Lee Probert, a referee who once sent off Jude the Cat because he was confusing the mascot with the QPR players, is in the middle for the New Year’s Eve clash at Wolves.
Referee >>> Lee Probert (Wiltshire), 2014 FA Cup final referee who sat out all of last season through injury.
Assistants >>> Mathew Wilkes (West Midlands) and Dan Cook (Hampshire)
Fourth Official >>> Graham Sailsbury (Lancashire), oldest referee left on the league list.
QPR 2 Newcastle 1, Sunday May 16, 2015, Premier League
Paul Dummett was left completely by himself on the edge of the six yard box, dead centre of goal, for a corner on the hour mark but when the ball fell to him he skied it into the upper tier of the School End. Eight minutes from time QPR toed a ball through for Sissoko to run clear on goal but he too missed the target — the flag had been raised, but referee Lee Probert recognised QPR had played the ball and the goal would have stood had it been scored. Nedum Onuoha pulled Remy Cabella back by the throat in the penalty area under a back-post cross — a challenge every bit as stupid as the one he conceded a penalty for at Liverpool recently — but Probert said no spot kick.
Cisse was introduced, ostensibly, to search for an equaliser but he was as much of a threat as a Green party parliamentary candidate and almost seemed to be deliberately missing his chances. One, when well positioned in the penalty area, almost cleared the School End altogether, which we haven’t seen done since the days of the old Wimbledon or when Simon Barker used to take QPR’s penalties. Then, in stoppage time, he took the responsibility for a free kick awarded by Probert right on the very edge of the penalty area but instead of whipping it round the wall and trying to beat the keeper for power and accuracy, or going over the four defenders and doing the keeper with elevation and placement, the Senegalese striker instead just chipped it delicately back to McCarthy. It took most of the three minutes of stoppage time for the ball to reach the goal. It was almost like he was sportingly returning it because he didn’t think it was a free kick. It was bizarre.
QPR: Green 6 (McCarthy 34, 6); Onuoha 5, Dunne 5, Caulker 4 (Yun 45, 6), Hill 5; Phillips 7, Henry 6, Barton 6, Hoilett 4 (Grego-Cox 45, 6); Fer 6, Austin 7
Subs not used: Wright-Phillips, Doughty, Furlong, Comley
Goals: Phillips 54 (assisted Austin), Fer 61 (assisted Phillips)
Bookings: Barton 49 (foul), Yun 83 (foul)
Newcastle: Krul 4; Janmaat 6, Coloccini 5, Dummett 5, Guttierez 5; Taylor 5 (Aarons 84, 5), Colback 6; Sissoko 4, Perez 5, Cabella 4 (Ameobi 73, 5); Riviere 6 (Cisse 63, 4)
Subs not used: Anita, Gouffran, Abeid, Woodman
Goals: Riviere (assisted Krul)
Referee — Lee Probert (Wiltshere) 6 Newcastle should have had a penalty in the second half, and there was a nutty moment in the second half when a QPR counter attack was halted because Newcastle were making two substitutions, even though the referee and linesman didn’t seem to have signalled for the substitutions to be made. That sort of chaos happens a lot when Probert is around, but he always looks like a man who’s enjoying himself regardless so that’s something.
West Brom 4 QPR 1, Saturday April 4, 2015, Premier League
Four minutes after Vargas’ goal, referee Lee Probert waved play on through an obvious push on Yun Suk-Young and Albion were able to cross from their right once more. This time Ideye beat Green with a bundled shot off his knees, but the ball rolled wide of the post. Again, at 1-1, who knows where QPR might have gone. What this should do is give them confidence that there are goals and ability in the team to recover from set backs.
Rangers had, at times, made it difficult for themselves. Isla, in particular, gave the ball away too often and allowed crosses to come in from his side too easily. Steven Caulker, erratically mixing moments of excellence with moments befitting Manuel from Fawlty Towers, committed a necessary foul on the edge of the area after the Chilean had ceded field position in the twenty second minute. Probert showed a yellow card but while the stage seemed set for Chris Brunt to strike at goal, West Brom overcomplicated the set piece and tried to work a fancy routine only to punt the ball straight into the wall.
ut mostly the former Everton man simply collected the ball, waited for the contact, and then collapsed to the ground so that Lee Probert could award him a free kick. The second half turned into a succession of stoppages, destroying any momentum West Brom may have built up, and playing right into QPR’s hands. Particularly as, bizarrely, the free kicks were universally complicated and badly worked — Berahino curling a well-placed one wide from 20 yards with his right foot when it was crying out for a left foot strike the pick of the madness. The whole thing was set to the unmistakable soundtrack of Pulis bellowing from the touchline. Jon Walters certain to be summer transfer target number one in these parts.
Probert did a reasonable job of upsetting everybody on either side in this, his first Premier League game of the season. Charlie Austin turned and volleyed straight at Myhill when he might have scored, but seconds earlier Chris Brunt had batted the ball down in his own area with the palm of his hand — close range, sure, but the hand was thrust out at a right angle, filling the ‘unnatural position’ interpretation referees are working to. The home fans howled back when Yun took an inordinate amount of time to leave the field when he was caught by Robert Green rampaging off his line to retrieve an unorthodox save and kill the danger. Joey Barton was booked when others had been let off with worse — but rather than fuel his notorious temper, it actually grew him further into a game he was already bossing in the centre of midfield. He was QPR’s best player.
West Brom, realising that Yun was physically deficient in their land of the giants, started hanging up crosses to the back post and Probert was happy for Ideye and Anichebe to use him as an adventure playground to gain height and head balls back across the face of goal. Ramsey was slow to introduce Hill from the bench to stop that, and could have seen his side concede a second only for Berhainho to head straight at Green from point blank range as the ball came back across.
