Young referee Michael Oliver has been given a Premiership fixture this weekend despite a controversial Sunday at Upton Park when both West Ham and Leeds were left feeling aggrieved.
Referee >>> Michael Oliver (Northumberland) promising young referee and son of former Football League official Clive Oliver.
Assistants >>> Andy Halliday (North Yorkshire) and Bob Pollock (Merseyside)
Fourth Official >>> Howard Webb (Yorkshire), World Cup final referee who will referee Man Utd v Arsenal on Sunday.
QPR 0 Cardiff 1, Saturday April 17, 2010
Frustration for Taarabt, and the rest of the QPR team, grew when his corner was only partially cleared by Cardiff but as the ball dropped on the far side of the area and the attack recommenced play was stopped by referee Michael Oliver because Stephen McPhail was down on the edge of the box clutching his head. Of course as soon as the play was stopped, and the attack ended, McPhail leapt up and there was nothing wrong with him – he even had the nerve to have a go at the referee for allowing the physio on meaning he had to leave the field for three and a half seconds while Cardiff returned the ball to QPR some 100 yards away down the field. Taarabt was justifiably booked for diving in the second half, this piece of cheating, quickly creeping into the game at all levels, was equally worthy of a yellow card.
Five minutes into the second half it was Cardiff who almost broke the deadlock when Radek Cernymade a worrying return to the form that saw him dropped from the side and replaced by Carl Ikeme just after Christmas. A foul by Ramage on Bothryod as the striker threatened to run through on goal drew a deserved yellow card and set up a free kick 30 yards from goal left of centre. A routine strike from Ross McCormack flew over the wall but seemed to be posing the keeper few problems as it bounced on the edge of the six yard box.
Taarabt’s curate’s egg of an afternoon continued when he tricked two Cardiff players on his way into the area before collapsing theatrically, farcically, under meagre contact from Darcy Blake. It was the most clear and obvious yellow card referee Michael Oliver will ever hand out, although credit to the referee for not being influenced by the crowd in the most partisan corner of Loftus Road.
QPR: Cerny 6, Leigertwood 6, Ramage 7, Gorkss 6, Tosic 6, Ephraim 5 (Parker 84, -), Buzsaky 6, Faurlin 6, Taarabt 8, Priskin 5 (German 90, -), Simpson 6 (Cook 83, -)
Subs Not Used: Putnins, Vine, Hill, Oastler
Booked: Ramage (foul), Taarabt (diving)
Cardiff: Marshall 7, McNaughton 6, Blake 6, Gerrard 6, Kennedy 7, Whittingham 7, McPhail 6, Ledley 7, Burke 6 (Etuhu 67, 6),McCormack 6 (Chopra 63, 5), Bothroyd 6
Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Gyepes, Capaldi, Matthews, Wildig
Goals: Ledley 80 (assisted Kennedy)
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) 7 Pretty good overall. Couldn’t argue with the bookings, although I would suggest he was a little quick with his whistle sometimes. Several times free kicks were awarded, and on a couple of occasions subsequently brought back for a moving ball or because they were taken from the wrong place, when the players seemed quite happy to play on with an advantage in the first place. He also stopped the game with QPR on the attack in the penalty area in the first half for a head injury that turned out to be nothing at all, in fact the Cardiff player was angry that he had to go off for treatment – although I felt there was plenty of kidology from McPhail on that occasion. Very promising performance from a young referee though, look forward to seeing him again.
Preston 2 QPR 1, Sunday May 3, 2009
They looked pretty nervous about the whole situation right from the off although could well have caught us out and taken the lead in the seventh minute from a set piece. A long ball forward was aimed at Parkin and, obviously keen to assert is authority against a much larger in every sense of the word, opponent, Matt Connolly climbed over his back to win a header. It could have been a free kick to Rangers for backing in, or one to Preston for climbing, and our young referee Michael Oliver went for the latter. All attention was drawn to Parkin, Neil Mellor, Sean St Ledger and the other aerial threats in the penalty area but Preston instead knocked a long ball across to the far side of the penalty area where Billy Jones had come forward from the back unchecked and was able to meet the free kick completely unmarked at the back post and head it back across goal. Rangers, clearly surprised, muscled up and bundled it behind for a corner from which Parkin was penalised for too much physical contact on Radek Cerny.
QPR’s strong running and intricate passing in attack brought two quickfire bookings for the home side just before the half hour. First Rowan Vine was crudely chopped down by Billy Jones and then Wayne Routledge cynically hauled back by Sean St Ledger as he thrust towards the penalty area. Both were just about the most obvious bookings you could ever hope to see but that didn’t stop the home crowd venting their fury at the match officials and quickly talking them into booking Mikele Leigertwood for a nothing foul on halfway. This crowd pleasing style of refereeing would become more of an issue in the second half. Sadly, for all the pretty build up, the two free kicks won with the bookings summed up QPR’s problem – poor final delivery, lack of cutting edge in attack. The same problems we have had all season, the same problems we said we would have last summer.
St Ledger was causing problems in the penalty area again ten minutes before the break, diving rather blatantly attempting to win a spot kick but Oliver rightly showed no interest. That was from a corner, Preston had gone somewhat closer to scoring in the lead up to that – Simon Waley tried his luck from distance, enjoyed the benefit of an enormous deflection, and then watched with baited breath as the ball cleared Radek Cerny as he scrambled across and, thankfully from the Czech’s point of view, the cross bar as well.
A last ditch clearance from Gorkss denied Parkin a chance from a low cross, and Cerny came out to punch as Parkin threatened to move in and head home a second. In the ten minutes after conceding an equaliser PNE were completely dominant, flooding forwards in numbers, and with the crowd now at fever pitch our match officials started to crack under the pressure. From the moment QPR equalised Oliver’s arm only went one way, and Mr Dead on the touchline swooped back into the action with a number of joke decisions.
First QPR had to defend a free kick from wide that was given against Rowan Vine when he seemed to be sinned against, then after scrambling that out to the edge of the box Rangers thought they’d won a free kick when Delaney was clearly upended only for the pair of pillocks in charge to award a Preston throw. Later Matt Connolly was booked for berating the referee after a corner had been awarded against him – Connolly seemed to keep the ball in and the referee five yards away initially agreed before allowing himself to be overruled by our representative from the Royal Society for the Blind a good 50 yards away on the other side of the pitch with a goal net in the way. When Matt Connolly loses his temper you have to wonder about the decision you have just given.
Preston: Lonergan 6, Jones 6, St. Ledger 8, Mawene 6, Nolan 5, Whaley 7 (Nicholson 79, 6), McKenna 8, Carter 7, Sedgwick 7, Parkin 7 (Elliott 88,-), Mellor 5 (Brown 61, 6)
Subs Not Used: Neal, Chilvers
Booked: Jones (foul), St. Ledger (foul)
Goals: Parkin 37 (unassisted), St. Ledger 74 (assisted Parkin/Brown)
QPR: Cerny 6, Ramage 6, Connolly 7, Gorkss 6, Delaney 6, Routledge 7, Leigertwood 5, Mahon 7 (Balanta 83, -), Ephraim 8, Agyemang 6 (German 75, 6), Vine 8
Subs Not Used: Cole, Hall, Alberti
Booked: Leigertwood (foul), Connolly (dissent)
Goals: Agyemang 57 (assisted Vine)
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland) 4 In my opinion he allowed himself to be influenced by the crowd. I say this because firstly having booked to Preston players, justifiably it has to be said, the home fans screamed for a booking after every minor foul and sure enough within minutes Mikele Leigertwood was booked for a nothing tackle on halfway. Then later in the game when the home crowd were at their deafening best demanding the pursuit of a winner from their team Oliver awarded one free kick after another to the home players. The free kick on the edge of the box awarded to Parkin was a joke, as was the one awarded against Vine and the decision to then award a Preston throw after Delaney had been chopped down. I could rant about the insistence on promoting young kids too high too quickly again but I won’t. The linesman nearest the away end looked like he had plenty of experience but was absolutely awful – completely incompetent. It’s been a very long time since I saw a player flagged offside in his own half as Vine was in the first half. Poor all round really.
Oliver was promoted to the Premiership list for last season but this is his first top flight game of the campaign so far. Both his games so far in the Championship, and both finished 2-2, between Millwall and Southampton and then West Ham and Leeds. He has booked five so far but the controversy in the West Ham game at the weekend came in the form of penalty decisions – Leeds were awarded one that perhaps wasn’t and had another that definitely was turned down. West Ham meanwhile had two fairly blatant ones waved away.
Last season he showed 83 yellows (2.86 a game) and six reds in 29 matches. His most prolific game was at Blackpool where he booked five and sent two off as they beat West Brom 2-1. I watched that game and the cards were a result of West Brom losing the plot – something he did very well to keep a handle on. He booked six in Wigan’s 0-0 draw a Everton and two when they lost 1-0 at home to near neighbours Bolton.
Premiership >>> Man Utd v Spurs was laced with the usual collection of questionable decisions in favour of the home team but the referee who made them is straight back into action this weekend as Lee Probert takes Liverpool v Bolton. Spurs have Man City this weekend after that defeat and Phil Dowd is in charge there.
Championship >>> Young Gavin Ward is ruining Brighton v Peterborough this weekend while at the other end of the age scale (but often equally as incompetent) Andy D’Urso has Ipswich v Leeds.
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