He may be rather card happy, but referee Keith Stroud usually brings good louck to QPR who are yet to lose with him charge of a game.
Referee >>> Keith Stroud (Hampshire), seven seasons on the list with eight QPR appointments overall – six of them at Loftus Road. Rangers have never been beaten with this referee in charge.
Assistants >>> Duncan Street (West Yorkshire), Jason Tyas (West Yorkshire)
Fourth Official >>> Glen Hart (Co Durham)
Ipswich needed some assistance from referee Keith Stroud, an official who had never refereed a QPR defeat in seven attempts prior to this game, to mount their first attack. A move down the Town left seemed to have been snuffed out fairly by Kyle Walker but the official pulled the play back for a meagre challenge by Faurlin earlier in the play. Leadbitter took the free kick, that was swung wickedly in towards the QPR goal and headed straight up in the air by Connolly at the near post. A potentially dangerous situation was swiftly neutralised by Paddy Kenny emerging from his goal line and claiming confidently. No sign of the nerves that seemed to be affecting the Irish keeper in the first couple of games this season on this occasion.
Ipswich were then able to pepper the QPR box again as Buzsaky fouled Norris and Leadbitter pumped in a free kick to the back post. Wickham went up with Kenny, the ball came loose in the area, and Stroud whistled for a free kick. It was one of those that probably should have been waved on by the referee, but the goalkeepers always seem to get the benefit of the doubt.
Anyway Ipswich pressure survived, tremendous football and swift attacking resumed, QPR put the game to bed with just over 20 minutes remaining. Paddy Kenny knocked a long ball up towards the edge of the Ipswich penalty area where, once again, Heidar Helguson won his header. The ball fell to Jamie Mackie in the area with his back to goal and as he touched it back to Akos Buzsaky on the edge of the area Ipswich defender Tommy Smith rashly lunged out a leg to fell the QPR man. It was a blatant penalty, but had referee Stroud waited all of three seconds before awarding it he would have seen Buzsaky fire a goal of the season contender high into the top corner.
It was all a bit unfortunate for the referee really because normally you’d be safe to assume that a team would rather have a penalty than possession of the ball 25 yards away from the goal – but then most sides don’t have Akos Buzsaky. The angle he was looking at the incident from also meant he may well not have seen the Hungarian homing into view at all. It’s easy to make excuses and forgive the official on this occasion because, as he has done four times already this season, Heidar Helguson wandered up to the ball and casually toed the ball into the corner from the penalty spot although, again, I felt Fulop could and should have done better.
QPR have been awarded five penalties in six matches this season – reviewing them all it’s a combination of high work rate from the strikers hustling errors from their opponents, and a touch of gamesmanship as well. Helguson, Mackie and Taarabt are all very good at hitting the deck in a convincing manner – that’s slightly different to diving, because they are being touched and fouled, and as we saw at home to Derby last season when German was blatantly hauled back but stood up and got nothing you have to draw attention to these things or you’ll get nothing.
QPR: Kenny 7, Walker 8, Gorkss 8, Connolly 8, Hill 7, Derry 8, Faurlin 6 (Buzsaky 36, 7), Ephraim 7, Taarabt 7 (Leigertwood 60, 7), Mackie 9 (Smith 80, 6), Helguson 8
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Agyemang, German, Parker
Goals: Mackie 31 (assisted Helguson), 42 (assisted Taarabt), Helguson 68 (penalty, won by Mackie)
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire) 7 Couple of strange free kick awards, generously let Priskin off without a card when his foul was cynical and nasty, should have played on and allowed Buzsaky’s goal rather than giving the penalty. But in fairness those were the only real errors that stuck out across 90 minutes and he wasn’t nearly as fussy and card happy as he has been in the past. Controlled the game well for the most part.
QPR 1 Coventry 1, Saturday January 10, 2009
Routledge looked bright and pacy but often mis-controlled or overran his chances. In fact the out of position midfielder Gunnarsson actually dealt with Routledge a lot better than the recognised right back Wright. Whenever the former Sunderland man had to come across and cover against Routledge he looked really uncomfortable. Stroud let him off with his first cynical trip on the winger as he raced to the byline, but produced a yellow card for a less nasty foul five minutes later when he body checked him to the ground after being beaten again. As usual Clinton Morison had plenty to say to the referee about both decisions, and in fact every decision anybody made all day.