But any nerves were based purely on QPR’s poor play previously this season, rather than anything that happened here. The game was up when another of Pulis’ substitutes, Youssouf Mulumbu, caught Barton flush in the face with an elbow while rising to contest a header. Deliberate or not, it was dangerous and an obvious red card. Probert didn’t hesitate.
West Brom: Myhill 5; Baird 5 (Olsson 65, 5), McAuley 5, Lescott 5, Brunt 5; Gardner 4 (Mulumbu 72, 4), Fletcher 6, Morrison 5, Sessegnon 4 (Anichebe 46, 7); Ideye 5, Berahino 5
Subs not used: Wisdom, Yacob, Pocognoli, Rose
Goals: Anichebe 57 (assisted Berahino)
Red Card: Mulumbu 83 (dangerous play)
Bookings: Sessegnon 45 (foul), Brunt 90+5 (dissent)
QPR: Green 7; Isla 5, Caulker 6, Onuoha 8, Yun 6 (Hill 82, -); Phillips 7, Barton 8, Sandro 7, Vargas 7 (Kranjcar 30, 7); Austin 7, Zamora 7 (Henry 75, 6)
Subs not used: McCarthy, Sutherland, Hoilett, Doughty
Goals: Vargas 15 (assisted Zamora), Austin 37 (assisted Phillips/Kranjcar), Zamora 44 (assisted Phillips), Barton 90+4 (assisted Phillips/Austin)
Bookings: Caulker 22 (foul), Barton 73 (handball), Henry 90+2 (foul)
Referee — Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 5 First game back at the top flight for ten months, and he was everything he was when he left. Few harsh cards, few very generous free kicks for minimal contact, little done about obvious time-wasting, all with a big smile on his face.
QPR 1 Newcastle 2, Sunday May 12, 2012, Premier League
Bosingwa actually started the game reasonably well. A 60 yard pass to play Bobby Zamora into space down the right flank back spun perfectly like a fine golf shot but Zamora did nothing with that, or any other service he was given all afternoon - his role in the team seemed to be, essentially, little more than ballast. Later Yohan Cabaye wheeled away to celebrate after striking a firm shot from close range only to see it rebound away to safety thanks to a fine late lunge from the much maligned Portuguese full back. Within seconds of that though Bosingwa had blotted his copy book once more, foolishly grasping hold of Hatem Ben Arfa’s lively slime green away shirt and twisting it in his fist in the heart of the QPR penalty box in full view of referee Lee Probert. Ben Arfa — one of few Newcastle players with anything about them - lashed the resulting spot kick into the roof of the net.
Probert's decision was technically correct, Bosingwa's actions those of a man so thick it's a miracle he manages to breath in and out in his sleep, but it also fell into that category that wizened old pros like to claim shouldn't be given as penalties for fear of every game finishing with a rugby league score. Some suggested Probert was merely trying to even things up as he'd earlier had a hand in Rangers miraculously taking the lead with their first goal in five matches. Junior Hoilett, who spent another afternoon doing a good impression of somebody who has eaten the real Junior Hoilett and assumed his identity and place in the team, managed to get the ball under control for the first and only time in the game and execute a fine one two with Loic Remy before collapsing on the very edge of the penalty area under meagre contact from Mathieu Debuchy. QPR had missed all three penalties they'd been awarded this season prior to this but Loic Remy — who fluffed the most recent of those in an away game at Fulham — calmly rolled the ball home against the club he spurned to join QPR in January.
More wonderful communication and decision making between the hapless Rob Green and another of his full backs, Armand Traore this time, resulted in the keeper picking up a pass back and conceding an indirect free kick which Ben Arfa smashed into the wall. Green inspires confidence for the forthcoming Championship campaign almost as little as Redknapp does. His mistake was so basic it confused referee Lee Probert — another whose mind seemed elsewhere for much of this game — who took an age to award anything when the offence was clear and obvious.
Newcastle were seemingly desperate to make life hard for themselves. Williamson was booked for going over the ball on Mbia and keeper Elliott also saw yellow for kicking the ball away after a free kick had been awarded — although it looked very much like that was a result of his wildly inconsistent kicking than a deliberate attempt to run the clock down. Twenty minutes later the keeper surpassed even the incompetence of the QPR players by running two yards outside his area and catching the ball. Lee Probert seemed stunned and linesman Ceri Richards (known to QPR fans for his shameful part in the Ashley Young controversy at Old Trafford last season) also remained motionless — perhaps the fact that Elliott was protesting his innocence while still standing outside the box with the ball in his hands confused them. Eventually the free kick was awarded, Elliott was dismissed, and Steve Harper clambered from the bench for the last of his rare outings at the very end of a 20 year Newcastle career.
QPR: Green 5, Bosingwa 3 (Fabio 46, 6), Onuoha 6, Hill 6, Traore 5, Townsend 6, Jenas 5, Mbia 4 (Derry 46, 6), Hoilett 4 (Taarabt 84, -), Zamora 5, Remy 6
Subs not used: Murphy, Park, Granero, Mackie
Goals: Remy 11 (penalty, won Hoilett)
Bookings: Mbia 36 (foul)
Newcastle: Elliott 5, Debuchy 5, Coloccini 6, Williamson 5, Yanga-M’Biwa 5, Cabaye 6, Tiote 4 (Perch 52, 6), Guttierez 6, Goufran 6 (Obertan 77, 5), Ben Arfa 7 (Harper 82, -), Cisse 5
Subs not used: Simpson, Marveaux, Anita, Campbell
Goals: Ben Arfa 18 (penalty, won Ben Arfa), Gouffran 35 (assisted Bosingwa/Guttierez)
Yellows: Cabaye 10 (dissent), Williamson 29 (foul), Elliott 67 (time wasting), Elliott 80 (handball)
Reds: Elliott 80 (two yellows)
Referee — Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 6 Plenty of big calls in this game and on the whole he got most of them right. Both penalties were the correct decisions as were the pass back and sending off decisions against the two goalkeepers. But there was a lot of guesswork and going off crowd reaction here, particularly with the Elliott dismissal, and he carried himself with the air of somebody whose mind was elsewhere — much like the players.
