This weekend’s crunch relegation six pointer between QPR and Wigan at Loftus Road is to be refereed by Jon Moss, a man who averages a red card almost every other game this season.
Referee >>> Jon Moss (West Yorkshire), school headmaster newly promoted to the Premiership list this season and currently averaging almost a red card every other game.
Assistants >>> Darren Cann (Norfolk), World Cup final linesman, and Andy Garratt (West Midlands)
Fourth Official >>> Mike Dean (Wirral), experienced Premiership referee who will take Arsenal v Man Utd on Sunday.
Norwich 1 QPR 0, Saturday January 1, 2011, Championship
Buoyed by the opening goal Norwich quickly took the game over and dominated the remainder of the half. After a quarter of an hour Wilbraham ran onto Holt’s flick in the penalty area but lifted a volleyed shot high over the bar. Then five minutes later a free kick awarded to Norwich by referee Jon Moss when Holt appeared to be the aggressor, backing into Connolly and then collapsing comically when the ball arrived, caused mass panic in the QPR penalty area. The set piece was delivered to the back post and headed down into the heart of the six yard box where carnage ensued, Paddy Kenny fumbled the ball on the line under pressure, Faurlin tried to hack it away but succeeded only in striking it against Chris Martin and the ball few into the net off him – although the whistle had long since been blown for either offside from the initial downward header, a foul on Kenny, or handball as the ball flew into the net.
The first five minutes of the second half revolved around referee Jon Moss, and three key decisions that went against QPR. First Shaun Derry was felled having clearly been caught flush in the face by a stray hand in an aerial challenge – a free kick was awarded, which Taarabt hammered high over the bar as ever, but no card was produced.
Then Patrick Agyemang had the Norwich defence backpeddling as he ran at them with the ball. After turning inside and then out again the giant striker hit the ground under an untidy challenge from Andrew Crofts. It was a clear foul, the only question being whether it was inside or outside the penalty area. Moss decreed outside, and I think he was right to do so but the QPR players erupted with rage that no penalty had been awarded – Shaun Derry spent a prolonged period of time berating the linesman in front of the away end to no avail. As usual the free kick came to nothing, Taarabt hammered it straight into the wall, and the frankly abysmal quality of our set pieces remains a major concern.
Then to compound matters Rangers found themselves reduced to nine men (Clarke can hardly count himself as one considering his lack of effect on proceedings) with a sending off entirely of their own making. In possession of the ball under little pressure 40 yards away from his own goal Kaspars Gorkss decided to play the ball back to Paddy Kenny rather than go forward. Kenny found himself confronted by Wilbraham, with the ball bobbling around on an awkward surface, and his hurried clearance barely made the halfway line and was immediately headed back in behind the QPR defence into the path of Holt. So having held controlled possession of the ball just short of the halfway line, suddenly QPR were well and truly on the back foot and under intense pressure from Holt who did what he always does – got goalside of his man, handled the ball as it came out of the sky, and then theatrically fell to the floor with his arms outstretched appealing to the referee. Moss quickly arrived on the scene, unswayed by Holt’s own admission in the press following last week’s game with Sheffield United that he isn’t afraid to engage in the game’s dark arts, and sent Connolly off – the second time this season he has been shown a red card, and the second time in as many appearances at Carrow Road he has made an enforced early departure. Irritating though the whole situation was the red card was the only option once Holt had hit the deck and QPR have only themselves to blame for creating the problem in the first place.
Chris Martin drilled over the bar just before the hour as Norwich looked to press home their numerical advantage but all eyes were on the referee again as the game entered its final third. Having supported the decisions Moss made for the Agyemang penalty appeal, and the Connolly sending off, I’m afraid I have to criticise the official for the way he refereed minutes 61 to 63. Firstly a cynical, nasty and vicious hit was put in on Adel Taarabt in front of the dugouts after he had passed the ball –so late and long after the ball had been played in fact that Moss had already turned his back but it occurred right in front of the fourth official and linesman and had everybody on the QPR bench on their feet and protesting. When play came to a stop Moss went across to speak with his colleagues and find out what had happened. I’d love to have been privy to the conversation because the frankly ludicrous outcome of it all was play on, with no further action taken.
