Source: FOOTYMAD
Referees under fire in Championship games
Watching the highlights of the Championship games this week, the thing that stood out for me was the way two referees were treated by players and the incredible reactions of the two referees. In the last minute at Norwich, referee Simon Hooper sent off Norwich's Leon Barnett for a second bookable offence, this one bringing with it Portsmouth's second from the penalty spot. Barnett threw the ball at Hooper. It hit him and yet the referee hardly reacted.Now onto the game at Leicester, and not for the first time this season Doncaster should be asked questions about their on field discipline, or clear lack of it. They led 1-0 when referee James Linington awarded Leicester what looked a ridiculous penalty.Doncaster weren't happy, as you would expect, but a posse of around six of them moved very aggressively towards Linington. Brian Stock's actions were shocking but Shelton Martis was a disgrace. He pushed Linington to such an extent that the referee reacted very severely. Incredibly though, Linington took no further action against any player in that incident.Back to the football, and not one of the top three were able to win making Swansea's point at home to Millwall look a good one. Cardiff were beaten at Middlesbrough and QPR finally lost for the first time after being outplayed by Watford.Preston are still down at the bottom but they did pull themselves closer with a 1-0 win over Ipswich, another game where Leon Cort is believed to have been in top form for the home side. How much longer for Roy Keane? Six successive defeats for Ipswich now and just three points above the drop zone.he results and stats from the weekend are below along with the leading goalscorers, each club's disciplinary records and the next fixtures. This week the average league attendances at each club are shown with Burnley now up to fourteenth place following the 20,000 plus crowd on Saturday.The Weekend ResultsFriday 10th DecemberQPR 1 Watford 3Swansea 1 Millwall 1Saturday 11th DecemberBarnsley 1 Sheffield United 0Middlesbrough 1 Cardiff 0Bristol City 2 Derby 0Norwich 0 Portsmouth 2Burnley 2 Leeds 3Preston 1 Ipswich 0Crystal Palace 0 Hull 0Reading 0 Coventry 0Leicester 5 Doncaster 1Scunthorpe v Nottm Forest - PostponedThe Weekend StatsBiggest winLeicester 5-1 v Doncaster (home)Total goals scored24 (14 home - 10 away)Player scoring most goals2Danny Graham (Watford)Brett Pitman (Bristol City)Highest Attendance27,546 - Leicester v DoncasterLowest Attendance9,419 - Preston v IpswichTotal Yellow Cards37Total Red Cards1Most cards in a gameBarsnley v Sheffield United (6Y) - Mike JonesThe leading scorers (league only)13Jay Bothroyd (Cardiff)11Luciano Becchio (Leeds)Kris Commons (Derby) - includes 2 penalties10Danny Graham (Watford)9Chris Iwelumo (Burnley)Lewis McGugan (Nottingham Forest) - includes 1 penaltyAdel Taarabt (QPR) - includes 4 penalties8Andy King (Leicester)Jamie Mackie (QPR)Steve Morison (Millwall) - includes 1 penaltyScott Sinclair (Swansea)7Andy Hammill (Barnsley)Grant Holt (Norwich)Jon Parkin (Preston)Billy Sharp (Doncaster) - includes 3 penalties6James Coppinger (Doncaster)James Hayter (Doncaster)Jonny Howson (Leeds)Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth) - includes 4 penaltiesDavide Somma (Leeds)Marvin Sordell (Watford)Jonathan Stead (Bristol City)Hat Tricks (league only)11th Sep3 - Chris Iwelumo - BURNLEY v Preston14th Sep3 - James Coppinger - DONCASTER v Norwich14th Sep3 - James Vaughan - CRYSTAL PALACE v Portsmouth28th Sep3 - Jon Parkin - Leeds v PRESTON30th Oct3 - Jonny Howson - Scunthorpe v LEEDS13th Nov3 - Luciano Becchio - LEEDS v Bristol City27th Nov3 - Grant Holt - NORWICH v LeedsDisciplinary Record (all domestic games)ClubYRClubYRBarnsley340Middlesbrough341Bristol City241Millwall322Burnley394Norwich333Cardiff271Nottingham Forest280Coventry371Portsmouth333Crystal Palace325Preston495Derby361QPR342Doncaster261Reading343Hull371Scunthorpe221Ipswich343Sheffield United284Leeds412Swansea431Leicester232Watford250Average Attendances (league only)AvgeClubHighLow26,336Derby29,08624,73925,610Leeds33,62220,74725,075Norwich26,53223,85223,150Cardiff26,04920,57322,626Leicester27,54619,61121,931Nottingham Forest24,98619,50120,813Sheffield United22,93619,20720,720Hull21,87319,71419,465Ipswich23,10516,97817,029Reading23,67714,02916,684Coventry28,18412,29216,678Middlesbrough23,55013,74916,105Portsmouth19,71913,75115,354Burnley20,45313,65514,896QPR18,05912,04614,860Crystal Palace17,48612,35314,791Swansea17,58412,41114,351Bristol City18,30813,37613,117Watford15,10111,48512,457Barnsley20,30910,56611,551Millwall13,2928,93710,790Preston18,4178,99410,640Doncaster13,6148,9855,820Scunthorpe8,1224,397The Next FixturesFriday 17th DecemberDoncaster v Middlesbrough.Saturday 18th DecemberCardiff v BurnleyMillwall v BarnsleyCoventry v NorwichNottingham Forest v Crystal PalaceDerby v ReadingPortsmouth v ScunthorpeHull v Bristol CitySheffield United v SwanseaIpswich v Leicester (17:20)Watford v PrestonLeeds v QPR.