Fulham 3 QPR 2, Monday April 1, 2013, Premier League
Fulham seemingly weren’t in the mood to be turned over twice in a derby that seems to mean a good deal more to their recently swollen ranks of support than the Hooped faithful who look — rightly or wrongly — more to Chelsea with their own hatred and bile. Martin Jol’s side started quickly, forcing a smart save from goalkeeper Julio Cesar in the sixth minute when Damien Duff cut in from the left and shot with his right, then making Armand Traore clear with a difficult back header underneath his own crossbar when Duff accelerated to the byline and sought out late arrivals at the back stick. Rangers never fully cleared their lines and a clumsy challenge by Chris Samba invited Ashkan Dejagah to hit the turf and Dimitar Berbatov to convert the resulting penalty with consummate ease. Referee Lee Probert was left with few options.
The ferocity of a soft handball appeal against Bosingwa at the back post — waved away by Probert — underlined the anxiety in the home ranks and Andros Townsend broke on the counter attack and tested Schwarzer with a low shot.
That feeling only grew stronger when Steve Sidwell — who’d responded to a footballing lesson by Taarabt in the Loftus Road fixture with gratuitous violence that should really have seen him sent off — overran his first piece of possession for half an hour with a League Two-standard touch and attempted to retrieve the situation with a wild lunging tackle that looked like a fool’s errand from the moment he embarked on it. Armand Traore, fragile as vintage porcelain at the best of times, was on the receiving end and although Sidwell decided to play dead and demand treatment while Brede Hangeland pleaded his case the red card was inevitable and he was left to face the long walk back to the Cottage a quarter of an hour early. A standing ovation his reward for a poor performance and idiotic sending off.
First Riether and then Senderos were booked by Probert for time wasting and Mark Schwarzer was lucky not to go the same way but their gamesmanship was wholly unnecessary. A weak shot dragged wide of the post from ambitious distance by Jenas was all QPR had to show for almost 20 minutes of chasing an equaliser against a tired group of ten men they’d been dominating when it was 11 v 11.
Fulham: Schwarzer 7, Riether 6, Hangeland 7, Senderos 6, Riise 7, Dejagah 6 (Emanuelson 38, 6 (Frimpong 78, 6)), Sidwell 5, Karagounis 4, Duff 6, Berbatov 8, Ruiz 6
Subs not used: Etheridge, Richardson, Hughes, Frei, Rodallega
Goals: Berbatov 8 (penalty, won Dejagah), 22 (unassisted), Hill og 41 (assisted Riise)
Red Cards: Sidwell 78 (serious foul play)
Bookings: Riether 88 (time wasting), Senderos 90 (time wasting)
QPR: Cesar 5, Bosingwa 6, Samba 2, Hill 2 (Onuoha 45, 5), Traore 4 (Mackie 83, -), Remy 6, Mbia 8, Jenas 6, Townsend 6, Taarabt 6 (Hoilett 74, 5), Zamora 6
Subs not used: Green, Ben Haim, Park, Granero
Goals: Taarabt 45 (assisted Zamora), Remy 51 (assisted Mbia)
Bookings: Hill 13 (foul)
Referee — Lee Probert 7 A higher mark than I would like to have given him in truth because I felt at times, particularly in the first half, he was guilty of guessing (often incorrectly) far too many decisions and he allowed himself to be dictated to by Berbatov from Fulham and Hill from QPR who probably should have been sent off for his hack at Karagounis. However, three key decisions in the match — two penalties and a sending off — were all absolutely spot on so difficult to be too harsh.
QPR 0 Spurs 0, Saturday January 12, 2013, Premier League
Earlier referee Lee Probert had concocted a bizarre drop-ball decision in the QPR penalty area after blowing his whistle and awarding a corner prematurely, not expecting Julio Cesar to prevent the ball from leaving the field. Both goalkeeper and referee saw the funny side — this an official who once sent off Jude the Cat for looking like Paul Furlong remember.
The visitors could also point to bad luck. Sandro, an influential midfield figure in their recent run of seven wins from nine league games, was carted off injured in the first half and replaced by Scott Parker who covered every blade of grass in typical style but is a different kind of player to the one he replaced and couldn’t help to create space for Moussa Dembele to operate in. Both found Stephane Mbia an oppressive force on their games — the Cameroon international mixed a sound defensive display with some swashbuckling attacking runs, the usual array of comedy play acting and a yellow card for a blatant handball in the centre of the park. There was also a late incident when he raced onto another fine Taarabt through ball and decided to ignore the offside flag and referee’s whistle and charge into goalkeeper Hugo Lloris anyway before collapsing to the ground in apparent agony which quickly vanished when the referee and goalkeeper arrived on the scene in fits of laughter. A strange individual.