Taarabt had every right to feel aggrieved, and within 30 seconds he was taking out his frustration on the Norwich players with immaculate control and a double drag back that carried him beyond the challenges of two home players. Michael Nelson then quite deliberately and cynically chopped Taarabt to the ground and although a free kick was forthcoming this time, no yellow card was produced. Now again I can perhaps support the official in that decision because he is known as a referee that likes to keep his cards to himself and I’ve said many times before that I don’t go to a game to see people booked and sent off and a lot of whistle blown, however when QPR wasted the free kick yet again Taarabt then fouled Hoolahan as he collected possession wide on the right and was immediately yellow carded. Now I’m sorry but that’s biased officiating. Taarabt’s foul was no different to Nelson’s in any way whatsoever, and as Hoolahan was deep in his own half with few options and going nowhere I cannot possibly see how that is a yellow card when Nelson’s trip on a forward moving and threatening Taarabt was not.
Neil Warnock had seen enough and could probably tell what was about to happen with Taarabt’s suspect temperament being tested to the maximum. He removed the Moroccan from the fray, replacing him with Cypriot Georgios Tofas on his QPR debut. This was a shame in many ways because Taarabt is a big threat to opponents, he was only removed because of the piss poor way the referee had behaved with him and it used up a final sub leaving QPR to battle on with Leon Clarke still on the pitch.
Norwich: Ruddy 7, R Martin 7, Nelson 6, Whitbread 6, Drury 6, Smith 7, Crofts 7, Hoolahan 8, C Martin 7, Holt 8, Wilbraham 6 (Gill 82,-)
Subs Not Used: Rudd, Jackson, Johnson, McNamee, Tudur Jones, Berthel Askou
Goals: R Martin 10 (assisted C Martin)
QPR: Kenny 8, Walker 6, Gorkss 6, Connolly 5, Hill 6 (Orr 46, 6), Derry 7, Faurlin 6, Clarke 4, Mackie 6, Taarabt 6 (Tofas 62, 6), Helguson 5 (Agyemang 46, 7)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rowlands, Hulse, Borrowdale
Sent Off: Connolly 51 (denying obvious goal scoring opportunity)
Booked: Hill (foul), Taarabt (foul)
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 6 Two big decisions in the game – the Agyemang penalty appeal and the Connolly red card. I felt he got both decisions correct. However I thought he was inconsistent on a number of other fronts – Taarabt in particular was booked for a much more meagre offence than one which had been committed against him just seconds earlier.
QPR 1 Leicester 2, Friday October 30, 2009
Magilton had seen enough and replaced Damion Stewart, possibly carrying an injury and certainly massively off his best on the night, with Fitz Hall ten minutes into the half. Hall played reasonably well thereafter, although he was very fortunate not to give away a penalty when he appeared to wrestle Fryatt to the ball in the box – referee Jon Moss waved the appeals away in what was just about the only possible mistake he made in an evening of near perfect officiating.
QPR: Cerny 5, Ramage 5 (Vine 67, 6), Stewart 4 (Hall 54, 6), Gorkss 6, Borrowdale 6, Routledge 6, Buzsaky 6, Leigertwood 5, Faurlin 5,Taarabt 7 (Agyemang 86, -), Simpson 6
Subs Not Used: Heaton, Alberti, Ainsworth, Parker
Goals: Taarabt 33 (assisted Simpson)
Leicester: Weale 7, Neilson 7, Brown 7, Hobbs 6, Berner 6, King 6, Oakley 7, Wellens 7, N'Guessan 8, Waghorn 9 (McGivern 90, -),Fryatt 8 (Gallagher 75, 6)
Subs Not Used: Logan, Morrison, Howard, Dyer, Kermorgant
Booked: Neilson, N'Guessan, Oakley
Goals: Fryatt 37, 64
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 9 Leicester probably should have had a penalty in the second half when Hall pulled Fryatt to the floor but Moss was otherwise almost completely faultless and this was just about as good a refereeing performance as you are ever likely to see at this level.
Wolves 1 QPR 0, Saturday April 18, 2009
There was also a change of referee from the advertised appointment. John Moss came in for Kevin Wright who was presumably injured.
At the other end Rangers had a half chance to take the lead as the twentieth minute approached. Wayne Routledge pinched a loose ball midway through the Wolves half and seemed to have a chance to run through on goal but Jody Craddock came across as the last defender and got an untidy but effective tackle in on the little winger before he could get a shot away. Routledge appealed to referee Moss in vain for a foul.
Referee Moss compounded QPR frustration with the first yellow card of the match for Jordi Lopez after he had challenged Karl Henry in the air. Lopez had twice been warned by the official after previous fouls so in fairness it seemed that the card was for repetitive fouling rather than that one specifically.
Down at the other end referee John Moss had to keep a close eye on two clashes between goalscorer Ebanks Blake and QPR keeper Radek Cerny just before the hour mark. First the striker challenged him in the six yard box after a corner and then seemed to grab hold of him as Cerny tried to launch a quick counter attack. That sparked a bit of a hand bags session and when Kaspars Gorkss first mis-controlled a high through ball and then left a header back to the Czech slightly shortit gave Ebanks Blake a chance to leave a boot in a second time – which he duly did. Cerny was content to get up and play the ball when he could have made more of it.
