Lee Probert, a man once branded a ‘village idiot’ by then QPR boss Ian Holloway, is the referee for Saturday’s opening fixture with Swansea – as he was for QPR’s last two meetings with the Swans.

Referee >>> Lee Probert (Wiltshire) refereed both fixtures between QPR and Swansea last season.

Assistants >>> Dave Bryan (Lincolnshire) and Ron Ganfield (Somerset)

Fourth official >>> Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)

Previously

Rangers had appealed half heartedly for a penalty when Buzsaky’s shot twice struck hands on the way through the Swansea penalty area but referee Lee Probert was right to ignore the pleas. He could have done a little more forBobby Zamora in the first half though as Swansea defenders were repeatedly allowed to climb over the striker to win headers with no recourse. It was a surprise therefore that Probert not only decided to add a minute onto the end of a half with no stoppages, injuries, substitutions, cards or goals but then in that minute finally awarded a free kick to the lone QPR striker.

Then a mad 60 seconds of refereeing saw Bobby Zamora apparently fouled on the edge of the Swansea area and then Sigurdsson also seemingly chopped down in a similar position at the other end but neither received free kicks. This reinforced the deficiencies in Lee Probert’s method of running in a lazy-man square around the centre circle rather than corner flag to corner flag as is the generally accepted way.

QPR: Kenny 6, Onuoha 6, Ferdinand 7, Hill 8, Taiwo 7, Barton 8, Diakite 8, Buzsaky 7, Taarabt 6 (Smith 88, -), Mackie 7 (Wright-Phillips 77, 6), Zamora 6 (Bothroyd 78, 5)

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Gabbidon, Campbell, Young

Booked: Taiwo (tackling a man with his face), Diakite (hacking a man’s leg off)

Goals: Barton 45 (assisted Taarabt), Mackie 55 (assisted Ferdinand), Buzsaky 67 (assisted Taarabt)

Swansea: Vorm 5, Rangel 5, Caulker 6, Williams 5, Taylor 5 (Tate 46, 5), Sigurdsson 7, Britton 6 (Moore 62, 5), Allen 6, Routledge 5 (Dyer 46, 6), Graham 7, Sinclair 6

Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Monk, McEachran, Gower

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 6 Not my favourite official in the world, and did himself few favours here by refusing to move more than 20 yards from the centre spot at any time rather than running corner flag to corner flag which meant he was often 40 yards or more away from decisions on the touchlines. I thought Zamora was harshly treated overall and Swansea will rightly feel the second goal should not have stood. Overall he was mediocre, and yet again a big decision in a key game is wrong.

Swansea 1 QPR 1, Tuesday December 27, 2011, Premiership

Speaking of which the referee for this fixture was Lee Probert, a man who gave the impression he’d rather overindulged in the Christmas sherry, or been plucked from the Boxing Day sales as a late replacement for somebody who had actually seen a game of football before.

Routledge’s cross was slightly behind Graham as he entered the penalty area, and travelling at a fair lick, so the former Watford man reached out and controlled the ball with his hand before turning and curling a fine finish around Hall and into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Kenny. All, except those who had been in the toilet or reading their programme at the time, wore perplexed expressions. Probert explained to QPR later that, yes, Graham had indeed handled the ball and, yes, he had seen him do it from a distance of roughly 15 yards away but that, in his opinion, the act of controlling an uncontrollable cross and bringing it down perfectly for the finish with the palm of his hand was not deliberate as defined by the rules of the game. The goal stood.

Then, the refereeing took a turn for the eccentric. First Fitz Hall was allowed to climb right over the back of Graham to win a header that subsequently developed into a chance for Mackie who skipped between two players in the penalty area but found Vorm had read his intentions and smothered the danger. Referee Probert wasn’t quite so alert, caught stationary and thinking about other things on the halfway line by Barton who was inadvertently tackled by the official which in turn allowed Swansea to attack and force a corner. Luckily Probert’s assist only fell to Moore rather than an actual footballer. In between those incidents the home crowd had bayed for Barton’s blood after full back Richards had cleared a ball down the line and kicked through onto Barton’s outstretched block attempt. The Swansea man hit the deck immediately, writhing in apparent agony as the Swansea fans, to a man, stood and demanded immediate, harsh sanctions against the QPR man. A yellow card was produced, to the home fans’ disgust, and Richards them immediately made a complete and full recovery, leaping to his feet and bounding off down the field without the need for attention from the physio, stopping only to refuse Barton’s hand of apology. And we’re told the QPR man is the pantomime villain.

