One of the things that is different about the Championship is that we don't know the referees. There are no 'personality' refs who subsequent become minor celebrities and pundits like Graham Poll. The methane breathing appartus is no longer in evidence to accommodate referees who have just arrived from another planet. On the other hand, some of the refs in the Championship might as well have come from a minor asteroid for all the use they are, particularly in controlling foul play.
Tomorrow's referee Neil Swarbrick is described, admittedly by another referee, as 'one of the nicest, most down to earth-guys I have met in my long refereeing career. He is possibly the only good thing to have come out of Preston other than the West Coast main line.'
But he is no softie having upset the cabbie's friend Dennis Wise at the match which Leeds lost to the Baggies in January:
'Wise slammed replacement referee Neil Swarbrick over his handling of the game.
Swarbrick, belatedly appointed in place of Steve Bennett, stepped in and ordered Wise to the stands when the Leeds boss pushed Albion man of the match Diomansy Kamara with a minute left.
Wise thought Kamara was taking too much time to leave the pitch on being substituted and was angry that the striker made a gesture to the home crowd.
He blasted: "It took Kamara more than four minutes to walk off. How the referee could only allow four minutes added time I don't know.
"Kamara was taking his time and I pushed him to get him off the pitch. I'd had enough of him making gestures to the crowd. I wish we'd had Steve Bennett in charge today. The referee's performance was very poor and he didn't control the game."
You can make your own assessment tomorrow.
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