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"Who turns up in the final? A referee we've had a major problem with. I just don't understand the thinking of it."
Blackwell continued: "It puts pressure on me as a manager and puts pressure on Mike Dean as a referee. I am very annoyed about it not because it's Mike, he's a decent lad, but he had a poor game and I marked him accordingly.
"There was an altercation between the referee and ourselves at the Hillsborough game so why bring it up now? Why have we not had him again in the big games between then and the end of the season? Why does he turn up for the biggest game of the season? I'm under pressure, he's under pressure and I just don't understand it."
I suppose if referees were not allocated games for certain clubs when managers complained about them we would be struggling to find referees for many of the games.
If Dean had a poor game at Hillsborough then he certainly didn't at the Hawthorns when he refereed our FA Cup tie against West Brom. That for me was one of the best refereeing performances of the season in what I also think was one of the most important games of our season coming three days after the Spurs defeat.
There were no cards that day from him but that's not a common occurrence and he's hit the 150 mark this season, in fact he's handed out 152 yellow cards and 10 red cards in just 43 games.
His most recent game involving Championship clubs was the South Wales clash between Cardiff and Swansea at Ninian Park where he was hit on the head with one of a few quids worth thrown on. The FAW opted not to take action this week.
Dean is one of the highest rated referees in the country now although he's certainly had his controversial moments this season.
He will be assisted by Darren Cann (Norfolk) and Mick McDonough (Tyne & Wear) whilst Premier League referee Lee Probert (Wiltshire), who refereed our game at Cardiff, will act as fourth official.
The other two play off games will be refereed by the dad and son team. Tomorrow the controversial Michael Oliver will take charge of the League Two final between Gillingham and Shrewsbury whilst a day later his dad will be the referee for the Millwall v Scunthorpe League One final.
Previous Burnley games:
Season | Opps | V | Res | Y | R | Burnley players carded |
a | ||||||
1997/98 | Bournemouth | h | 2-2 | 3 | 0 | . |
1997/98 | Luton | h | 1-1 | 3 | 0 | Cooke |
1998/99 | Walsall | a | 1-3 | 4 | 0 | Armstrong Brass Payton |
1999/2000 | Chesterfield | h | 2-1 | 2 | 0 | Cowan |
1999/2000 | Wigan | h | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | Johnrose Thomas |
2000/01 | Crystal Palace | h | 2-2 | 1 | 0 | . |
2002/03 | Bradford City | a | 2-2 | 6 | 2 | Cook Papadopoulos Taylor |
2003/04 | Bradford City | h | 4-0 | 0 | 0 | . |
2003/04 | Preston | a | 3-5 | 4 | 0 | Blake Gnohere West |
2003/04 | Ipswich | h | 4-2 | 3 | 0 | Chaplow McGregor |
2004/05 | Blackburn | h | 0-0 | 5 | 0 | Camara Hyde |
2005/06 | Leeds | h | 1-2 | 6 | 0 | Harley Hyde Sinclair |
2005/06 | Crystal Palace | h | 0-0 | 4 | 0 | Branch Harley |
2006/07 | Sunderland | h | 2-2 | 3 | 0 | Hyde |
2006/07 | Leicester | h | 0-1 | 3 | 0 | Caldwell |
2007/08 | Blackpool | h | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | Akinbiyi Caldwell |
2008/09 | West Brom | a | 2-2 | 0 | 0 | . |
