Managers pointing fingers at referees

Blaming a referee for a perceived poor decision is often an easy way out after a disappointing result. It's something that Sean Dyche has been accused of since taking over as Burnley manager. Kettle on the boil at The Valley A number of his Championship rivals have been at it after the first round of Easter games and none more so than Bolton's Dougie Freedman who had two players sent off in their game at Charlton. Ahead of the games I noted that both Darren Deadman and Trevor Kettle had been allocated games, so no surprise the card count went up. These two contributed a total of 17 yellow and two red cards between them. Kettle led the way at Charlton with Freedman saying after the game: "We gave him the opportunity and we know he's a sending off referee." He's right; Kettle has sent off 82 players in ten seasons and that includes one season where he didn't use his red card at all. It's what you expect from him and it's what you expect from Deadman. I watched the Huddersfield v Hull game yesterday and for the life of me couldn't work out exactly how that game warranted eight yellow cards. Neither did Steve Bruce but, having won the game, said: "I'm not going to have a go at the referee, it's not going to be my scene tonight." There could, and should, have been a red card too but Deadman, who has already suffered a four month break from the Championship this season, got the wrong player. It really was a tiresome game but Hull won it and are now very much the favourites for the second automatic place behind Cardiff who managed to lose to Peterborough for a second time. Malky Mackay too was far from happy with referee Eddie Ilderton's award of two penalties. He said the first one was a dive and I have some sympathy with him. Cardiff have a reputation for blowing it but I can't see that happening this season. They'd certainly need a massive collapse to drop out of the top six and I'd been very surprised now if they didn't claim a top two place. That can't be said for Leicester. They lost again and are now out of the top six. It hasn't had an effect on manager Nigel Pearson; he's as equally weary win or lose but I suspect his days at the King Power  are numbered no matter what happens now. They are, I think, the only team outside that top six to have a chance of getting back in. Bolton's defeat at Charlton and Middlesbrough going down at Wolves has surely ended their hopes. Middlesbrough were third going into 2013 but their record in 2013 is incredibly bad. They've won just seven points and that's six less than the next worst Millwall. As a matter of interest it is Watford at the top of the 2013 table with 27 points with Brighton and Forest right behind them. There's a surprise in fourth place. It's Peterborough who have 23 points this year and it's just about, for now, lifted them out of the bottom three on goals scored. It's tight down there. Bristol City are almost at the trap door but even our fifty points doesn't look totally safe right now. Despite being as high as 13th we are only five points ahead of Peterborough and Wolves. The next two days might change things a bit. There are eight games tomorrow with the other four being played on Tuesday evening. The results and stats from the weekend are below along with the next fixtures. The Results Friday 29th March Blackburn Rovers 1 Blackpool 1 Leicester City 0 Millwall 1 Crystal Palace 0 Birmingham City 4 Watford 3 Burnley 3 Derby County 3 Bristol City 0   Saturday 30th March Charlton Athletic 3 Bolton Wanderers 2 Peterborough United 2 Cardiff City 1 Huddersfield Town 0 Hull City 1 Sheffield Wednesday 2 Barnsley 1 Ipswich Town 3 Leeds United 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers 3 Middlesbrough 2 Nottingham Forest 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 2     The Stats Biggest Win Birmingham City 4-0 v Crystal Palace (away) Total Goals Scored 40 (22 home - 18 away) Player Scoring Most Goals Charlie Austin, Burnley v WatfordFernando Forestieri, Watford v BurnleyGrant Leadbitter, Middlesbrough v Wolverhampton WanderersGrant McCann, Peterborough United v Cardiff City Highest Attendance 29,697 - Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley Lowest Attendance 9,236 - Peterborough United v Cardiff City Total Yellow Cards 52 Total Red Cards 5 Most Cards in a Game Charlton Athletic v Bolton Wanderers (7Y 2R) Ref: Trevor Kettle   Leading Goalscorers (League Only) 29 