QPR: Cesar 8, Onuoha 7, Nelsen 7, Hill 7, Da Silva 7, Derry 7, Park 5, Mbia 7, Mackie 6, Wright-Phillips 7, Taarabt 7
Subs not used: Green, Ferdinand, Ben Haim, Faurlin, Cisse, Bothroyd, Campbell
Bookings: Mbia 69 (handball)
Spurs: Lloris 7, Walker 6, Vertonghen 7, Dawson 7, Naughton 6, Sandro 7 (Parker 25, 7), Dembele 7, Bale 6, Lennon 7 (Sigurdsson 79, 6), Defoe 7, Adebayor 5 (Dempsey 69, 6)
Subs not used: Friedel, Assou-Ekotto, Caulker, Huddlestone
Bookings: Dembele 38 (foul)
Referee — Lee Probert 7 A decent performance in what, admittedly, wasn’t the most challenging game to referee. The bounce ball in the first half was a bit of a farce, and I think he was generous not booking Lennon for an obvious dive in the first half — then similarly kind to Mbia after his late clash with Lloris. Fine overall though, no big decisions wrong.
Man Utd 3 QPR 1, Saturday November 24, 2012, Premier League
Consequently Scholes became frustrated, and resorted to chopping into QPR players in typically nasty and illegal style. One particular foul on Ale Faurlin — late, from behind, two footed, executed in a scissor motion — was especially nasty and didn’t even draw a yellow card from referee Lee Probert. Now Probert showed last week at Fulham, when he sent off Brede Hangeland and cost the home team the match, that he is not afraid to make a big decision over a bad tackle. And yet here Scholes was allowed to commit four bad fouls in the first half before he was even spoken to, and one in the second before he was booked. At that point United substituted him, when really they shouldn’t have been given that option by the referee.
I could write a list a mile long of things that annoy me in the modern game and this weird attitude everybody has to Paul Scholes and his tackling would certainly be on there. There is absolutely no way on earth that Samba Diakite would have still been on the field at half time had he made the four tackles Scholes got away with in the first half here. Referees usually so swift with the red card since the Aaron Ramsey and Eduardo incidents suddenly go all shy and reticent when it comes to Scholes, while commentators who leap in and talk about endangering the careers of fellow professionals when anybody puts in nasty tackle will sit there and laugh about how "Scholes never has been able to tackle has he?” before going off on a five minute eulogy about what a magnificent footballer he is. He clearly is brilliant, and the way he was treated by the national team borders on criminal in football terms, but why does this mean he’s allowed to go around hacking into people for the rest of his career with no comeback?
Derry took his sending off here last season remarkably well, walking straight down the tunnel without a word of complaint in a display of dignity all too rare in our sport. But having spent a career trawling the lower leagues, being conned out of an appearance at Old Trafford rankled with him and Young’s latest pathetic attempts brought down the red mist. Hill and Derry immediately squared up to Young as play broke down field and referee Probert was forced to intervene. I suspect the conversation between Derry, Hill, Cesar — who were all incensed — and the referee featured plenty of reference to the incident last season and although I felt Probert — as he did with Scholes — chickened out of showing a yellow card to a United player who sorely deserved one, he did do well to calm the situation without a raft of bookings.
Man Utd: Lindegaard 6, Rafael 6, Ferdinand 7, Evans 7, Evra 6, Young 6 (Anderson 59, 7), Scholes 6 (Hernandez 59, 7), Fletcher 6, Welbeck 5 (Powell 79, 7), Rooney 6, Van Persie 6
Subs not used: De Gea, Jones, Smallin, Cleverley
Goals: Evans 64 (assisted Rooney/Welbeck), Fletcher 68 (assisted Rooney), Hernandez 72 (assisted Anderson)
Bookings: Scholes 54 (repetitive fouling)
QPR: Cesar 6, Mbia 8, Nelsen 7, Hill 7, Traore 7 (Ferdinand 60, 4), Dyer 7, Derry 7, Faurlin 7 (Granero 84, -), Taarabt 6 (Hoilett 73, 6), Cisse 6, Mackie 8
Subs not used: Green, Diakite, Wright-Phillips, Ephraim
Goals: Mackie 52 (assisted Dyer)
Bookings: Mbia 58 (foul)
Referee — Lee Probert 6 No key decisions to make and largely kept out of proceedings which I’m always happy to praise. However QPR players would have been carded had they dived for a penalty in the same manner as Ashley Young, or committed the four first half fouls that Paul Scholes executed, and it’s impossible to mark a referee treating the teams unequally too highly.
QPR 0 Swansea 5, Saturday August 18, 2012, Premier League
De Guzman was booked by referee Lee Probert a short time later for a foul on Park but I can’t imagine the Canadian-born midfielder was too concerned by how things were going given how awfully QPR were defending.
The second half was an absolute shuttle disaster. It could have been different had Junior Hoilett been awarded a penalty by referee Probert in the first minute of play after falling to ground under pressure from Angel Rangel on the other end of a one two with Taarabt but the tumble was theatrical, the contact minimal and the decision to wave it away probably correct. Five minutes later the contest was over.
QPR: Green 2, Onuoha 3, Ferdinand 3, Hill 3 (Wright-Phillips 64, 5), Fabio 3, Diakite 5 (Derry 86, -), Park 6, Taarabt 5, Mackie 4, Hoilett 6, Cisse 4 (Johnson 77, 5)
Subs: Murphy, Nelsen, Dyer, Zamora
Bookings: Diakite 55 (foul) Fabio 58 (foul)
Swansea: Vorm 6, Rangel 7, Chico 8, Williams 7, Taylor 6, Britton 7 , Dyer 8 (Sinclair 77, 7), Routledge 8, de Guzman 8 (Agustien 70, 7), Michu 9 (Gower 84, -), Graham 7
Subs: Tremmel, Tate, Moore, Richards
Goals: Michu 8 (unassisted), 53 (assisted Routledge), Dyer 63 (assisted Routledge), 71 (assisted Agustien), Sinclair 81 (assisted Michu)
Bookings: De Guzman 41 (foul), Rangel 62 (handball)
Referee: Lee Probert 7 Not my favourite referee as I often say, but little to officiate here in an uncompetitive game and probably got the big decision of the game — the penalty claim by Hoilett — correct.
