Keith Hill returns to Loftus Road on Tuesday to take charge of QPR's League Cup match with Carlisle United.
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Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire)
Assistants – McLaughlin (Bedfordshire) and Melin (Surrey)
Fourth Official – Berry (Surrey)
Well I was asking for trouble I suppose when I wrote in this column on Thursday that standards seem to have improved and I hadn’t seen a bad performance yet. I didn’t have to wait long, the first match on Saturday to be precise. Lee Mason’s handling of the Charlton and Reading match made for a great spectacle, but it was an embarrassment to him and his profession and by the end of the game it had descended into a farce. First there was a soft penalty awarded to Reading where Doyle was well on his way to the ground before any contact was actually made. Now we know to our cost from a televised game with Ipswich a couple of years ago that Mr Mason will give a decision even if his view is obscured. He guessed and guessed wrong that night in W12 and he did it again at the Valley on Saturday – one of the first things they tell you on the course is to only give what you’ve seen. Don’t guess. If you haven’t seen it then you can’t give it. Bending down to peer through two Reading players and a Charlton man if Webster could look me in the eye and tell me he saw anything that happened in that first incident I’d call him a liar.
Anyway Reading missed that and off we went down to the other end for an even worse decision. Sonko and Varney brushed against each other as they made their way into the area, the Charlton man went down and a penalty was awarded. Again Mason’s view was blocked, again the decision was the wrong one, and to cap it all the linesman who had a clear view of it all and was much closer kept his flag down. Then having given the decision which the linesman disagreed with he went over to ask him where it had taken place. Gray scored that and the goal stood despite several players from both sides venturing into the area as it was taken. It seemed strange therefore that when Mason pointed to the spot for a third time, another tin pot mickey mouse decision, he ordered a retake for non-existent early movement by the goalkeeper and Stephen Hunt was able to beat Nicky Weaver at the second attempt. Reading later had a man sent off.
This was a thoroughly abject display, one that Mason should be ashamed of and punished for. It was embarrassing at times. Things improved in the afternoon with Mick Thorpe in charge of our game but I still only gave him a five in the match report because of the two bookings he made. To book Ladesma for over celebrating when he didn’t remove his shirt or go over the advertising hoardings seemed harsh and the card given to Parejo for failing to retreat when he was the thick end of ten yards back anyway was petulant in my opinion. The over celebrating rule is a disgrace in my eyes – how somebody can collect a yellow card for removing a shirt in celebration and get the same punishment for, say, Mark Noble’s horrific tackle on Man City’s Johnson at the weekend is beyond me and needs looking at. Are we really so miserable and joyless as to discourage people from celebrating with a set of written rules? If they’re taking the mick and wasting time or winding opposition fans up then book them, but all these specific rules about what you can and can’t do with the shirt or the advertising hoarding is pathetic really – especially when Ledesma stuck by the rules and got booked anyway.
This Tuesday night we have Keith Hill in charge of our League Cup tie with Carlisle - strangely this is his first match of the season. Last season he showed 109 yellows (3.4 a game) and six reds in 32 matches. That included Carlisle’s 3-0 win at Leyton Orient where the home side had Melligan sent off in the first half and collapsed to defeat thereafter. He had two QPR games last season as well, a 3-2 victory against Blackpool at Loftus Road and a 1-1 draw at home to Watford near the start of the season where he sent of Mikele Leigertwood for two bookings. An average rating of seven for those two games had him placed in fifth on the referee league.
Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire) 5 Missed what looked like a penalty to me right at the death and very harshly sent Leigertwood off. In a derby game as fiercely and fairly competitive as this one you expect a few tackles to fly in and Leigertwood's two offences were worth a yellow card and a ticking off at most. LFW Watford Match Report
Referee: Keith Hill (Hertfordshire) 9 Hardly noticed him all night, bit of a dodgy free kick awarded to QPR on the edge of the box in the second half but otherwise hard to fault. LFW Blackpool Match Report
The 2006/07 season saw Hill show 117 yellows and nine in 34 games. He was in charge of QPR’s 3-2 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and awarded a questionable penalty to the hosts that day. A rating of four from the game at Hillsborough meant a position of joint 26th on the referee league.
Referee: K Hill (Hertfordshire) 4 Blew his whistle constantly. Pulled people up for the most minimal of fouls, insisted that every free kick was taken from the exact spot of the foul, even if that meant making a player retake a kick by his own corner flag twice. Got the penalty decision wrong and then, having given it, failed to send off Paul Jones when he should have done. Did nothing about the time wasting at the end of the second half. Basically he was very, very picky which is quite unlike him. LFW Sheff Wed Match Report
The Football League haven’t updated their websaite to list the officials for this midweek, thanks to Paul at QPR for letting me know who we’ve got, so no glance around for our old favourites this week I’m afraid.