Thorpe referees QPR v Doncaster
Thursday, 21st Aug 2008 20:57

Suffolk official Mick Thorpe, a regular visitor to Loftus Road in recent years, is back in W12 this Saturday to take charge of QPR v Doncaster.

Queens Park Rangers v Doncaster Rovers
Referee: Mick Thorpe (Suffolk)
Assistants – Margetts (Essex) and Rowley (Berkshire)
Fourth Official – Yeo (Essex)

Scary though it may seem I’m yet to see a really bad refereeing performance or decision to discuss and analyse in this column – I have to say the standard of officiating so far in very game I’ve seen has been really first class and long may it continue. Luckily our referee for this Saturday’s game has a lot of recent QPR history to get through so we’ll delve straight into that.

Mick Thorpe referees a Championship match for the first time this season as Rangers return to Loftus Road to face Doncaster Rovers. The Suffolk official has so far had one League Two game, another in league One and the League Cup upset between MK Dons and Norwich City. Only two yellow cards shown in those games so he too seems to have eased into the season nice and calmly and long may that continue.

Last season he showed 106 yellows (2.86 a game) and eight reds in 37 matches. Two of those games involved QPR, the emotional 3-0 defeat to Southampton and a 3-1 victory at Loftus Road against Scunthorpe. Thorpe did an impossible job very well in the Southampton game as the club mourned the death of Ray Jones and here we are a year on marking the anniversary with the same referee in charge. Hopefully he’ll do himself justice again. Four yellow cards were shown in the Scunthorpe match, three of them to QPR, and a questionable penalty went the way of the R’s. Half that many cards in the Saints match, Camp and Cullip from Rangers seeing yellow – Camp’s would have been red had Southampton not gone on to stick the ball in the net. An average rating of five good enough for equal 21st position on the referee league.

Ref: Mike Thorpe (Suffolk) 7 Thought it was a penalty on Rowlands in the first half but sensible refereeing apart from that with cards in pocket more often than not and Camp allowed to stay on after a superb advantage was played. LFW Southampton Match Report

Referee: Mike Thorpe (Suffolk) 3 Compare this performance to the one we enjoyed from Keith Hill on Tuesday and the difference is stark. Was the game on Saturday really so much more physical and dirty than the one against Blackpool? I don’t think so – and yet we ended up with twice as many yellow cards and 11 more free kicks awarded. Thorpe was picky, whistle happy and struggled to keep control of the game. The penalty looked very harsh on Scunthorpe but it came on the back of countless strange decisions in their favour during the first half. Very poor. LFW Scunthorpe Match Report

His last Doncaster game was their last trip to the capital, a 1-1 draw with Orient back in the middle of April at the end of last season. Roberts from Doncaster was the only booking.

In 2006/07 he showed 109 yellows (2.94 a match) and six reds in 37 matches. That included QPR home games against Derby and Cardiff and a low average rating from those games of 4.5 out of ten saw him finish 24th in the referee league that season.

Referee: M Thorpe 3 Awarding Derby a throw in after the ball hit Edworthy in the face was quite honestly the worst decision I've ever seen at a football match. It was so blatantly wrong. Within minutes he'd incorrectly penalised Cook and then booked him - referees are supposed to calm situations and protect the players, he seemed determined to wind them up. Constant use of the whistle, took an absolute age to book anybody, apparently penning a couple of chapters of his latest novel in his note book each time. Failed to clamp down on time wasting, bought every dive Howard and Bircham made all night. All in all absolute crap. LFW Derby Match Report

Referee: Mr M Thorpe 6 Missed what looked like a blatant penalty in the first half and although he deserves credit for allowing the game to flow in the second half, at times he needed to blow for a few more things just to keep tempers in check. Ultimately he got a fight on his hands at the final whistle. Very kind to leave Gilbert on. Not the worst performance I've seen from him by any means, but he's not a great referee.LFW Cardiff Match Report

He did three QPR games in 2005/06 as well, again a mixed bag of scores and an average rating of five which was good enough for 17th position on the referee league. Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk): 7 Only two cards handed out to both teams all evening - something of a rarity these days in games involving QPR. Harshly booked Langley and missed a couple of obvious handballs but not a bad performance from a man in black. We're just pleased to get a win at home! LFW Cardiff Match Report

Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk) 4 It's like a lottery really getting an official in this league. On the rare occasion they are decent they let games flow and don't punish people for stupid things. Well, we got an awful ball tonight and how he ever gave a foul against Doherty for a superb challenge near the centre circle I will never know. LFW Luton Match Report

Ref: M Thorpe (Suffolk) 4 It was bad enough watching a poor QPR side, but we get a poor set of officials too! Mr Thorpe was haplessly assisted by two very flag weary officials who hardly helped matters. He broke up the game, especially during the second half with his constant stoppages - a night to forget all round really. LFW Leicester Match Report

Other appointments that caught my eye this weekend - Jarnail Singh has Southend v Brighton on Friday, Andy Hall goes back to Bristol Rovers for the first time since sending off three Luton players there on Boxing Day last season for their game with Hereford, and Trevor Kettle has Shrewsbury v Aldershot. Of the Premiership officials Lee Probert, who has plenty of history with us, is dropping lowest this weekend he has Bury v Morecambe for some reason. Phil Dowd has Coventry v Bristol City and Mark Clattenburg is still suspended.