Cain to make another attempt

He had been very much in the news at the time because he allowed an offside goal in the 3^rd Division fixture between Huddersfield and Lincoln that enabled Huddersfield to win. It was an appalling decision based on the confusion around the offside law.

Cain appeared on television to try and defend himself and made matters worse as he talked about the move being broken down into three phases.

He is not a referee to court controversy usually and just allows players to get on with it to the point where he doesn’t take enough action. One I recall was in our 1-0 win against Grimsby two seasons ago when Marlon Broomes almost ripped Andy Payton’s leg off and yet he chose to just give the free kick.

This probably explains why he is always way below the average when it comes to handing out cards and this season he has given out just 33 yellow and 4 red with not a single card in five of his last six fixtures.

He does favour the home team and just ten of those yellow cards have gone to home team players with 23 to away team players. All four red cards have gone the way of the away teams with three of them going to Southend players in their 3-2 win over Swansea at the Vetch Field in December. Southend actually scored their winner with eight players on the field – and we complain.

His last Burnley game was at Bramall Lane when he kept his cards in his pocket. In his nine Burnley games since the start of the 1997/98 season only four Clarets in Graham Branch, Micky Mellon, Tony Grant and Gordon Armstrong have got their names into his book alongside just three opposition players. That includes the sending off of Lua Lua back in 1999.

Tonight he will be assisted by Gary Foulkes (Merseyside) and Gary Stott (Gt. Manchester).

Previous Burnley games: