Clarets Mad Tw*t of the Week 2002/03 – Week 28

Last updated : 07 March 2003 By Tony Scholes
Tw*t of the Week - Mark Cooper
Described in "Bird's Eye View" as Fred Elliott there is no doubt that referee Mark Cooper from Walsall is fully deserving of the award.

Stan said he thought we had been cheated and that's a very strong word. But how can you think differently when this overweight, almost immobile, referee hits us hard for the second time in under two months.

He got going at Palace with four yellow cards and a dreadful penalty decision against Marlon then on Tuesday he collected six of our names, Gareth Taylor was carded for being hit on the back with the ball, as he went on a one fat man crusade against the Clarets.

How on earth is he allowed to referee at this level in his physical state beggars belief but it goes worse once he gets going. Stan described him as the worst this season, I think Hegley at Gillingham could have been worse, and there will be no one to strongly oppose Stan's view.

Burnley are now set to be fined for having so many players booked and Stan could face a charge of bringing the game into disrepute yet the one man responsible for it all will walk away unpunished.

Football fans pay a lot of money to watch their teams and they shouldn't have to put up with this. Cooperman loves himself so much, wants to be the centre of attention so much, that he even drives round in a car with a REF registration.

The Football League need to take some action about this referee who time after time picks on one team. This season in just 24 games he has handed out 70 yellow and 8 red cards to away team players.

Runner Up - Robbie Savage
It was Dion Dublin who butted Robbie Savage but you have cleared him of any blame but voted heavily for Savage who wins second place.

He has a reputation for winding up the opposition, there is a history of games that have been turned on their heads because of him and the League Cup Final against Spurs a few years ago when he was at Leicester was one high profile occasion.

He is the player the opposition crowd like to hate but as yet there is no clear evidence of what, if anything, he did to provoke Dublin. It's a fair guess that he was up to something though and that's your opinion as he claims that second place.

Dublin has since apologised and said it was nothing racist, we can be thankful for that.

Fulham certainly cannot accept defeat gracefully and after the appalling behaviour of Tigana last week the club embarrassingly tried to appeal against Sean Davis' red card.

Davis nearly ripped Tony Grant's leg off and was rightly ordered from the field by referee Phil Dowd. Yet this lot, who clearly think they are better and bigger than they really are, chose to appeal.

Third place - Sean Davis
Tigana obviously thinks that kind of challenge is acceptable whereas hard but fair challenges warrant a childish outburst. There is nothing more pathetic than a Premiership club being knocked out of the cup and then moaning about how hard done to they were.

Davis quite rightly lost his appeal, yes the FA get things right occasionally, and will now serve a three match suspension starting next Wednesday. As for Fulham, it will be good news all round when this homeless club finally lose their Premiership place. They are fast becoming a bigger music hall joke than their former Chairman Tommy Trinder ever was.

Talking about joke clubs there were nominations this week following the latest attack of chaos at KKMC. This time Chairman David Bernstein, along with a colleague, has walked out citing a lack of unity and professionalism.

John Wardle of JD Sports and former Claret Dennis Tueart have both been linked with the role. However the best club in the country when it comes to shooting itself in the foot has done it again. Maybe KK will be the next to go, he is not averse to doing a runner.

It's cup weekend and that could provide us with some NOMINATIONS for next week. Just send them by midnight next Thursday and we will reveal all next Friday.

The winners so far,

Week 1 – Roy Keane (Manchester United)
Week 2 – Jeff Winter (Referee)
Week 3 – Football League’s Football Disciplinary Commission
Week 4 – Alex Ferguson (Manchester United Manager)
Week 5 – Luton Town supporters
Week 6 – Barry Knight (Referee)
Week 7 – Burnley FC Showboaters
Week 8 – Tony Livesey (Editor Sunday Sport)
Week 9 – The Directors and Owners of Franchise FC
Week 10 – David Sheepshanks (Ipswich Town Chairman)
Week 11 – David Davies (Football Association)
Week 12 – George Boeteng (Middlesbrough)
Week 13 – Andy Hall (Referee)
Week 14 – Craig Hignett (Coventry City Loan Player)
Week 15 – Garry Flitcroft (Blackburn Rovers)
Week 16 – Craig Bellamy & Alan Shearer (Newcastle United)
Week 17 – Peter Kenyon (Manchester United Chief Executive)
Week 18 – Lee Bowyer (Leeds United)
Week 19 – Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Week 20 – Gerard Houllier (Liverpool Manager)
Week 21 – Gerard Houllier (Liverpool Manager)
Week 22 – Stockport County Football Club
Week 23 – Andy Todd (Blackburn Rovers)
Week 24 – Farnborough Town FC
Week 25 – John Mackie (Reading)
Week 26 – Alex Ferguson (Manchester United Manager)

Week 27 – Jean Tigana (Fulham Manager)

Week 28 – Mark Cooper (Referee)