With five minutes to go QPR had an ideal chance to equalise. Wayne Routledge seemed to be fouled forty yards from goal as he burst through the centre of the Wolves midfield but referee Moss waved play on. The ball broke to Helguson on the edge of the penalty area and he certainly was chopped down crudely by Berra. Adel Taarabt seemed the most likely striker of the ball as Molineux fell into a nervous silence but ultimately Hogan Ephraim took responsibility and lofted a pretty pathetic chipped effort over the wall and the cross bar by some distance. Taarabt gave his team mate a daggered look – I can’t see Hogan being at the front of the queue for one of those next week against Plymouth should the chance arrive.
Moss added four minutes on at the end of the game during which Vokes volleyed wide from a Harewood knockdown. It was clear from the moment Ephraim put his free kick over the bar that QPR would not equalise and the atmosphere inside Molineux was fit to burst. Repeated pleas over the public address system for fans to remain off the pitch were clearly not going to be heeded and so, roughly a minute early, the referee picked up the ball in the corner as Harewood attempted to waste time and blew the final whistle. Suddenly thousands of people were pouring onto the pitch and the QPR players had to make a swift exit to avoid behind caught up in it all.
Wolves: Hennessey 7, Foley 6, Craddock 8, Berra 7, Ward 6 (Stearman 79, 6), Edwards 7, Henry 7, Jones 6 (Vokes 65, 6), Jarvis 8, Ebanks-Blake 7 (Harewood 60, 6), Keogh 7
Subs Not Used: Higgs, Reid
Booked: Stephen Ward (foul)
Goals: Ebanks-Blake 46 (assisted Keogh)
QPR: Cerny 7, Ramage 6, Stewart 5, Gorkss 8, Connolly 7, Routledge 6, Lopez 7 (Leigertwood 85, -), Mahon 7, Cook 5 (Ephraim 63, 6), Vine 6 (Taarabt 63, 7), Helguson 5
Subs Not Used: Delaney, Miller
Booked: Lopez (repetitive fouling)
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 6 A late replacement and I felt he was a little bit one sided in the first half, with the home fans baying every fifty fifty decision went their way. Second half he was much better and with only two cards in total deserves some credit for the way he handled a tough game overall. One of the linesmen, the one at the far end from the QPR fans, was dire.
QPR 0 Reading 0, Saturday January 31, 2009
The second half began with a pathetic incident. Michael Duberry lumbered across the pitch just inside his own half and was confronted by Heidar Helguson. The QPR striker challenged him for the ball at which point Duberry flung himself to the ground and let out a scream so loud and high pitched that it had proprietors of all girls’ boarding schools across Western Europe rushing to the dormitory’s fearing a break in by Russell Brand. Duberry’s collapse and yelp was so dramatic that the Reading club doctor was robed up and prepped for surgery before he had even hit the ground and so it was something of a surprise when the screaming and knee clutching came to an immediate halt when the referee awarded a free kick at which point he immediately leapt up and raced off down the field to contest the resulting set piece in the QPR penalty area.
Cheating. No other word for it. And it was not the first time. Duberry is a fairly hefty guy, in the same way as Lisa Riley is fairly hefty, but the way he consistently collapsed to the floor and moaned to the match officials was embarrassing. I was embarrassed for him. The Duberry v Helguson battle was the one area of the game I thought referee Jon Moss got wrong on the day – Helguson ended up with a booking for repetitive fouls against the big useless lump when often the offence was minimal if it happened at all.
Still Duberry got his comeuppance later in the second half when he attempted to fend off Hogan Ephraim and shelter a through ball out for a goal kick. Somehow Ephraim, built like a chicken stick, managed to not only shift Duberry, built like a kebab shop owner, but also kick the ball off him and win a corner which Rangers promptly wasted. Duberry, wouldn’t you just know it, thought Ephraim had fouled him and was booked for suggesting to the referee that he had given the corner on the say so of the home supporters in the Loft End.
Another cross into the area a minute later caused further panic when Camp spilled it under pressure from/while being fouled by Lita and Hunt stabbed the loose ball wide of the open goal while simultaneously screaming for a penalty for a late tackle by Gorkss. Moss showed no interest in the complaints from either Camp or Hunt.
Probably as sick and tired of the farce as the rest of us Jon Moss decided that was enough and blew the final whistle seconds later. QPR had shaded the first half, Reading the second, in the end a draw was a more than fair result.
