Manchester official Anthony Taylor is in charge of this weekend's trip to Arsenal, his first QPR appointment since their 3-0 win at Wolves last season.

Referee >>> Anthony Taylor ( Manchester ), first QPR appointment in more than a year.

Assistants >>> Jake Collin ( Liverpool ) and John Brooks (Leicestershire)

Fourth Official >>> Lee Mason (Bolton Wanderers), scandalously awarded Ashley Young a penalty against QPR last season despite him being four yards offside and not being touched by Shaun Derry who was also sent off.

History

While Wolves chances were few and far between QPR looked capable of scoring every time they went forward. Jay Bothroyd hit a free kick straight at Hennessey at the midway point of the first half after referee Anthony Taylor had awarded a soft free kick for a foul on Wright Phillips by Karl Henry who looked very off the pace of the game in general. Within a minute the impressive Traore had been allowed to maraud forward from left back right to the heart of the Wolves penalty area before Berra got in a strong block on his shot.

Wolves: Hennessey 6, Stearman 5, Johnson 6, Berra 6, Elokobi 5 (Vokes 46, 5), Kightly 5 (Guedioura 46, 6), Henry 5, O'Hara 6, Jarvis 6 (Hunt 73, 5), Ward 5, Doyle 5

Subs Not Used: De Vries, Hammill, Milijas, Foley

Booked: Guedioura (foul), Vokes (use of elbow)

QPR: Kenny 7, Young 7, Gabbidon 7 (Hall 83, -), Ferdinand 8, Traore 8, Derry 7, Faurlin 8, Barton 8, Wright-Phillips 8, Taarabt 6 (Smith 75, 6), Bothroyd 6 (Campbell 73, 7),

Subs Not Used: Murphy, Buzsaky, Connolly, Puncheon

Booked: Bothroyd (foul), Faurlin (foul), Ferdinand (dissent)

Goals: Barton 8 (assisted Wright Phillips), Faurlin 10 (unassisted), Campbell 87 (assisted Traore)

Referee: Anthony Taylor ( Cheshire ) 6 Some odd decisions, but no major ones wrong. I struggled to see how the booking for Jay Bothroyd could be justified, and the whole incident at the end of the game between Barton and Henry could have been avoided had Rangers been awarded the free kick for the blatantly obvious Henry foul down by the corner flag.

West Brom 2 QPR 2, Monday December 14, 2009

On the rare occasions Rangers attacked they looked firstly to Taarabt’s skill and then to Agyemang’s power. That strong running of the target man almost yielded a penalty just before the break when Mete got caught the wrong side and then climbed all over Agyemang in the penalty box. Had the QPR man gone down a penalty would have been almost certain but he was honest, stayed on his feet and fired a terrible shot wide of the goal. This was the second time in the game Agyemang could, and probably should, have made more of serious contact in the penalty area and while his honesty is commendable we deserved at least one spot kick for the fouls on him if not two. There was less honesty on show from Taarabt a moment later as he first of all dived for a free kick that was given, and then jinked into the area and dived again after receiving it short but referee Anthony Taylor waved the appeals away.

Having weathered the initial storm Rangers then took the lead in fortuitous circumstances just before the hour mark. Adel Taarabt saw an ambitious long range shot deflected wide and while he was complaining about a perceived stamp from Mattock in the build up Watson hit a corner towards Gorkss and heavy pressure from the Latvian forced Olsoon into a flying header into his own net. Replays suggested that Gorkss had been very physical with Olson and in all honesty had probably fouled him but referee Taylor gave nothing and there were few complaints from the home side as QPR players gathered around the penalty spot for a sheepish celebration.

Di Matteo removed full back Zuiverloon and sent on giant driveway drug dealer Roman Bednar while QPR replaced Agyemang with Pellicori. I would say ‘the tiring Agyemang’ but it’s impossible to tell with Dave as he looks knackered pretty much from the kick off. He had tried his best to lead the line but should have gone over for at least one penalty and I still cannot shake the belief that he should only ever be used as a 20 minute impact sub towards the end of matches. Had we started with Simpson, who looked a little lost wide in midfield, up front alone and then replaced him with Agyemang late in the day on Monday we’d have been much better off I think and that idea was given further weight by Pellicori’s completely ineffective nine minutes on the field during which time only his chronic lack of pace and fitness were on show. He too looked completely knackered within seconds of arriving on the field, not a desirable attribute for somebody presumably sent on to work the centre backs and prevent them knocking long balls into our area unchallenged.