QPR 3 Swansea 0, Wednesday April 11, 2012, Premiership
Rangers had appealed half heartedly for a penalty when Buzsaky’s shot twice struck hands on the way through the Swansea penalty area but referee Lee Probert was right to ignore the pleas. He could have done a little more forBobby Zamora in the first half though as Swansea defenders were repeatedly allowed to climb over the striker to win headers with no recourse. It was a surprise therefore that Probert not only decided to add a minute onto the end of a half with no stoppages, injuries, substitutions, cards or goals but then in that minute finally awarded a free kick to the lone QPR striker.
Then, the really killer moment - a second goal for QPR who once again showed the value of passes that actually go somewhere. Patient build up involving Barton, Diakite and finally Ferdinand had brought some grumbles from people around me in F Block but quick as a flash Ferdinand had found Mackie with an incisive 40 yard pass and the chance was there for the taking. The former Plymouth man used an immaculate first touch that he simply didn’t possess when he first arrived at Loftus Road to turn elegantly past Williams and then composed himself on the edge of the area before finding the back of the net with a low shot. Replays showed Mackie had begun the move in an offside position, and that the shot was heavily deflected, but after the luck QPR have had just lately it was hard to do anything other than smile. Mackie has now scored three goals in as many appearances for QPR against the Swans who were now well on the way to a nineteenth league game at Loftus Road without a win.
Then a mad 60 seconds of refereeing saw Bobby Zamora apparently fouled on the edge of the Swansea area and then Sigurdsson also seemingly chopped down in a similar position at the other end but neither received free kicks. This reinforced the deficiencies in Lee Probert’s method of running in a lazy-man square around the centre circle rather than corner flag to corner flag as is the generally accepted way.
QPR: Kenny 6, Onuoha 6, Ferdinand 7, Hill 8, Taiwo 7, Barton 8, Diakite 8, Buzsaky 7, Taarabt 6 (Smith 88, -), Mackie 7 (Wright-Phillips 77, 6), Zamora 6 (Bothroyd 78, 5)
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Gabbidon, Campbell, Young
Booked: Taiwo (tackling a man with his face), Diakite (hacking a man’s leg off)
Goals: Barton 45 (assisted Taarabt), Mackie 55 (assisted Ferdinand), Buzsaky 67 (assisted Taarabt)
Swansea: Vorm 5, Rangel 5, Caulker 6, Williams 5, Taylor 5 (Tate 46, 5), Sigurdsson 7, Britton 6 (Moore 62, 5), Allen 6, Routledge 5 (Dyer 46, 6), Graham 7, Sinclair 6
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Monk, McEachran, Gower
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 6 Not my favourite official in the world, and did himself few favours here by refusing to move more than 20 yards from the centre spot at any time rather than running corner flag to corner flag which meant he was often 40 yards or more away from decisions on the touchlines. I thought Zamora was harshly treated overall and Swansea will rightly feel the second goal should not have stood. Overall he was mediocre, and yet again a big decision in a key game is wrong.
Swansea 1 QPR 1, Tuesday December 27, 2011, Premiership
Speaking of which the referee for this fixture was Lee Probert, a man who gave the impression he’d rather overindulged in the Christmas sherry, or been plucked from the Boxing Day sales as a late replacement for somebody who had actually seen a game of football before.
Routledge’s cross was slightly behind Graham as he entered the penalty area, and travelling at a fair lick, so the former Watford man reached out and controlled the ball with his hand before turning and curling a fine finish around Hall and into the bottom corner past the despairing dive of Kenny. All, except those who had been in the toilet or reading their programme at the time, wore perplexed expressions. Probert explained to QPR later that, yes, Graham had indeed handled the ball and, yes, he had seen him do it from a distance of roughly 15 yards away but that, in his opinion, the act of controlling an uncontrollable cross and bringing it down perfectly for the finish with the palm of his hand was not deliberate as defined by the rules of the game. The goal stood.
Then, the refereeing took a turn for the eccentric. First Fitz Hall was allowed to climb right over the back of Graham to win a header that subsequently developed into a chance for Mackie who skipped between two players in the penalty area but found Vorm had read his intentions and smothered the danger. Referee Probert wasn’t quite so alert, caught stationary and thinking about other things on the halfway line by Barton who was inadvertently tackled by the official which in turn allowed Swansea to attack and force a corner. Luckily Probert’s assist only fell to Moore rather than an actual footballer. In between those incidents the home crowd had bayed for Barton’s blood after full back Richards had cleared a ball down the line and kicked through onto Barton’s outstretched block attempt. The Swansea man hit the deck immediately, writhing in apparent agony as the Swansea fans, to a man, stood and demanded immediate, harsh sanctions against the QPR man. A yellow card was produced, to the home fans’ disgust, and Richards them immediately made a complete and full recovery, leaping to his feet and bounding off down the field without the need for attention from the physio, stopping only to refuse Barton’s hand of apology. And we’re told the QPR man is the pantomime villain.
