Experienced Durham official Nigel Miller is the man in the middle on Saturday for what is sure to be a tense clash between Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers.

Crystal Palace v QPR
Referee – Nigel Miller (Durham)
Assistants – McCoy (West Sussex) and Rodda (Devon)
Fourth Official – Yeo (Essex)

Miller has been a regular referee of QPR matches in recent years, even topping the LFW referee league four years ago, and this is his second appointment with us so far this season following the 2-1 win at Sheff Wed in November.

So far this season Miller has shown 79 yellow cards (2.548 a game) and ten reds in 31 matches. His biggest haul in a single game is six yellows and one red in a recent match between Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United. Twelve of his games so far have been in the Championship where he has shown 31 yellows and four reds, slightly above his average. He booked nobody when Rangers played at Hillsborough in November and was awarded a mark of six by LFW.

Referee: Nigel Miller (Durham) 6 I’ve never been to Hillsborough when the home fans haven’t a) screamed for at least three penalties as if they’re the most blatant fouls ever committed, b) booed a referee from the field at the end of the game and c) moaned about the match official costing them the game on the tram home. That was the case once again on Saturday and although Miller did indeed make some odd decisions at times (he remains a very eccentric official) particularly the two corners that were probably goal kicks just before the QPR goal – one of which came to appease protesting players, the other resulted in a goal – he wasn’t too bad overall keeping the cards in his pocket and not affecting the game too badly. LFW Sheff Wed Match Report

Last season he showed 76 yellows (2.235 a game) and six reds in 34 matches. That included a 0-0 draw between Rangers at Plymouth at Loftus Road and the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday again where the R’s were awarded a fairly blatant penalty that they promptly missed.. His average rating of 4.5 placed him 33rd on the referee league last season.

Referee: Nigel Miller (Durham) 5 Good to see the cards kept in his pocket apart from Grant who deserved his. The penalty was a good decision as well put apart from that he seemed to make a number of perplexing decisions – allowing Clarke to consistently foul opponents without punishment, giving hand ball decisions when they were fired at a player from a yard away and then allowing play to go on when players deliberately controlled the ball with their arms. It was a strange performance really, very frustrating and inconsistent at times. LFW Sheff Wed Match Report

Referee: Nigel Miller (Durham) 4 Eccentric. Gave free kicks for nothing very much, waved play on to assaults on Helguson and Balanta to name but two. Also had that annoying habit of awarding the defending team a free kick whenever there was a question mark over the award of a corner – Plymouth seemed to cotton on to this and spent the whole second half appealing enthusiastically for a goal kick for even the most blatant of corners and then being rewarded with a free kick for some offence or other only seen by Mr Miller. All in all a right pain in the arse, all 23 people on the pitch on Saturday were very poor. LFW Plymouth Match Report

In 2007/08 he refereed one QPR game, a 2-1 defeat at Sheff Utd. That game was marked by a controversial incident in stoppage time when Akos Buzsaky seemed to have a potential equaliser punched off the goal line by defender Matt Kilgallon but no penalty was awarded. The replays were inconclusive. Miller’s rating of five placed him 22nd on the referee league.

Referee: Nigel Miller (Durham) 5 Very hard mark to give here because looking at the replays I don’t think it’s possible to decide definitively if Kilgallon handled the ball on the line or not. I’ve spoken to QPR fans who swear blind he did, and others who say he didn’t. The players seemed certain he did, although one thing I did notice on the highlights was the immediate reaction of the QPR fans directly behind the goal wasn’t to appeal for handball. Over the course of the game he seemed to get a number of decisions wrong, and the bald linesman going towards the away end was absolutely useless. Absolutely bloody useless. He looked at the referee before giving even the most simple of throw in decisions – you have a mind of your own you stupid little man use it. Wrongly disallowed Sharp’s goal in the first half but kept the flag down and allowed Hulse to race through on goal when he was clearly offside. Poor referee, terrible linesman, lethal combination. LFW Sheff Utd Match Report

His lowest mark for a QPR performance came the season before, 2006/07, when he sent off Lee Cook in a 2-1 defeat against Hull at the KC Stadium. His rating of three placed him 31st on the referee league.

Ref: N Miller (Co Durham) 3 QPR Rivals Referee of the Year? If we'd given him a medal I'd like to choke him to death with it tonight. Shambolic display from start to finish. Gave some ridiculous decisions in QPR's favour for the first hour and then after failing to card Kanyuka for the worst challenge of the season so far on Forster set about awarding everything to Hull. Failed to award a blatant penalty when Cook was tripped and then sent him off for complaining. Allowed time wasting, stopped play for one head injury and played on for another, carded for something and then didn't even award a free kick for the same thing moments later. Lost it big time, a horrific performance. LFW Hull Match Report

And then in 2005/06, the complete opposite, a near perfect performance in a defeat at Wolves that saw him top the table.

Ref: N Miller (Co Durham) – 9 The Wolves fans were going a bit mad with him but they do that with every ref! Miller could have been awarded a penalty but it was a fifty fifty call and in letting the game flow and keeping the cards in his pocket this guy is a good bet to top our referee league come May. One point deducted for an appalling effort at a moustache. LFW Wolves Match Report

Elsewhere Mr Penalty himself Mike Dean is down with us this week refereeing Bristol City v Swansea. I don’t think there is any shadow of doubt that his performance at Old Trafford last week was influenced by the incidents of the Burnley v Blackburn game the week before. Dean awarded a penalty to Blackburn, his 16th of the season, when Martin Olsson clearly, at normal speed and on replay, dived to win it. Afterwards the Swede rather unhelpfully said he did it deliberately knowing the history of the referee. He should be banned for three matches for that, and I very much doubt whether it’s true anyway. Dean, who has been having a good season in my opinion, then turned down two penalty appeals at Old Trafford, one for each side, and the Gary Neville body check on Anelka was as blatant a penalty as you will ever see in your life.

Photo courtesy of refworld.com.

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