The game seemed to be petering out towards half time in truth until suddenly a flash point occurred in the middle of midfield. A loose ball bounced up into the air just inside the Coventry half of the field and Heidar Helguson appeared to use the upper part of his arm to knock it down into space and attempt to run in behind the Coventry defence. Before the City players could even appeal Wright came tearing out of the centre half position and launched a wild chest high lunge on the QPR man leaving him poleaxed on the turf. It was a pretty horrific lunge and Stroud wasted no time in issuing a deserved straight red card. Wright reacted angrily, jabbing his finger at Stroud’s face and storming off down the tunnel, needless to say Morrison had a good long say about it all as well but quite what the Coventry players could complain about I do not know. They are always very physical visitors to Loftus Road and in the 37 minutes he had been on the pitch Wright had done nothing but get caught out of position or outpaced and then foul his man. He had done Routledge twice and could have done some serious damage to Helguson with a reckless lunge.
Frustration grew on the pitch as well with Gunnarsson booked for kicking Routledge, then Routledge was carded harshly after an argument with the ever vocal Morrison who somehow escaped with just a ticking off from the match official. He cannot say anything of any significance to the referee because despite talking to him constantly throughout every match he never seems to be booked for it. I do have a sneaking admiration for the way he plays the game – thoroughly irritating but good value entertainment wise.
QPR: Cerny 5, Delaney 6 (Ledesma 73, 5) Connolly 6, Stewart 7, Gorkss 7, Ephraim 5 (Hall 89, -), Leigertwood 7 (Di Carmine 81, 6), Routledge 6, Rowlands 5, Blackstock 5, Helguson 4
Subs Not Used: Mahon, Alberti
Booked: Routledge (off the ball incident), Helguson (foul)
Goals: Blackstock 87 (assisted Di Carmine)
Coventry: Westwood 7, Wright 3, Turner 6, Fox 7, Gunnarsson 7, Beuzelin 6, Doyle 6, Tabb 8, Mifsud 7 (Eastwood 84, -), Morrison 7, Best 6 (McKenzie 66, 5)
Subs Not Used: Marshall, Thornton, Wynter
Sent Off: Wright (dangerous foul play)
Booked: Wright (foul), Fox (dissent), Gunnarsson (foul), Westwood (time wasting)
Goals: Fox 73 (free kick)
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire) 6 The Coventry fans seemed to be pretty irate with him and I suppose we would be in the same situation but it was hard to argue over any of the cards they received, including the sending off which even Chris Coleman says they will not be appealing against. I thought the booking of Routledge was harsh considering Morrison’s behaviour and only adding four minutes on at the end was a farce but other than that he was not too bad.
QPR 2 Charlton 1, Tuesday November 25, 2009
The Charlton fans were furious that a throw in had not been given, but their team hardly covered themselves in glory here. Martin Cranie looks a shadow of the player we had here on loan last season – slow, cumbersome, lacking any sort of positional sense and carrying at least a stone of weight that he should not be. His promises to be a potential unfulfilled if he does not return to centre half and cut down on his off the field activities which are clearly affecting his game – when you’re being outpaced by Damiano Tommasi you need to have a long look at yourself.
Ephraim was later very harshly booked by referee Stroud when Youga pushed the ball past him down the line and then ran into him. Quite what Ephraim was meant to do to avoid the collision I’m not sure, short of disappearing in a puff of smoke he could not avoid committing the foul – even if it was a free kick, and it’s a big if, to book him for it was ridiculously harsh.
Mark Hudson, by now playing as an auxiliary striker, got Charlton’s first yellow card of the game during three otherwise uneventful minutes of stoppage time – his late lunge on Delaney down by the corner flag after he cleared the ball looked ugly and may have brought a red with another referee but Stroud gave him the benefit of the doubt. The final whistle sounded seconds later.
QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 6, Stewart 7, Gorkss 7, Delaney 5, Ephraim 6, Tommasi 5 (Mahon 62, 6) Leigertwood 6, Parejo 6 (Ledesma 73, 6), Di Carmine 5 (Agyemang 46, 7), Blackstock 7
Subs Not Used: Cole, Oastler
Booked: Leigertwood (foul), Delaney (foul), Ephraim (foul)
Goals: Blackstock 17 (assisted Tommasi), 80 (assisted Ephraim)
Charlton: Weaver 5, Cranie 5 (Sam 82, -), Primus 6, Hudson 6, Youga 5, Gillespie 6, Racon 7, Semedo 6, Bouazza 7, Waghorn 5 (Varney 62, 5), Gray 5
Subs Not Used: Elliot, Holland, Fortune
Booked: Hudson (foul)
Goals: Racon 30 (assisted Bouazza)
Referee: Keith Stroud (Hampshire) 6 Pretty standard display from Mr Stroud this. He was fussy at times, blowing when an advantage could have been played, and the yellow card for Ephraim was a joke but by and large he was alright, steady, nothing more than that. He’s consistent if nothing else.
Bristol City 2 QPR 2, Saturday August 11, 2007
The last action of the half saw loud shouts for a QPR penalty waved away. Martin Rowlands sent a devilish corner right into the heart of the six yard box and with Nardiello preparing to pounce Vasko seemed to scoop the ball round from down by his side down to his feet followed by a clearance. Nardiello was livid with the referee who was looking right at the incident and carried on his protests after the half time whistle which resulted in a booking as the teams left the field. John Gregory also confronted the officials on the pitch at the break but it was of course to no avail.
Fontaine introduced himself to Blackstock with a hefty smash right into his back as he lept for a long ball forward. Fontaine completely cleaned Blackstock out and left him prostrate on the turf. Referee Keith Stroud awarded a free kick but failed to award a card and frankly, after booking two players for arguing against his crap decisions in the first half, that irritated me a little. I mean what do we want to cut out of our game more, players having a bit of a moan over a throw in decision or players being pole-axed with deliberate clean outs from behind?
Bristol City: Basso 7 (Henderson 46, 8), Orr 6, Carey 6, Vasko 4 (Fontaine 46 6), McAllister 6, Brian Wilson 7, Johnson 7, Elliott 8, McIndoe 7, Trundle 5 (Murray 79, 7), Showunmi 7
Subs Not Used: Jevons, Russell
Goals: Johnson 33, Murray 90
QPR: Camp 6, Rehman 6, Stewart 7, Mancienne 8, Curtis 6, Rowlands 9, Bolder 8, Bailey 7, Moore 7, Nardiello 7 (Ephraim 59, 7), Blackstock 7 (Nygaard 69, 7)
Subs Not Used: Cole, Bignot, Cullip
Booked: Rowlands (dissent), Nardiello (dissent), Stewart (foul)
Goals: Blackstock 34 (assisted Bolder), Stewart 90 (assisted Nygaard)
Referee: Kevin Stroud (Hampshire) 6 A little overfussy at times but did try to let the game flow and keep the cards in his pocket – there’s a time and a place though and after booking two players for dissent it seemed a little daft to allow Fontaine off with a brutal clean out on Blackstock, especially as he then went onto book Stewart for something similar. Should have awarded QPR a penalty in the first half.
QPR 1 Preston 0, Tuesday April 3, 2007
Marc Nygaard retrieved possession just inside his own half and floated a glorious forty yard ball straight onto Blackstock's chest. Dexter brought the ball down with a killer touch, completely taking St Ledger out of the game, and then hammered an unstoppable shot past Lonergan and into the roof of the net. Loftus Road erupted and for the second time in as many games Blackstock was booked for over celebrating by referee Keith Stroud.
At the Loft End Ricketts and Alexander had good reason for a moan, not that a lack of reason had stopped them to this point, as time ticked away and Stroud missed a blatant penalty decision. Wilson, on for Matt Hill, won the ball at the back post under challenge from Blackstock who had his arms up above his head and inadvertently killed the ball stone dead with his elbow. It was a blatant penalty, but with Stroud unsighted he was relying on his linesman who kept his flag firmly down by his side.
Perhaps he just couldn't be doing with the hassle of giving such a crucial decision on that side of the ground. The fans in and around the P, Q and R blocks were magnificent in the second half, getting increasingly louder and more vociferous in their support as the half went on. By the end of the night it was hard to recall an atmosphere like it since the Oldham play off semi final. I wouldn't like to have given a penalty against them and then stand in that corner for another twenty minutes.
QPR were on the end of some rough decisions as well, Steve Lomas was absolutely cleaned out by a nasty fore arm smash from Alexander who was barely even spoken to by the referee. Within thirty seconds Adam Bolder had been booked for a sneaky push and kicking the ball away. Dexter Blackstock also looked to have a good penalty claim after beating Lonergan to a loose ball and collapsing but the free kick went against him.
QPR: Camp 8, Bignot 7, Cullip 8, Stewart 7, Mancienne 6 (Kanyuka 46, 6), Ainsworth 8 Bolder 8, Lomas 7, Cook 5 (Ricketts 46, 6) (Smith 82, -) , Nygaard 7, Blackstock 8
Subs not used: Cole, Furlong
Scorers: Blackstock 49
Bookings: Blackstock 50 (over celebrating), Cullip 54 (foul), Lomas 54 (dissent) Bolder 73 (foul/kicking the ball away)
Preston North End: Lonergan 7, Alexander 6, Pugh 6, St Ledger 7, Chilvers 7, Sedgwick 6, Whaley 7 (Dichio 75, 7), Hill 7 (Wilson 77, 7), Songo'o 7 (Agyemang 61, 7) Ricketts 7, Nugent 6
Subs not used: Henderson, Nowland.
Bookings: St Ledger 8 (foul)
Referee: K P Stroud 5 He's a referee I like but it's hard to give him a higher mark than five because he missed the most blatant handball penalty you're ever likely to see, booked Lomas for dissent and yet allowed Alexander to moan on and on and on and on and on at him all night, and allowed a forearm smash on Lomas to go without a card. Inconsistent.
Prior that all of that he refereed a 1-1 draw with Leicester in the Autumn of 2006 – a game where Rangers got a penalty and Gareth McAuley was sent off for Leicester.
Referee: K Stroud (Dorset) 6 Did well to spot the handball for the penalty and sending off decision. Made some poor decisions as well though; needlessly blowing up when there hadn't been a foul and then ignoring blatant fouls. He was very picky at times and clearly didn't have a clue with one throw-on decision in front of South Africa Road - he quickly changed his mind when everyone jumped up screaming at him!
In 2005/06 he refereed two matches at Loftus Road against Burnley (1-1) and Ipswich (2-1)
Referee - K Stroud – 5 A generous 5 at that as well. The game was a pulsating affair that had both sets of fans on tenterhooks, but Mr Stroud was a constant thorn in the side of both sets of players and fans alike. LFW Ipswich Match Report
Ref: K Stroud (Hampshire) 7 A fairly decent game from the ref today, in fact it wasn't a dirty affair at all really. Have we turned over a new leaf this year? I doubt it! He took a bit too long to get to grips with Sinclair and McGreal but nobody's perfect - not a bad display really. LFW Burnley Match Report
This is Stroud’s twenty third game of the season so far and once more this year he hasn’t been shy to flash the cards around. He has shown 83 yellows (3.77 a game) and four reds so far. He booked seven when Derby and Norwich met in December and has shown five cards or more in a game on eight occasions. Last season he showed a hefty 108 yellows (four a game) and ten reds in 27 matches. That included eight yellow cards at Watford v Derby, seven yellows and a red at Bristol Rovers v MK Dons, and six or more yellows in a single match on six other occasions – certainly looking back through his past history with QPR he hasn’t got any less fussy and card happy in recent times. Eight of his matches last season, 38 of the yellows and four of the reds, were in the Championship – including six yellows and a red in Ipswich’s 2-1 home win against Reading in April.
In the past he has run the line in the FA Cup final between Arsenal and Southampton, and refereed a Conference play off final between Shrewsbury and Aldershot.
Championship >>> No chances being taken with the Preston v Burnley derby game, World Cup final referee Howard Webb has been appointed, but the league has let inexperienced official Gary Scott take the Leicester v Coventry game which is risky. Premiership referee Phil Dowd has Swansea v Leeds.
League Two Just when Peter Taylor thought life couldn’t get any worse Trevor Kettle is listed for his final match as Bradford manager against Stockport. Gavin Ward has Barnet v Lincoln which is still well above the level he should be refereeing at.