In between those two shots though, more from Probert. QPR’s Senegalese full back Armand Traore, not for the first time in the game it must be said, took an unnecessary extra touch on the ball in a dangerous area. On this occasion Danny Graham had gambled on him doing just that and raced to the scene to cleanly take the ball off his toe as he went to clear it down field. Traore executed the clearance anyway, hacking into the back of Graham’s leg and sending him sprawling in the penalty area. A blatant spot kick, a dictionary definition of a penalty, but once again Probert gave the impression of a man caught thinking about other things – he neither awarded the kick, nor waved play on. He just sort of stood there, stupefied.

Two minutes later Williams strode calmly out of the Swansea defence and executed a body slam onAdel Taarabt as he attacked down the left flank. Again a blatant foul, again Probert awarded nothing. We were one more piece of incompetence away from the police vacating the ground and declaring mob rule at this stage. Anything went. I’d suggest that Probert had borrowed the Stuart Attwell random generator of maddening refereeing decisions for the afternoon had Attwell not been making prolific use of it himself back in London at Arsenal v Wolves. For the second time in a week I’m struggling for words to describe a match official. Never mind a demotion, a long spell in the padded room is required for this chump.

Probert was talked into booking Adel Taarabt by Ashley Williams for kicking the ball away in three minutes of added time – I say ‘talked into’ because Probert was actually looking the other way when the Moroccan did it and showed no inclination towards booking the QPR man until Williams delivered a volley of advice to him.

For Lee Probert, a long holiday. Preferably with one of those travel companies that goes into liquidation shortly after you land at Arse End of Nowhere International Airport.

Swansea: Vorm 7, Rangel 7 (Moore 57, 4), Williams 7, Caulker 6, Richards 6, Sinclair 6, Britton 6, Agustien 7, Allen 6, Routledge 7 (Dyer 56, 6), Graham 7

Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Dobbie, Monk, Lita, Gower

Booked: Richards (foul)

Goals: Graham 14 (assisted Routledge)

QPR: Kenny 6, Young 7, Hill 7, Hall 7, Traore 6, Mackie 7, Barton 6, Derry 6, Faurlin 7, Taarabt 7, Helguson 6

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Gabbidon, Bothroyd, Connolly, Smith, Wright-Phillips

Booked: Hill (foul), Barton (foul), Taarabt (kicking ball away)

Goals: Mackie 58 (assisted Kenny)

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 3 For all the dodgy calls, bizarre decisions and tackles executed on QPR players in the centre of the field it’s the big decisions in games that referees should be judged on. Probert had two big calls to make in this match and got both of them wrong. He cannot say he was unsighted, or that the decisions were borderline, because they were clear as day, right in front of him and absolutely blatant. Swansea’s first goal should have been disallowed for handball, and they should have had a penalty in the second half. When you then marry that up with the other irritations you find yourself with a refereeing performance far, far beneath what should be expected of a referee in the Premier League.

QPR 0 Millwall 0, Tuesday September 28, 2010, Championship

Rangers were then denied a couple of penalty appeals, one where Mackie was fouled on the edge of the area which brought nothing and another which I didn’t see properly, leaving the R’s top scorer in a heap around the penalty spot. Judging by the reaction from the west paddock and the QPR bench it may well have been justified and certainly we have been given them for less this season. Referee Mr Probert obviously thought there was nothing in the incident and waved play on. He was after all just 15 yards away. He generally seemed determined not to give us anything judging by the way Helguson was pushed and pulled at every aerial challenge.

Soon after Ephraim crossed for Helguson but was found offside, before Mackie created a chance for himself in the box only to see his shot rise high and wide into the travelling fans. QPR were pretty dominant in their possession and Buzsaky found space on 41 minutes to try his luck again from about 30 yards out but failed to test Forde as his effort went wide. With the clock ticking towards half time the R’s still had two more chances. First Kyle Walker used some great power and pace to beat both Darren Ward and Chris Hackett to get into the box and deliver a dangerous cross that was scrambled away after Mackie went in on goal. This then brought a free kick a few yards from the area. Buzsaky curled the free kick around the wall but managed to curl it around the post as Mr Probert decided to give the Lions a breather and blew for half time.