Still for all of that criticism one reasonable penalty shout from Roman Bednar, who fell like a mighty oak under challenge from Gorkss in the penalty area, was about as scary as the final five minutes got for Rangers as stoppage time approached.

West Brom: D Kiely 8, G Zuiverloon 7 (R Bednar 85, -), A Meite 5, J Olsson 6, J Mattock 5, C Brunt 6, G Jara 6, G Dorrans 7, J Thomas 8, L Moore 5 (C Wood 64, 6), S Cox 7

Subs not used: R Allsop, M Cech, F Teixeira, Y Mulumbu, S Martis

Booked: Brunt (foul), Cox (dissent)

Goals: Thomas 67 (assisted), Cox 90+3 (assisted Bednar)

QPR: R Cerny 6, P Ramage 5, D Stewart 7, K Gorkss 8, T Williams 6, Routledge 6, M Leigertwood 7, B Watson 6, J Simpson 5 (F Hall 90, -) A Taarabt 7 (A Faurlin 81, -), P Agyemang 6 (A Pellicori 84, -)

Subs not used: R Taylor, R Vine, M Alberti, J Parker

Goals: Olsson own goal 56 (assisted Watson), Gorkss 62 (assisted Watson)

Referee: A Taylor ( Manchester ) 7 Not too bad overall although he turned down very decent penalty shouts from Agyemang twice and Bednar late in the game. It could easily be argued that Gorkss fouled Olsson for his goal but Taylor was at least consistent in always allowing physical contact from corners and that’s all you can ask really. Allowed the game to flow, showed few cards, hardly noticeable for long periods.

QPR 0 Derby 2, Saturday September 27, 2008

Ledesma picked up another silly booking, for dissent this time, ten minutes before half time when Parejo was harshly penalised for a foul on Jordan Stewart and he disputed the award of the free kick. Typical all round really – Parejo had a poor match, Ledesma doesn’t know when to shut up and the referee was over fussy and whistle happy all afternoon. Derby had a half hearted appeal for a penalty in their final attack of the half, Damion Stewart tussled with Ellington under a cross from his namesake Jordan but there were few appeals and it looked like six of one to me.

QPR: Cerny 5, Connolly 6, Stewart 8, Hall 7, Delaney 6, Mahon 5 (Leigertwood 70, 6), Parejo 5, Rowlands 6, Ledesma 5 (Agyemang 77, 5), Buzsaky 5 (Cook 56, 7), Blackstock 5

Subs Not Used: Camp, Ramage

Booked: Ledesma (dissent)

Derby: Carroll 6, Connolly 7, Leacock 8, Albrechtsen 8, Stewart 7, Barazite 7 (Davies 84, -), Green 8, Addison 8, Pearson 7, Ellington 6 (Villa 76, 7), Hulse 7

Subs Not Used: Bywater, Kazmierczak, Nyatanga

Booked: Leacock (foul)

Goals: Albrechtsen 80 (assisted Barazite), Villa 89 (assisted Barazite)

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) 5 Didn’t do a great deal wrong but he was often over fussy for me and a little whistle happy – blowing for fouls that could easily have been allowed to play on and generally interrupting the game when there was no need. The booking for Ledesma after a free kick was wrongly given against Parejo summed it up really, although Ledesma really must start keeping his mouth shut. Not too bad but not great either.

Southampton 2 QPR 3, Saturday February 9, 2008

Although QPR do have an excellent record on the south coast in recent years, they also have a habit of allowing the Saints to get an early goal. Saturday was no different with the home side in front inside the opening 60 seconds. Saints kicked off and knocked the obligatory long aimless ball down to the corner. Matthew Connolly allowed the ball to run past him and back into the area for Lee Camp to claim but the R’s stopper slid out of his penalty area on the greasy top conceding a free kick wide left.

Camp was lucky to escape without a card from rookie ref Anthony Taylor but his reprieve lasted barely another 20 seconds as Hammill delivered a low ball into the six yard box for Darren Powell to bundle into the bottom corner after being left completely unmarked. Not for the first time at St Mary’s Rangers were behind before many supporters had even taken their seats.

As with the start of the first half though it was Southampton in the ascendancy early on, pressing QPR back as they searched for a way back into the match. Unlike the first half though they didn’t create any clear cut chances. Lee Camp made an awesome point blank save from Wright Phillips after a quickly taken free kick but referee Taylor had already decided the set piece had been executed too quickly and he hauled the Saints back for another go. That, and an incident where he failed to allow Southampton to play advantage and then made them retake a free kick deep in their own half, summed up an overly fussy display from the official. Buzsaky fell foul of the rookie official with a fifth booking of the season (including one for Plymouth) for a foul, and petulant reaction to the decision, on fellow half time sub Saganowski.

