Manchester referee Anthony Taylor is in charge of our trip to West Brom on Monday night, the third time he has refereed a QPR game in recent years.

West Bromwich Albion v Queens Park Rangers
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Manchester)
Assistants – Bennett (Staffordshire) and Massey (Cheshire)
Fourth Official – Evans (Lancashire)

The refereeing appointment for what you would think is about to be an impending disaster at The Hawthorns for our bizarre little three ring circus iis probably not at the forefront of anybody’s mind ahead of the kick off on Monday. However, for what it’s worth, we have Manchester official Anthony Taylor in charge – the third appointment with both these teams of his career so far.

Taylor has a habit of turning up on days when attentions are focussed on QPR for the wrong reason – his last appointment with us was in September last season when we were beaten 2-0 by Derby in a match dubbed the most expensive Championship match in history after a late decision by the club to charge £40 for adult tickets. Derby refused to accept the new prices and Rangers eventually backed down but the ill-feeling created by that decision derailed a good start to the campaign, starting with a 2-0 defeat that afternoon against the Rams.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) 5 Didn’t do a great deal wrong but he was often over fussy for me and a little whistle happy – blowing for fouls that could easily have been allowed to play on and generally interrupting the game when there was no need. The booking for Ledesma after a free kick was wrongly given against Parejo summed it up really, although Ledesma really must start keeping his mouth shut. Not too bad but not great either. LFW Derby Match Report

That rating of five was good enough for joint 25th on our referee league last season and the two yellow cards shown contributed to a total of 91 yellows (2.39 a game) and two reds from 38 matches. This season he has shown 41 yellows and two reds in 17 matches with the seven yellows shown in the Forest v Bristol City game in November easily the biggest haul so far. Eight of those matches, and 24 of the cards, have come in the Championship.

In 2007/08 he showed 105 yellows (2.92 a game) and ten reds in 36 matches although ten of those cards did come in one bruising encounter between Leicester and Watford. He only showed more than five cards in a game on five occasions. Taylor was in charge of our memorable away win for Luigi De Canio’s QPR at Southampton showing four yellows and a red to the home side’s skipper Yousseff Safri. A rating of five out of ten in that match placed him joint 21st on last season’s referee league.

Referee: Anthony Taylor (Greater Manchester) – 5 Over fussy at times and seemed to give Southampton the benefit of the doubt on numerous occasions in the second half. Missed Wright Phillips kicking Rehman off the ball. Had no choice with the sending off. LFW Southampton Match Report

Taylor has refereed West Brom already this season, a 3-1 home win against Reading in October, and did their home cup win against Bournemouth in 2007 as well.

Photo: Action Images via Reuters