Five minutes into the second half and Rangers got going again, kicking towards their favoured Loft End, Taarabt’s trickery earning a free kick just outside the area which Millwall cleared. Mackie then forced a corner which Gorkks tried an ambitious header sailing over and two minutes later a series of corners after desperate defending eventually ended with Clint Hill missing arguably the best chance of the game. His free header, well over the bar. Mr Probert appeared to be a little more favourable to our front line in the second half and on the hour gave a free kick for a push on Helguson just inside the visitors half. Buzsaky took it, slipped but still managed to find Taarabt who turned a drove his right foot effort towards goal. Somehow Forde managed to get an outstretched hand down to his left corner a push the ball around the post. Handbags then came out before the corner, after Helguson had gone looking for the rebound with some determination.

QPR: Kenny 7, Walker 8, Hill 7, Gorkks 7, Connolly 7, Derry 7, Buzsaky 7, (Leigertwood 6),  Mackie 7, Taarabt 6, Ephraim 6, (Agyemang 6), Helguson 7

Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rowlands, Smith, Borrowdale, Parker

Booked: Helguson (foul)

Millwall: Forde 7, Dunne 7, Robinson 7, Ward 6, Craig 6, Hackett 6, Mkandawire 7, Ward 6, Barron 6, (Harris 6), Morison 6, Abdou 6

Subs Not Used: Mildenhall, Smith, Henry, Grimes, Laird, Robinson

Booked: Dunne (foul)

Referee: Lee Probert 6. Wanted to let the game flow which can only be a good thing, however, he missed /ignored some fouls on Helguson and Mackie in particular and then awarded free kicks for some softer challenges. To be honest I would have to see the second Mackie challenge in the first half which brought the west paddock to their feet before deciding if he got that terribly wrong. He did keep things fairly calm in a pretty intense atmosphere.

Cardiff 0 QPR 2, Saturday September 19, 2009

The match officials incurred the wrath of the Cardiff fans after 19 minutes as QPR took the lead. Working the ball through midfield after a Mikele Leigertwood throw in wide on the right the R’s put together another classy move that ended with Borrowdale laying the ball into Vine’s feet on the edge of the box and he in turn feeding a perfect through ball into Jay Simpson in the area. He looked offside at the time, and on the video afterwards, but the flag stayed down and the loan Arsenal front man was able to calmly slide home his first ever QPR goal past the helpless David Marshall.

The home crowd gave the referee and his assistant plenty of abuse for the next ten minutes or so and that, in my opinion, led to a booking for Damion Stewart who received a yellow for a fine tackle on Chopra a that cleared the ball out for a throw in text book style a couple of minutes after the goal. The crowd bayed for blood and Probert obliged – very harsh card for Stewart that one. The resulting free kick was smashed into the wall from distance by Whittingham but the feeling that the referee was keen to even things up only increased when Ben Watson was crudely chopped down during a promising looking counter attack and did not even receive a free kick when moments earlier Stewart had been penalised and yellow carded for a far more meagre offence.

Cardiff Marshall 5, Kennedy 5, Hudson 5, Gerrard 5, Quinn 5,Whittingham 6 (Magennis 54, 6), Burke 7, Ledley 4, Taiwo 6 (Rae 54, 5),Bothroyd 5 (Scimeca 67, 5), Chopra 5

Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Gyepes, Capaldi, Comminges

Booked: Quinn (foul), Chopra (foul)

QPR: Cerny 7, Leigertwood 7, Stewart 7, Gorkss 7, Borrowdale 7,Routledge 7, Rowlands 9, Watson 8, Buzsaky 7, Simpson 8 (Pellicori 77, 6),Vine 6 (Agyemang 82, 6)

Subs Not Used: Heaton, Ramage, Mahon, Faurlin, Ephraim

Booked: Stewart (foul), Pellicori (handball)

Goals: Simpson 19 (assisted Vine), 40 (assisted Routledge)

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 6 Not too bad, plenty of advantage played and no really controversial incidents. His assistant appears to have got the first Simpson goal wrong – I thought so at the time and have seen nothing on the video to change my mind. After that goal I felt Probert was guilty of trying to appease the home crowd with a bit of evening up – Stewart’s booking was very harsh and Watson was chopped down and nothing given.

QPR 1 Cardiff 0, Saturday November 8, 2008

The game started to turn against Cardiff in the twenty eighth minute. Damion Stewart played a searching ball out to the left wing looking for Cook and although McNaughton got a head to it the ball did still fall to the feet of the QPR winger and he was able to clip it past the oncoming Darren Purse just before the Cardiff player crunched him. It wasn’t a good tackle, mistimed and slightly high, but it wasn’t malicious and to be honest I was more angry at the time that the referee hadn’t allowed play to go on because Blackstock was away with the ball at his feet. Referee Lee Probert didn’t mess about, he came straight across and showed Purse the thirteenth red card of his professional career.

