For the first time in his refereeing career Michael Oliver takes charge of QPR this weekend as the R's limp over the finish line at play off chasing Preston.
Preston v QPR
Referee: Michael Oliver (Northumberland)
Assistants – Hutchinson (Nottinghamshire) and Smith (West Midlands)
Fourth Official – Gibbs (West Midlands)
Respect
• noun - a feeling of admiration for someone because of their qualities or achievements.
If there is one rule that I hope doesn’t come back next season when we return in August it is the mandatory yellow card for over celebrating. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t go to the football to see some hairy Wearsider rip his shirt off to reveal a hairy chest, or in Ross Wallace’s case last week another slightly tighter shirt of identical colour, but I think it’s time to be a bit sensible about this. Why footballers rip their shirts off to celebrate I don’t know – it’s not a natural reaction to joy to start pealing layers of clothes off as far as I am aware. However just because it makes no sense doesn’t mean it should be a yellow card.
Last week at St Andrews Birmingham needed to win to go up, Preston needed to win to keep their play off hopes alive, in the last minute of normal time Ross Wallace curls an absolute blinder around the wall and into the net off the inside of the post right in the top corner. A moment of incredible drama, 90 per cent of the crowd sink back into their seats, a little pocket of Preston fans in the corner go absolutely mental, the game is won and lost with one moment – this is why we go to football. Off comes Wallace’s shirt and of course e has already been booked so he gets sent off. Sent off! How bloody ridiculous is that? So having kept the play off hopes alive Wallace is now not able to play against us this weekend and try to finish the job. It’s a disgrace. It made referee Phil Dowd look like a pedantic, joyless wanker which, of course, he is and while I’m sure he would say the rules give him no choice I would say he should have sown some understanding for the situation he was in. Sometimes rules are there to be ignored and if the FA won’t do the reasonable thing and get rid of that rule then I implore referees to do just that – ignore it, it’s an ass.
Refereeing our game with Preston, without Ross Wallace, is Michael Oliver. Oliver is another from the Stuart Attwell school of the fast tracked referees and when I saw him earlier this season at Notts County he gave a crazy handball penalty decision against Brentford that cost tem two points from the penalty spot. This is his first ever QPR game in just his second season as a Football League official although he has refereed at Deepdale before, a 2-0 win against Stoke last season and a 2-0 win against Watford this year. Is card count is encouraging, 90 yellows (2.368 a game) and five reds in 38 matches. His biggest haul in a single match was his last Championship outing when he booked six and sent one off in the Birmingham v Plymouth fixture. Last season he booked 73 (2.517 a game) and sent six off in 29 matches, three of which were in the Championship.
Elsewhere Howard Webb, the country’s best referee but fresh from a disastrous but highly predictable and very typical penalty award at Old Trafford, has the big Reading v Birmingham clash – there is a real risk that those two are going to cancel each other out and allow Sheff Utd to nip in. It’s another Premiership referee for Palace against Sheff Utd in Chris Foy. On Saturday Trevor Kettle has Wycombe v Notts County and Kevin Friend as Dagenham v Shrewsbury – I can’t tell you how much I’m hoping one or both of those two don’t come back next season.