, Saturday September 27, 2008

Ledesma picked up another silly booking, for dissent this time, ten minutes before half time when Parejo was harshly penalised for a foul on Jordan Stewart and he disputed the award of the free kick. Typical all round really — Parejo had a poor match, Ledesma doesn’t know when to shut up and the referee was over fussy and whistle happy all afternoon. Derby had a half hearted appeal for a penalty in their final attack of the half, Damion Stewart tussled with Ellington under a cross from his namesake Jordan but there were few appeals and it looked like six of one to me.

QPR: Cerny 5, Connolly 6, Stewart 8, Hall 7, Delaney 6, Mahon 5 (Leigertwood 70, 6), Parejo 5, Rowlands 6, Ledesma 5 (Agyemang 77, 5), Buzsaky 5 (Cook 56, 7), Blackstock 5

Subs Not Used: Camp, Ramage

Booked: Ledesma (dissent)

Derby: Carroll 6, Connolly 7, Leacock 8, Albrechtsen 8, Stewart 7, Barazite 7 (Davies 84, -), Green 8, Addison 8, Pearson 7, Ellington 6 (Villa 76, 7), Hulse 7

Subs Not Used: Bywater, Kazmierczak, Nyatanga

Booked: Leacock (foul)

Goals: Albrechtsen 80 (assisted Barazite), Villa 89 (assisted Barazite)

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) 5 Didn’t do a great deal wrong but he was often over fussy for me and a little whistle happy — blowing for fouls that could easily have been allowed to play on and generally interrupting the game when there was no need. The booking for Ledesma after a free kick was wrongly given against Parejo summed it up really, although Ledesma really must start keeping his mouth shut. Not too bad but not great either.

Southampton 2 QPR 3, Saturday February 9, 2008

Although QPR do have an excellent record on the south coast in recent years, they also have a habit of allowing the Saints to get an early goal. Saturday was no different with the home side in front inside the opening 60 seconds. Saints kicked off and knocked the obligatory long aimless ball down to the corner. Matthew Connolly allowed the ball to run past him and back into the area for Lee Camp to claim but the R’s stopper slid out of his penalty area on the greasy top conceding a free kick wide left.

Camp was lucky to escape without a card from rookie ref Anthony Taylor but his reprieve lasted barely another 20 seconds as Hammill delivered a low ball into the six yard box for Darren Powell to bundle into the bottom corner after being left completely unmarked. Not for the first time at St Mary’s Rangers were behind before many supporters had even taken their seats.

As with the start of the first half though it was Southampton in the ascendancy early on, pressing QPR back as they searched for a way back into the match. Unlike the first half though they didn’t create any clear cut chances. Lee Camp made an awesome point blank save from Wright Phillips after a quickly taken free kick but referee Taylor had already decided the set piece had been executed too quickly and he hauled the Saints back for another go. That, and an incident where he failed to allow Southampton to play advantage and then made them retake a free kick deep in their own half, summed up an overly fussy display from the official. Buzsaky fell foul of the rookie official with a fifth booking of the season (including one for Plymouth) for a foul, and petulant reaction to the decision, on fellow half time sub Saganowski.

The referee wasn’t helped by the linesman at the QPR end in the second half to whom the offside law was an inconvenient distraction to his watching of the game for free.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side when they were reduced to ten men with 20 minutes left to play. Agyemang went up for a bouncing ball with Andrew Davies and then spun round to try and get a boot to the subsequent loose ball. Safri beat the QPR man to it and hooked the ball back to his keeper but then inexplicably followed through with a crude, thigh high, studs up lunge that left Agyemang writhing in agony on the turf. There was only one decision Taylor could give and once the melee had died down the red card was flashed in Safri’s direction. Agyemang wasn’t fit to continue and was replaced by Dexter Blackstock — QPR fans were relieved to see their red hot striker out on the touchline warming down a short time later. Wright Phillips was also lucky to get away without further punishment for a petulant flick out at Zesh Rehman but Safri could have no complaints about his fate.

Southampton : Davis 5, Thomas 4 (Viafara 52, 6), Powell 5, Davies 6, Wright 3, Hammill 7 (Saganowski 46, 6), Safri 5, Euell 4, Surman 7, Wright-Phillips 5 (Lallana 68, 6), John 6

Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Idiakez

Sent Off: Safri (78) (violent conduct)

Booked: Powell (foul) , Viafara (foul)

Goals: Powell 1 (assisted Hammil), John 90 (assisted Viafara)

QPR: Camp 7, Mancienne 7, Rehman 8, Connolly 7, Delaney 8, Lee 6 (Buzsaky 46, 7), Mahon 7, Rowlands 8, Ephraim 7 (Leigertwood 83, -),Vine 8, Agyemang 8 (Blackstock 79, 7)

Subs Not Used: Pickens, Stewart

Booked: Buzsaky (dissent), Delaney (foul)

Goals: Rowlands 38 (assisted Vine), Agyemang 45 (assisted Ephraim), 60 (assisted Camp)

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) — 5 - Over fussy at times and seemed to give Southampton the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions in the second half Missed Wright Phillips kicking Rehman off the ball in the second half. Had no choice with the sending off.

Stats

Taylor is certainly no stranger to Premier League controversy and having started last season with nine yellows, a red and a controversial penalty award at Arsenal v Aston Villa and later allowed Samuel Eto’o to kick the ball away from the Cardiff goalkeeper for a goal. Overall last season he showed 102 yellows (3.29 a game) and three reds in 31 games. Apart from the Arsenal game his biggest single haul was seven yellows which he managed on a couple of occasions. He refereed Spurs three times last season: 1-1 draws at home to West Brom and away to Hull , and a 3-2 home success against Southampton .

Taylor was eased into life as a Premier League referee with just 13 appointments in his first season and 18 in his second but seemed to be winning friends in high places by 2012/13 with some high profile appointments. He was given the League Cup semi-final between Chelsea and Swansea and a big league match between Man City and Liverpool . He finished the season with 88 yellows (2.514 a game) and six reds in 35 matches — his biggest haul in a single game was six yellows and a red at Swansea v Everton right at the beginning of the campaign.

In 2011/12 he started with three reds and seven yellows in his first game of the season at Leeds v Middlesbrough, and towards the end booked nine and sent one off in Blackburn's home defeat by Liverpool, which slightly skews his final tallies of 106 yellows and eight reds from 34 appointments which is pretty low when compared to the other top flight officials — 3.11 bookings a game.

In 2009/10 not a single one of his 32 games finished without a card and he clocked in 118 yellows and 12 reds (3.68 yellows a match). Six yellows and one red was his most prolific score in a single game, and he did that on three separate occasions.

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