Glenn Murray (Crystal Palace) - includes 7 penalties 25 Charlie Austin (Burnley) - includes 4 penalties 23 Jordan Rhodes (Blackburn Rovers) - includes 2 penalties, 2 with Huddersfield Town 20 Matej Vydra (Watford) - includes 2 penalties 18 Tom Ince (Blackpool) - includes 3 penaltiesChris Wood (Leicester City) - 11 with Millwall 15 Luciano Becchio (Leeds United) - includes 4 penaltiesTroy Deeney (Watford) - includes 2 penalties 14 David Nugent (Leicester City) - includes 1 penalty 13 Marlon King (Birmingham City) - includes 3 penalties 12 Steven Davies (Bristol City) - includes 2 penaltiesSylvan Ebanks-Blake (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - includes 2 penaltiesJamie Ward (Derby County) - includes 4 penalties 11 Dwight Gayle (Peterborough United)Scott McDonald (Middlesbrough)Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton & Hove Albion) - includes 2 penalties 10 Almen Abdi (Watford) - includes 2 penaltiesGeorge Boyd (Hull City) - 6 with Peterborough UnitedDJ Campbell (Blackburn Rovers) - 10 with Ipswich TownCraig Davies (Bolton Wanderers) - includes 2 penalties, 8 with BarnsleyBilly Sharp (Nottingham Forest) - includes 3 penalties   Hat Tricks  Date Player & Game 01/09/12 3: Pete Whittingham - CARDIFF CITY v Wolverhampton Wanderers 15/09/12 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Peterborough United 22/09/12 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Cardiff City 22/09/12 4: Craig Davies - Birmingham City v BARNSLEY 23/09/12 3: David Nugent - LEICESTER CITY v Hull City 29/09/12 3: Emile Sinclair - Hull City v PETERBOROUGH UNITED 02/10/12 3: Charlie Austin - BURNLEY v Sheffield Wednesday 23/10/12 3: Marlon King - Millwall v BIRMINGHAM CITY 06/11/12 3: Glenn Murray - CRYSTAL PALACE v Ipswich Town 17/11/12 3: Jordan Rhodes - Peterborough United v BLACKBURN ROVERS 12/01/13 3: Chris Wood - Bristol City v LEICESTER CITY 19/02/13 3: Radoslaw Majewski - NOTTINGHAM FOREST v Huddersfield Town 02/03/13 3: Dwight Gayle - Blackburn Rovers v PETERBOROUGH UNITED 02/03/13 3: Leonardo Ulloa - BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION v Huddersfield Town 05/03/13 3: Kevin Phillips - CRYSTAL PALACE v Hull City   Disciplinary Record (League and Cup) Club Y R Y R Club Y R Y R   League   Total   League  Total  Barnsley 53 1 62 2 Huddersfield Town 73 4 82 4 Birmingham City 55 3 59 3 Hull City 49 1 52 2 Blackburn Rovers 58 0 72 0 Ipswich Town 43 2 46 2 Blackpool 46 1 48 1 Leeds United 62 3 72 3 Bolton Wanderers 74 4 77 4 Leicester City 42 2 46 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 56 3 61 3 Middlesbrough 50 1 60 1 Bristol City 46 0 49 0 Millwall 72 3 85 3 Burnley 74 3 82 4 Nottingham Forest 66 4 66 5 Cardiff City 67 2 70 2 Peterborough United 49 1 52 1 Charlton Athletic 55 2 56 3 Sheffield Wednesday 73 2 79 2 Crystal Palace 51 2 62 2 Watford 67 4 70 4 Derby County 53 2 54 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 48 3 52 3   Highest and Lowest Attendances Highest Lowest Att Fixture Att Fixture 33,010 Derby County v Nottingham Forest (19/01) 5,435 Peterborough United v Bristol City (18/09) 29,697 Sheffield Wednesday v Barnsley (30/03) 5,633 Peterborough United v Blackpool (01/12) 28,707 Nottingham Forest v Derby County (30/09) 5,997 Peterborough Utd v Blackburn Rovers (17/11) 28,595 Wolverhampton W v Ipswich Town (29/12) 6,050 Peterborough Utd v Charlton Athletic (05/03) 28,582 Sheffield Wednesday v Leeds United (19/10) 6,188 Peterborough United v Millwall (21/08) 28,499 Brighton & HA v Crystal Palace (17/03) 6,214 Peterborough United v Hull City (19/01) 28,229 Middlesbrough v Sheffield Wednesday (09/11) 6,348 Peterborough Utd v Huddersfield Town(23/10) 28,124 Nottingham Forest v Brighton & Hove A (30/03) 6,600 Peterborough Utd v Bolton Wand (23/12) 27,437 Derby County v Sheffield Wednesday (18/08) 6,612 Peterborough Utd v Middlesbrough (08/12) 26,938 Nottingham Forest v Huddersfield Town (19/02) 6,648 Peterborough Utd v Burnley (02/02)   The Next Fixtures Monday 1st April Barnsley v Leicester City Burnley v Nottingham Forest Birmingham City v Wolverhampton Wanderers Cardiff City v Blackburn Rovers Blackpool v Crystal Palace Leeds United v Derby County (17:05) Bristol City v Sheffield Wednesday Millwall v Ipswich Town Wednesday 2nd April Bolton Wanderers v Huddersfield Town (20:00) Hull City v Watford Brighton & Hove Albion v Charlton Athletic Middlesbrough v Peterborough United Source: Clarets Mad

Source: FOOTYMAD