In between those two shots though, more from Probert. QPR’s Senegalese full back Armand Traore, not for the first time in the game it must be said, took an unnecessary extra touch on the ball in a dangerous area. On this occasion Danny Graham had gambled on him doing just that and raced to the scene to cleanly take the ball off his toe as he went to clear it down field. Traore executed the clearance anyway, hacking into the back of Graham’s leg and sending him sprawling in the penalty area. A blatant spot kick, a dictionary definition of a penalty, but once again Probert gave the impression of a man caught thinking about other things — he neither awarded the kick, nor waved play on. He just sort of stood there, stupefied.
Two minutes later Williams strode calmly out of the Swansea defence and executed a body slam onAdel Taarabt as he attacked down the left flank. Again a blatant foul, again Probert awarded nothing. We were one more piece of incompetence away from the police vacating the ground and declaring mob rule at this stage. Anything went. I’d suggest that Probert had borrowed the Stuart Attwell random generator of maddening refereeing decisions for the afternoon had Attwell not been making prolific use of it himself back in London at Arsenal v Wolves. For the second time in a week I’m struggling for words to describe a match official. Never mind a demotion, a long spell in the padded room is required for this chump.
Probert was talked into booking Adel Taarabt by Ashley Williams for kicking the ball away in three minutes of added time — I say ‘talked into’ because Probert was actually looking the other way when the Moroccan did it and showed no inclination towards booking the QPR man until Williams delivered a volley of advice to him.
For Lee Probert, a long holiday. Preferably with one of those travel companies that goes into liquidation shortly after you land at Arse End of Nowhere International Airport.
Swansea: Vorm 7, Rangel 7 (Moore 57, 4), Williams 7, Caulker 6, Richards 6, Sinclair 6, Britton 6, Agustien 7, Allen 6, Routledge 7 (Dyer 56, 6), Graham 7
Subs Not Used: Tremmel, Dobbie, Monk, Lita, Gower
Booked: Richards (foul)
Goals: Graham 14 (assisted Routledge)
QPR: Kenny 6, Young 7, Hill 7, Hall 7, Traore 6, Mackie 7, Barton 6, Derry 6, Faurlin 7, Taarabt 7, Helguson 6
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Orr, Gabbidon, Bothroyd, Connolly, Smith, Wright-Phillips
Booked: Hill (foul), Barton (foul), Taarabt (kicking ball away)
Goals: Mackie 58 (assisted Kenny)
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 3 For all the dodgy calls, bizarre decisions and tackles executed on QPR players in the centre of the field it’s the big decisions in games that referees should be judged on. Probert had two big calls to make in this match and got both of them wrong. He cannot say he was unsighted, or that the decisions were borderline, because they were clear as day, right in front of him and absolutely blatant. Swansea’s first goal should have been disallowed for handball, and they should have had a penalty in the second half. When you then marry that up with the other irritations you find yourself with a refereeing performance far, far beneath what should be expected of a referee in the Premier League.
QPR 0 Millwall 0, Tuesday September 28, 2010, Championship
Rangers were then denied a couple of penalty appeals, one where Mackie was fouled on the edge of the area which brought nothing and another which I didn’t see properly, leaving the R’s top scorer in a heap around the penalty spot. Judging by the reaction from the west paddock and the QPR bench it may well have been justified and certainly we have been given them for less this season. Referee Mr Probert obviously thought there was nothing in the incident and waved play on. He was after all just 15 yards away. He generally seemed determined not to give us anything judging by the way Helguson was pushed and pulled at every aerial challenge.
Soon after Ephraim crossed for Helguson but was found offside, before Mackie created a chance for himself in the box only to see his shot rise high and wide into the travelling fans. QPR were pretty dominant in their possession and Buzsaky found space on 41 minutes to try his luck again from about 30 yards out but failed to test Forde as his effort went wide. With the clock ticking towards half time the R’s still had two more chances. First Kyle Walker used some great power and pace to beat both Darren Ward and Chris Hackett to get into the box and deliver a dangerous cross that was scrambled away after Mackie went in on goal. This then brought a free kick a few yards from the area. Buzsaky curled the free kick around the wall but managed to curl it around the post as Mr Probert decided to give the Lions a breather and blew for half time.
Five minutes into the second half and Rangers got going again, kicking towards their favoured Loft End, Taarabt’s trickery earning a free kick just outside the area which Millwall cleared. Mackie then forced a corner which Gorkks tried an ambitious header sailing over and two minutes later a series of corners after desperate defending eventually ended with Clint Hill missing arguably the best chance of the game. His free header, well over the bar. Mr Probert appeared to be a little more favourable to our front line in the second half and on the hour gave a free kick for a push on Helguson just inside the visitors half. Buzsaky took it, slipped but still managed to find Taarabt who turned a drove his right foot effort towards goal. Somehow Forde managed to get an outstretched hand down to his left corner a push the ball around the post. Handbags then came out before the corner, after Helguson had gone looking for the rebound with some determination.
QPR: Kenny 7, Walker 8, Hill 7, Gorkks 7, Connolly 7, Derry 7, Buzsaky 7, (Leigertwood 6), Mackie 7, Taarabt 6, Ephraim 6, (Agyemang 6), Helguson 7
Subs Not Used: Cerny, Rowlands, Smith, Borrowdale, Parker
Booked: Helguson (foul)
Millwall: Forde 7, Dunne 7, Robinson 7, Ward 6, Craig 6, Hackett 6, Mkandawire 7, Ward 6, Barron 6, (Harris 6), Morison 6, Abdou 6
Subs Not Used: Mildenhall, Smith, Henry, Grimes, Laird, Robinson
Booked: Dunne (foul)
Referee: Lee Probert 6. Wanted to let the game flow which can only be a good thing, however, he missed /ignored some fouls on Helguson and Mackie in particular and then awarded free kicks for some softer challenges. To be honest I would have to see the second Mackie challenge in the first half which brought the west paddock to their feet before deciding if he got that terribly wrong. He did keep things fairly calm in a pretty intense atmosphere.
