There are some Burnley supporters who worry about who the referee will be for their forthcoming games. Before the Derby match, they were distinctly uneasy about a certain Robert Madley and what he might do.

The reason why they were dreading him being behind the whistle, was the belief that he had played a major part in The Clarets losing a cup tie against West Ham earlier in the season.

An example of those concerns were found on the ‘Clarets Mad’ website:

"What are we going to get from him? He's prone to giving decisions when he can't see what's happened. He did in our West Ham cup tie and in his very next game, he awarded Stoke an outrageous stoppage time penalty to earn them a draw at Swansea. Mark Hughes agreed with him though."

And another comment from the same site:

"Madley has been accused by television pundits of giving decisions based on what might have happened when he can't see. That was definitely the case with the Shackell penalty and a week later there was one even worse when he awarded Stoke a penalty in stoppage time that led to them getting a point at Swansea. It was another appalling decision."

So is it possible that the referee did not award The Rams a penalty and sent off Chris Martin because he thought he owed one to Burnley? Or did he just not see what happened, as the above comments seem to suggest he is capable of, and just made it up?

Neither, I think.

If I was a conspiracy theorist, perhaps one could suggest that Martin's 'reputation' for tangling with players and at times collapsing like a house of cards, pre-prepared Madley for such events and had him more than ready to send Martin off or at the very least show him who was boss with a card.

Martin at times makes himself an easy target so a ref determined to make sure these types of instances do not occur on his watch may have, in the back of his mind, prepared himself to show Chris he meant business at the first sign of an issue. If that was the case then it could be said that he may have seen what he thought he saw, because he wanted to see it.

The comments made by Burnley fans show he has form in this area and on the surface, that's what seems to have happened again, as benefit of the doubt definitely went out the window.

I suppose if these thoughts were swirling around in his head, I really can't blame him. I've often thought that if I was a referee, I would look for an excuse to red card certain players when I was officiating in their game. In saying that, it’s usually when that player has committed a grievous offence against one of the Rams. But then I'm not a top flight referee, so I can do those things.

One reason I find it difficult to let this go and move on is that I'm disappointed with the reaction of the Rams management. It’s all very well Steve Mac saying the ref got it wrong… but then what?

Its part of a manager's job to protect his players; so did Steve do anything to try and have the red card rescinded? Have the Rams notified the authorities that they expect Madley not to officiate in any more Derby matches? I would think this is a minimum; it would be great if details leaked out about what, if anything was done.

There is no question this result has made it quite a bit more difficult for the Rams to finish in one of the automatic promotion spots, especially now that we have to catch up five points on Burnley; possibly even six with their better goal difference.

Certainly the playoffs should be a formality; last season Leicester reached the playoffs with 68 points, a number we are currently only 7 points off achieving.

With Wigan now having replaced Reading in the top six, our record against the leading half dozen has improved. Better, but still not great; although a win against Forest - the only current top six team we still have to play - would make the record look an awful lot better.

Looking ahead to our remaining 13 matches, even being reasonably conservative, I could see us accruing 27 more points. It’s hard to see which of these 13 teams could beat us, although defeats are likely to happen; as are several draws.

27 additional points would leave us on 88, which has in recent years been enough for a top two spot. But then there's that speed hump again of Burnley with their five more points and better goal difference.

The first three of those extra 27 points are to be had on Saturday against Millwall.

Photo: Action Images

hooteroll added 16:02 - Mar 6 I don't think you can appeal 2 Yellow cards!
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davram added 19:45 - Mar 6 No - you're right, Hooteroll; the club couldn't appeal against 2 yellow cards. But why should Steve McClaren be criticised here for "not protecting his players"? He can't simply demand a "chosen" referee, and thankfully we don't get the sort of antics from Mac & Co that Wee Billy is notorious for (& Clough was also prone to on occasion). Steve Mac has stated quite clearly that "The ref got it wrong" on two, maybe three counts - Martin's booking, the sending off and disallowing the goal scored bt Hendrick on follow-up. Why not consider also Burnley's pre-match plan & tactics, strangely not even mentioned here? They obviously identified Martin as being pivotal to Derby's play, and every time he was near the ball two or three Clarets crowded him, contriving a series of skirmishes that were all attributed to Martin's aggression. The ref bought it all. His first booking was a 50/50 melee, and I'd bet that Sean Dyche had rasped "go for Martin" to his team in his pre-match prep. Furthermore, I actually sat next to some Burnley fans at last night's England-Wales Under 21 international at the iPro, and when I put the latter point to them when discussing the match at Turf Moor, they all agreed that it was a bad decision and that their players (& fans) had clearly baited Martin. The main lesson learnt should be by Martin; stay on your feet, watch a few classic Derby videos and watch how John O'Hare dealt with the monkeys that kicked him & Hector every match - get up and just smile if you're flattened, beat them with your skill. We know refs practise guesswork, and Madley is a poor official, but there were three parties involved in the sending off that changed the game, so let's get some perspective and put the incident behind us, 'cos it can't be changed.

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hooteroll added 09:45 - Mar 7 Absolutely, spot on
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