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I don't think anyone in the ground that day will ever work out how he conjured up a Coventry penalty, or how he turned down the most blatant of spot kicks for a foul on Gifton Noel-Williams. Basically that afternoon his decisions determined the result of the game.
It was the first defeat in our awful run of games without a win during that season and his next Burnley game was the 0-0 home draw against Luton which proved to be the last game before the wins started coming.
In each of those three games he was nit picky, pulling free kicks back a couple of feet, that sort of thing. And he gave the impression that he wanted to be the star of the show.
Contrast that with his other Burnley game, last season's 2-2 draw at Bristol City. This was like a different Thorpe who blended into the background and allowed the players to get on with playing. Such was his performance that day that he sits in second place in our 'Rate the Ref' table with a rating of 91.08.
He's not gone over the top with his cards as yet this season. In eight games he's handed out nine yellow cards and two red cards. Three of those yellows, as well as both reds, came in the one match between Brighton and Walsall with Walsall winning 1-0 against all the odds having played an hour with nine men. Four of those yellow cards have gone to home team players and five to away team players.
If Thorpe referees as he did at Bristol City then no one will have a problem. If he referees in the way he did last time we had him at the Ricoh then we could be in for a difficult night. Let's hope the more recent Thorpe is the real Thorpe.
He will be assisted tonight by Carl Dunn (Staffordshire) and Wayne Porter (Lincolnshire) whilst the fourth official duties will be in the hands of James Adcock (Nottinghamshire).
Previous Burnley games:
Season | Opps | V | Res | Y | R | Burnley players carded |
a | ||||||
2005/06 | Crystal Palace | a | 0-2 | 4 | 0 | G O'Connor McCann |
2006/07 | Coventry | a | 0-1 | 4 | 0 | Harley J O'Connor McCann |
2006/07 | Luton | h | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | . |
2007/08 | Bristol City | a | 2-2 | 3 | 0 | Duff Gray |