Andy Penn is the man in the middle as QPR face struggling Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday.

Watford v Queens Park Rangers
Referee: Andy Penn (West Midlands)
Assistants – George (Norfolk) and Stretton (Leicestershire)
Fourth Official – Phipps (Oxfordshire)

Respect
• noun - a feeling of admiration for someone because of their qualities or achievements.

Good to see Stuart Attwell back on the Premiership list this weekend isn’t it? I mean he’s certainly earned his place there. After the phantom goal at Watford, the incorrect sending off at Tranmere, the incorrect sending off at QPR and the embarrassing farce he turned the Derby v Forest match into he’s clearly ready for the reward of a top flight game. Respect? Don’t make me laugh.

Hopefully Watford and QPR, united in their disdain for young Mr Attwell so far this season, will fair better with West Midlands official Andy Penn this weekend.

So far this season Penn has shown just 22 yellows (1.833 a match) and two reds in 12 matches. Three of those matches have been in the Championship and he showed two yellows in each of those games that finished in a home win, an away win and a draw. His busiest day this season came in the Swindon v Millwall game where three players were booked and one sent off but overall he seems pretty lenient this year.

Last season he largely kept the cards in his pocket as well – 71 yellows (2.15 a game) and six reds in 33 games. That included Watford’s 1-0 win against Leicester in February when Watford had John O’Toole controversially sent off for pulling the shirt of Stephen Clemence.

He has only refereed QPR twice before and Rangers players need to be on their guard this Saturday because he sent one of our players off on both occasions. Both games were at Cheltenham, the first in October 2002 when we drew 1-1 and Clarke Carlisle was dismissed, the second in the League Cup in 2003 when we won 2-1 but Paul Furlong got his marching orders. The Carlisle red card was after an altercation with Julian Alsopp and with players and staff on both sides mystified the red card was later rescinded when the referee admitted he had made an error.

Elsewhere good God only knows what Trevor Kettle will do to Orient v Millwall the Championship has the look of a Muppets parade with incompetent idiots at every turn. Andy Hall has Preston v Barnsley, Lee Probert has Reading v Southampton, Kevin friend has Sheff Wed v Coventry and Andy D’Urso has Wolves v Blackpool – still D’Urso’s guilt for only booking Chris Morgan for his brutal assault on Iain Hume has probably subsided a bit now Hume has been released from intensive care. Good to see the FA acting against the perpetrator and referee in that instance. Oh no, wait…

Photo: Action Images

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