For the second straight game at Loftus Road I find myself talking about a harsh sending off in the first half. I don’t go to football to see people sent off and to be honest the logic of suddenly rushing to red card anybody that slightly mistimes a tackle just because an Arsenal player got his leg broken at Birmingham nine months ago is lost on me. This would not have been a red card before the Eduardo incident and it isn’t a red card now. Cardiff were facing an uphill battle from that point onwards.

Things went from bad to worse for Cardiff as they were reduced to nine men five minutes after falling behind. First midfielder Stephen McPhail was deservedly booked for a bad foul on Ramage as he clipped the ball past him on an overlapping run. Then almost immediately left back Miguel Comminges came through the back of Akos Buzsaky and was also booked. Clearly emotion was running high in the Cardiff camp after the goal against and earlier red card and Comminges followed his card up with a word or two to the linesman on the Ellerslie Road side of the ground. The assistant signalled to the referee that something was amiss and after a long consultation Probert summoned the Cardiff full back and showed his second red card of the match.

I’ve no idea what Comminges said of course, the card may well have been justified, but I say again I don’t come to football to see football players get sent off and in my last two trips to Loftus Road I’ve seen three red cards that could easily have been replaced with yellows or stern warnings.

When the yellow card did come out it was shown to QPR sub Patrick Agyemang for a foul on Kevin McNaughton.

QPR: Cerny 8, Ramage 6, Stewart 8, Hall 8, Connolly 7, Ledesma 5 (Buzsaky 55, 7), Rowlands 5, Tommasi 5 (Mahon 67, 7) Cook 5, Blackstock 4, Di Carmine 5 (Agyemang 71, 7)

Subs Not Used: Cole, Delaney.

Booked: Agyemang (foul)

Goals: Mahon 80 (assisted Ramage)

Cardiff: Heaton 6, McNaughton 7, Purse 5, R Johnson 7, Comminges 6, Rae 6, Ledley 6 (Gyepes 29, 7), Whittingham 6, McPhail 6, Eddie Johnson 5 (Parry 72, 5), Chopra 5

Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Blake, Brown

Sent Off: Purse (28) (dangerous tackle), Comminges (87) (two bookings)

Booked: McPhail (foul), Comminges (foul), Comminges (dissent)

Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 4 I didn’t think Purse should have been sent off, a yellow card for me there because it was simply mistimed rather than dangerous or malicious. We should not be rushing to send people off. Comminges’ first yellow card was justified, I’ve no idea what he said to get the second but like I say I don’t go to football to see players getting sent off and I wonder whether a stern, final warning could have been administered instead.

Charlton 0 QPR 1, Saturday October 22, 2007

Rangers' first attack of the match after ten minutes yielded a very decent shout for a penalty. Martin Rowlands swung a corner into the near post and Damion Stewart got to it first. The big Jamaican headed powerfully for goal from eight yards out but the effort was blocked by the arm of Chris Iwelumo back helping out his defenders. The Rangers players and coaching staff appealed but referee Probert, a man with a long and chequered history when it comes to refereeing QPR, waved the protests away. Undoubtedly it was ball to hand but in that situation penalties are often given when players have their arms stuck out or up in the air attempting to make themselves big and execute a block. Certainly, with Iwelumo's hands right up above his head, Charlton could have had few complaints had it been awarded.

Ten minutes before the break Zheng Zhi cracked a low 20 yard effort which Lee Camp did well to palm away from the danger zone. Then Martin Cranie had his heart in his mouth when he ignored Camp's calls and tried to deal with Reid's cross himself, slicing the ball narrowly over his top corner. From the set piece Lee Camp seemed to be fouled and a melee ensued as Lee Probert waved play on - Rangers got the ball away and later in the game they were grateful for the referee waving play on a similar situation.

Five minutes in one such run from Vine should have brought the opening goal for Rangers. After charging into the penalty area the Birmingham loanee was crudely chopped down by Fortune for a nailed on penalty which Lee Probert had no hesitation in awarding. The QPR players celebrated like they'd already scored which is always risky, and the high fives and hugs proved to be very premature when Rowlands stepped up and missed the kick.

In fairness to Rowlands he couldn't have picked his spot much better, right down low to the keeper's right, and certainly couldn't have struck the ball any sweeter. Against Norwich the luck was with him, against Charlton the shot cracked against the foot of the post and rebounded back out into play. Rowlands couldn't believe it, and was still cursing his luck ten minutes later. A break in play allowed Harford to put an arm round his winger and calm him down a little bit which was needed because he was clearly devastated by the mistake.