Cardiff 0 QPR 2, Saturday September 19, 2009
The match officials incurred the wrath of the Cardiff fans after 19 minutes as QPR took the lead. Working the ball through midfield after a Mikele Leigertwood throw in wide on the right the R’s put together another classy move that ended with Borrowdale laying the ball into Vine’s feet on the edge of the box and he in turn feeding a perfect through ball into Jay Simpson in the area. He looked offside at the time, and on the video afterwards, but the flag stayed down and the loan Arsenal front man was able to calmly slide home his first ever QPR goal past the helpless David Marshall.
The home crowd gave the referee and his assistant plenty of abuse for the next ten minutes or so and that, in my opinion, led to a booking for Damion Stewart who received a yellow for a fine tackle on Chopra a that cleared the ball out for a throw in text book style a couple of minutes after the goal. The crowd bayed for blood and Probert obliged — very harsh card for Stewart that one. The resulting free kick was smashed into the wall from distance by Whittingham but the feeling that the referee was keen to even things up only increased when Ben Watson was crudely chopped down during a promising looking counter attack and did not even receive a free kick when moments earlier Stewart had been penalised and yellow carded for a far more meagre offence.
Cardiff Marshall 5, Kennedy 5, Hudson 5, Gerrard 5, Quinn 5,Whittingham 6 (Magennis 54, 6), Burke 7, Ledley 4, Taiwo 6 (Rae 54, 5),Bothroyd 5 (Scimeca 67, 5), Chopra 5
Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Gyepes, Capaldi, Comminges
Booked: Quinn (foul), Chopra (foul)
QPR: Cerny 7, Leigertwood 7, Stewart 7, Gorkss 7, Borrowdale 7,Routledge 7, Rowlands 9, Watson 8, Buzsaky 7, Simpson 8 (Pellicori 77, 6),Vine 6 (Agyemang 82, 6)
Subs Not Used: Heaton, Ramage, Mahon, Faurlin, Ephraim
Booked: Stewart (foul), Pellicori (handball)
Goals: Simpson 19 (assisted Vine), 40 (assisted Routledge)
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 6 Not too bad, plenty of advantage played and no really controversial incidents. His assistant appears to have got the first Simpson goal wrong — I thought so at the time and have seen nothing on the video to change my mind. After that goal I felt Probert was guilty of trying to appease the home crowd with a bit of evening up — Stewart’s booking was very harsh and Watson was chopped down and nothing given.
QPR 1 Cardiff 0, Saturday November 8, 2008
The game started to turn against Cardiff in the twenty eighth minute. Damion Stewart played a searching ball out to the left wing looking for Cook and although McNaughton got a head to it the ball did still fall to the feet of the QPR winger and he was able to clip it past the oncoming Darren Purse just before the Cardiff player crunched him. It wasn’t a good tackle, mistimed and slightly high, but it wasn’t malicious and to be honest I was more angry at the time that the referee hadn’t allowed play to go on because Blackstock was away with the ball at his feet. Referee Lee Probert didn’t mess about, he came straight across and showed Purse the thirteenth red card of his professional career.
For the second straight game at Loftus Road I find myself talking about a harsh sending off in the first half. I don’t go to football to see people sent off and to be honest the logic of suddenly rushing to red card anybody that slightly mistimes a tackle just because an Arsenal player got his leg broken at Birmingham nine months ago is lost on me. This would not have been a red card before the Eduardo incident and it isn’t a red card now. Cardiff were facing an uphill battle from that point onwards.
Things went from bad to worse for Cardiff as they were reduced to nine men five minutes after falling behind. First midfielder Stephen McPhail was deservedly booked for a bad foul on Ramage as he clipped the ball past him on an overlapping run. Then almost immediately left back Miguel Comminges came through the back of Akos Buzsaky and was also booked. Clearly emotion was running high in the Cardiff camp after the goal against and earlier red card and Comminges followed his card up with a word or two to the linesman on the Ellerslie Road side of the ground. The assistant signalled to the referee that something was amiss and after a long consultation Probert summoned the Cardiff full back and showed his second red card of the match.
I’ve no idea what Comminges said of course, the card may well have been justified, but I say again I don’t come to football to see football players get sent off and in my last two trips to Loftus Road I’ve seen three red cards that could easily have been replaced with yellows or stern warnings.
When the yellow card did come out it was shown to QPR sub Patrick Agyemang for a foul on Kevin McNaughton.
QPR: Cerny 8, Ramage 6, Stewart 8, Hall 8, Connolly 7, Ledesma 5 (Buzsaky 55, 7), Rowlands 5, Tommasi 5 (Mahon 67, 7) Cook 5, Blackstock 4, Di Carmine 5 (Agyemang 71, 7)
Subs Not Used: Cole, Delaney.