QPR: Camp 6, Connolly 7, Stewart 8, Gorkss 8, Delaney 8, Routledge 7, Mahon 8 (Ephraim 77, 6), Leigertwood 7, Miller 8, Cook 5 (Di Carmine 90, -), Helguson 5 (Blackstock 85, -)
Subs Not Used: Hall, Alberti
Booked: Helguson (repetitive fouling)
Reading: Federici 6, Rosenior 7, Duberry 5, Pearce 7, Armstrong 7, Kebe 7 (Gunnarsson 90, -), Harper 6, Cisse 6, Stephen Hunt 6, Lita 6, Doyle 6
Subs Not Used: Andersen, Matejovsky, Bikey, Long
Booked: Stephen Hunt (foul), Duberry (dissent)
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 8 Not too bad at all, very good in fact. I did feel however that he bought a lot of the play acting, particularly from Kebe and Duberry, and the booking of Helguson was harsh.
Colchester 4 QPR 2, Tuesday 2 October, 2007
Harford switched to a 4-3-3 formation by introducing Sahar for Jarrett but this just opened things up even more at the back and took up a lot of the space Vine was working in. Dexter Blackstock was looking tired and laboured again, although he did draw a booking from Duguid after chasing a lost cause down to the corner. He looks like he could do with a rest really.
Ephraim wasn't as impressive in the second half as he had been in the first and picked up a booking for fouling Yeates after cashing him back into the Rangers half. Ainsworth got a card himself for a similar offence on the other side of the field against George Elokobi. All in all Rangers just petered out. Virgo was unlucky not to extend the lead when he headed just wide of the bottom corner after Platt had set him up.
Colchester: Gerken 5, Duguid 6, Baldwin 6, Virgo 6, Elokobi 5, Yeates 8, Izzet 7, Jackson 7, Granville 8, Lisbie 7, Platt 7.
Subs Not Used: Cousins, Guy, Guttridge, Connolly, Elito.
Booked: Duguid (foul), Jackson (foul), Platt (foul)
Goals: Leigertwood 19 og (unassisted), Izzet 30 (assisted Granville), Yeates 38 (assisted Lisbie), Platt 63 (assisted Yeates)
QPR: Camp 6, Rowlands 5, Leigertwood 4, Cullip 4, Barker 6, Ainsworth 5 (Moore 85, -), Jarrett 6 (Sahar 75, 6), Bolder 4, Ephraim 7, Blackstock 5, Vine 8.
Subs Not Used: Cole, Bignot, Stewart
Booked: Bolder (foul), Ephraim (foul), Ainsworth (foul)
Goals: Ephraim 29 (assisted Vine), Vine 58 (assisted Ainsworth)
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire) 7 - Pretty sensible display all round although I really don't think it was a foul from Bolder that led to the third goal. I can sympathise with him because the rules outlaw tackles from behind but this is a contact sport and that was a good tackle.
Moss’ stats this season make for frightening reading and I can never recall seeing a referee with such a high average of red cards in my seven years of writing this column for this site. He has refereed 20 matches this season, booked 74 players (3.7 a game) in the process and sent nine off. From the end of September to the end of December he went on an extraordinary run of six red cards in ten outings and in his last match he very harshly dismissed two Millwall players leading them to collapse to a 6-0 home defeat against Birmingham City. He has shown at least one card in every match he has refereed this season, and has only shown less than three in a game on three occasions. His biggest haul in a single game was six yellows and one red at Sheff Utd v Notts County over Christmas. This is his first year on the elite list and he has refereed five Premiership games so far – including Wigan’s 2-1 home defeat by Spurs in September where he sent off Steve Gohouri.
Last season he showed a more respectable 87 yellows (2.07 a game) and ten reds in 42 games across the season.
Premiership >>> Chris Foy keeps getting games despite his regular disasters, it’s Swansea v Sunderland for him this weekend. The two big games of the weekend are Man City v Spurs and Arsenal v Man Utd which have gone to Howard Webb and Mike Dean respectively.
Championship >>> Trevor Kettle’s name is thankfully appearing less and less on the lists these days, but the blithering idiot has Birmingham v Watford in the Championship this weekend. Premiership referee Lee Probert drops down for Burnley v Derby. Neil Swarbrick has the Monday night clash between Southampton and Leicester.
League One >>> The refereeing fraternity’s two problem children both have third tier fixtures this weekend. Stuart Attwell takes Notts County v MK Dons, Gavin ward has Sheff Wed v Hartlepool.
League Cup >>> Howard Webb and Phil Dowd have next week’s semi final second legs.
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