With just under 20 minutes remaining the ball broke to Hogan Ephraim in the area but his initial effort was blocked. The West Ham youngster was alert enough to regather possession though and he fed the ball wide to Chris Barker to swing over a deep cross from the left.

Nicky Weaver arrived underneath the ball late and Nygaard was already off the ground looking for the header. The pair clashed and the ball dropped loose in the penalty area. Adam Bolder met it first, mishitting a half volley towards the far corner and after what seemed like an age it dropped into the bottom corner in front of the jubilant Rangers fans. Charlton appealed for a foul on Weaver but referee Probert said nothing and Bolder's first ever QPR goal was allowed to stand.

Looking at the replays it seemed to me to be one of those decisions that keepers nearly always get in their favour but probably shouldn't. Weaver arrived under the cross very late with little chance of getting there ahead of Nygaard, there was a coming together and Nygaard put his arms on him as he climbed but Probert could hardly blow for that one after letting the earlier one on Camp go and we do always say all we ask for from referees is consistency.

Charlton: Weaver 6; Mills 6, Basey 7, Sodje 7, Fortune 6; Sam 7 (Racon 85, -), Semedo 6 (J Thomas 46, 5), Zheng 7, Reid 7; Varney 6, Iwelumo 6 (McLeod 69, 5)

Subs not used: Randolph, Bougherra

Booked: Sam 81 (foul), Reid 87 (dissent)

QPR: Camp 7; Mancienne 7, Barker 7, Stewart 8, Cranie 8; Rowlands 7, Bolder 7, Leigertwood 8, Ephraim 7, Nygaard 8, Vine 8

Subs not used: Cole, Bignot, Ainsworth, Sahar, Moore

Goals: Bolder 72 (assisted Nygaard)

Referee: L Probert (Wiltshire) 7 Very good performance from him for a change. Lots of good advantage rule played allowing the game to flow, kept the cards in his pocket for as long as possible and showed plenty of common sense. Allowed challenges on both goalkeepers to go unpunished, QPR took better advantage of theirs of course, so consistency there. Few dodgy decisions against us early on I thought but all in all quite impressive. I'll have to have a lie down.

It was the 2004/05 season that Probert really went to town on QPR. In three Rangers’ fixtures that year he showed 13 yellow cards and three reds. At Wolves in October a torrential storm at half time left the field completely unplayable and literally under a foot of standing water in places – but with Wolves winning 2-0 Probert played on to the end, sending off Kenny Miller in the process. At Loftus Road in the February Eddie Lewis was sent off for Preston, and Jude the Cat for QPR as Probert was confusing him with Paul Furlong when the R’s attacked. His eyesight had apparently improved a month later though as he was the only one inside Bramall Lane who spotted an injury time pull on Leigh Bromby’s shirt in the area – The Blades sealed a 3-2 win with the resulting penalty and Rangers had Andrew Davies sent off for good measure in the time that remained.

Stats

Probert booked 110 (2.89 a game) and sent off 9 in 38 matches last season, a substantial increase in his 88/6 total from 34 appointments the year before. His average rating of 4.5 from two QPR games refereed (both against Swansea) placed him 14th on our Referee League for last season. There weresome enormous hauls in amongst that though – eight bookings at the Sunderland v Everton cup quarter final, six yellows and a red at West Ham v Southampton where he was heavily criticised, and an enormous ten bookings at Brighton v Leeds before Christmas. He has sent off four players in his first 25 matches, and five in his last 13.

Other Listings

Premiership >>> Reports that Phil Dowd had failed the fitness test for the new season appear to be unfounded as he has West Brom v Liverpool on day one. Clearly Martin Atkinson’s abysmal form throughout last season hasn’t affected his standing too much as he has the Saturday evening TV game between Newcastle and Spurs. Our old mate Lee Mason is fourth official there ahead of his first appointment at Chelsea v Reading on Wednesday. Howard Webb has Man City v Southampton and Andre Marriner’s stock continues to rise as he has the first Monday Night Football of the year at Everton v Man Utd.

Championship >>> Premiership referee Jon Moss doesn’t have a top flight match to begin with, although the highly charged Lancashire clash between Burnley and Bolton was always likely to attract an eltie list official. Stuart Attwell’s first full season after permanent relegation starts with Hull v Brighton. Mark Halsey has Brighton v Cardiff on Tuesday.

League One >>> Another top flight official, Anthony Taylor, drops down for Portsmouth v Bournemouth.

League Two >>> Problem child Gavin Ward has Wimbledon v Chesterfield.

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