Booked: Agyemang (foul)
Goals: Mahon 80 (assisted Ramage)
Cardiff: Heaton 6, McNaughton 7, Purse 5, R Johnson 7, Comminges 6, Rae 6, Ledley 6 (Gyepes 29, 7), Whittingham 6, McPhail 6, Eddie Johnson 5 (Parry 72, 5), Chopra 5
Subs Not Used: Enckelman, Blake, Brown
Sent Off: Purse (28) (dangerous tackle), Comminges (87) (two bookings)
Booked: McPhail (foul), Comminges (foul), Comminges (dissent)
Referee: Lee Probert (Wiltshire) 4 I didn’t think Purse should have been sent off, a yellow card for me there because it was simply mistimed rather than dangerous or malicious. We should not be rushing to send people off. Comminges’ first yellow card was justified, I’ve no idea what he said to get the second but like I say I don’t go to football to see players getting sent off and I wonder whether a stern, final warning could have been administered instead.
Charlton 0 QPR 1, Saturday October 22, 2007
Rangers' first attack of the match after ten minutes yielded a very decent shout for a penalty. Martin Rowlands swung a corner into the near post and Damion Stewart got to it first. The big Jamaican headed powerfully for goal from eight yards out but the effort was blocked by the arm of Chris Iwelumo back helping out his defenders. The Rangers players and coaching staff appealed but referee Probert, a man with a long and chequered history when it comes to refereeing QPR, waved the protests away. Undoubtedly it was ball to hand but in that situation penalties are often given when players have their arms stuck out or up in the air attempting to make themselves big and execute a block. Certainly, with Iwelumo's hands right up above his head, Charlton could have had few complaints had it been awarded.
Ten minutes before the break Zheng Zhi cracked a low 20 yard effort which Lee Camp did well to palm away from the danger zone. Then Martin Cranie had his heart in his mouth when he ignored Camp's calls and tried to deal with Reid's cross himself, slicing the ball narrowly over his top corner. From the set piece Lee Camp seemed to be fouled and a melee ensued as Lee Probert waved play on - Rangers got the ball away and later in the game they were grateful for the referee waving play on a similar situation.
Five minutes in one such run from Vine should have brought the opening goal for Rangers. After charging into the penalty area the Birmingham loanee was crudely chopped down by Fortune for a nailed on penalty which Lee Probert had no hesitation in awarding. The QPR players celebrated like they'd already scored which is always risky, and the high fives and hugs proved to be very premature when Rowlands stepped up and missed the kick.
In fairness to Rowlands he couldn't have picked his spot much better, right down low to the keeper's right, and certainly couldn't have struck the ball any sweeter. Against Norwich the luck was with him, against Charlton the shot cracked against the foot of the post and rebounded back out into play. Rowlands couldn't believe it, and was still cursing his luck ten minutes later. A break in play allowed Harford to put an arm round his winger and calm him down a little bit which was needed because he was clearly devastated by the mistake.
With just under 20 minutes remaining the ball broke to Hogan Ephraim in the area but his initial effort was blocked. The West Ham youngster was alert enough to regather possession though and he fed the ball wide to Chris Barker to swing over a deep cross from the left.
Nicky Weaver arrived underneath the ball late and Nygaard was already off the ground looking for the header. The pair clashed and the ball dropped loose in the penalty area. Adam Bolder met it first, mishitting a half volley towards the far corner and after what seemed like an age it dropped into the bottom corner in front of the jubilant Rangers fans. Charlton appealed for a foul on Weaver but referee Probert said nothing and Bolder's first ever QPR goal was allowed to stand.
Looking at the replays it seemed to me to be one of those decisions that keepers nearly always get in their favour but probably shouldn't. Weaver arrived under the cross very late with little chance of getting there ahead of Nygaard, there was a coming together and Nygaard put his arms on him as he climbed but Probert could hardly blow for that one after letting the earlier one on Camp go and we do always say all we ask for from referees is consistency.
Charlton: Weaver 6; Mills 6, Basey 7, Sodje 7, Fortune 6; Sam 7 (Racon 85, -), Semedo 6 (J Thomas 46, 5), Zheng 7, Reid 7; Varney 6, Iwelumo 6 (McLeod 69, 5)
Subs not used: Randolph, Bougherra
Booked: Sam 81 (foul), Reid 87 (dissent)
QPR: Camp 7; Mancienne 7, Barker 7, Stewart 8, Cranie 8; Rowlands 7, Bolder 7, Leigertwood 8, Ephraim 7, Nygaard 8, Vine 8
Subs not used: Cole, Bignot, Ainsworth, Sahar, Moore
Goals: Bolder 72 (assisted Nygaard)
Referee: L Probert (Wiltshire) 7 Very good performance from him for a change. Lots of good advantage rule played allowing the game to flow, kept the cards in his pocket for as long as possible and showed plenty of common sense. Allowed challenges on both goalkeepers to go unpunished, QPR took better advantage of theirs of course, so consistency there. Few dodgy decisions against us early on I thought but all in all quite impressive. I'll have to have a lie down.
It was the 2004/05 season that Probert really went to town on QPR. In three Rangers’ fixtures that year he showed 13 yellow cards and three reds. At Wolves in October a torrential storm at half time left the field completely unplayable and literally under a foot of standing water in places — but with Wolves winning 2-0 Probert played on to the end, sending off Kenny Miller in the process. At Loftus Road in the February Eddie Lewis was sent off for Preston, and Jude the Cat for QPR as Probert was confusing him with Paul Furlong when the R’s attacked. His eyesight had apparently improved a month later though as he was the only one inside Bramall Lane who spotted an injury time pull on Leigh Bromby’s shirt in the area — The Blades sealed a 3-2 win with the resulting penalty and Rangers had Andrew Davies sent off for good measure in the time that remained.
This season he’s worked his way back steadily, with 18 appointments mostly in League One and Two. His first Championship game of the season was his last outing, Newcastle’s 2-1 win at Burton, and he’ll now step things up still further with our game at Wolves. He’s booked 29 and sent one off so far this term.
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