The referee wasn’t helped by the linesman at the QPR end in the second half to whom the offside law was an inconvenient distraction to his watching of the game for free.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side when they were reduced to ten men with 20 minutes left to play. Agyemang went up for a bouncing ball with Andrew Davies and then spun round to try and get a boot to the subsequent loose ball. Safri beat the QPR man to it and hooked the ball back to his keeper but then inexplicably followed through with a crude, thigh high, studs up lunge that left Agyemang writhing in agony on the turf. There was only one decision Taylor could give and once the melee had died down the red card was flashed in Safri’s direction. Agyemang wasn’t fit to continue and was replaced by Dexter Blackstock – QPR fans were relieved to see their red hot striker out on the touchline warming down a short time later. Wright Phillips was also lucky to get away without further punishment for a petulant flick out at Zesh Rehman but Safri could have no complaints about his fate.

Southampton : Davis 5, Thomas 4 (Viafara 52, 6), Powell 5, Davies 6, Wright 3, Hammill 7 (Saganowski 46, 6), Safri 5, Euell 4, Surman 7, Wright-Phillips 5 (Lallana 68, 6), John 6

Subs Not Used: Bialkowski, Idiakez

Sent Off: Safri (78) (violent conduct)

Booked: Powell (foul) , Viafara (foul)

Goals: Powell 1 (assisted Hammil), John 90 (assisted Viafara)

QPR: Camp 7, Mancienne 7, Rehman 8, Connolly 7, Delaney 8, Lee 6 (Buzsaky 46, 7), Mahon 7, Rowlands 8, Ephraim 7 (Leigertwood 83, -),Vine 8, Agyemang 8 (Blackstock 79, 7)

Subs Not Used: Pickens, Stewart

Booked: Buzsaky (dissent), Delaney (foul)

Goals: Rowlands 38 (assisted Vine), Agyemang 45 (assisted Ephraim), 60 (assisted Camp)

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) – 5 - Over fussy at times and seemed to give Southampton the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions in the second half Missed Wright Phillips kicking Rehman off the ball in the second half. Had no choice with the sending off.

Stats

It's fair to say that Taylor has been eased into life as a Premier League referee with just 13 appointments in his first season and 18 in his second but it seems he's on course for a full campaign this year with six of his eight appointments so far coming in the top division. He showed six yellows and a red in Everton's 3-0 win at Swansea recently, easily his biggest haul of the season, and in total has booked 14 and sent one off. He's kept the cards in his pocket altogether in three of his eight games so far this season.

Last season he started with three reds and seven yellows in his first game of the season at Leeds v Middlesbrough, and towards the end booked nine and sent one off in Blackburn's home defeat by Liverpool, which slightly skews his final tallies of 106 yellows and eight reds from 34 appointments which is pretty low when compared to the other top flight officials – 3.11 bookings a game. His last Arsenal game was in May when he took charge of their 3-3 home draw with Norwich – Rangers would certainly take that result this Saturday, although probably not a repeat of Taylor's decision not to award the Canaries a blatant penalty.

In 2009/10 not a single one of his 32 games finished without a card and he clocked in 118 yellows and 12 reds (3.68 yellows a match). Six yellows and one red was his most prolific score in a single game, and he did that on three separate occasions.

Other listings

Premiership >>> Despite two incorrect penalty decisions and a harsh sending off in QPR's game with Everton last week Jon Moss is returned to the Premier League list this weekend at Wigan v West Ham. Any needle over Paul Lambert's reunion with Norwich in the Saturday lunchtime game will be Phil Dowd's to sort. No surprise to see form referee Andre Marriner given Sunday's Merseyside derby but I'm amazed that Mark Clattenburg has the Chelsea v Man Utd gig.

Championship >>> A low key start to the season for Premier League referee Kevin Friend continues with an appointment at Barnsley v Nottingham Forest, Roger East also drops down for Ipswich v Sheff Wed.

League One >>> Gavin Ward has Crawley and Oldham, the lucky sods.

League Two >>> Our old mate Neil Swarbrick drops all the way down from the top division to the bottom for Wycombe v Oxford while Trevor Kettle has Cheltenham v Exeter.

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isawqpratwcity added 10:38 - Oct 25 Nice to see the the player evaluations for the Southampton game!
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