Mick
Life President
Our twelve matches against Burton since they were promoted to the Football League have seen seven red cards, with, surprisingly, six of them having been shown to home players.
Combine this with a referee who has produced four red cards in his last three matches and things could get lively.
Saturday's man in charge is the loose cannon that is Trevor Kettle. Or, rather, ex Wing Commander Trevor Kettle who used to work for the RAF and Ministry of Defence. His Armed Forces days are behind him and he now works as the Sales Director for a firm of precision engineers in Melton Mowbray.
His “LinkedIn” profile states “I am a task-driven and team focused individual who thrives of delivering a quality output whatever the scenario. My strengths are my inter-personnel, simplifying complex matters and providing clear guidance to ensure successful output.” Hmmm.....
His most recent Southend match was last season's comfortable home win (2-0) against Carlisle; a bit of an anti-climax on the Kettle front with just one yellow card for them.
Before that his last two visits to the Hall were co-incidentally both against Cheltenham. Firstly when he was good enough to send off one of theirs early on in our 4-0 win in 2011/12 (that was the last time we scored 4 goals at home in a League match – helped more than a little by Jack Butland) and more recently the season before last when a late, late penalty earned Cheltenham a point. Yellows for Prosser, Corr and Straker and one of theirs.
This is his 13th season as a League referee and his matches have been littered with controversy and condemnation throughout. I am sure there is not the slightest truth in the rumour that he only obtained and retained his position by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of the man who used to be in charge of Football League referees (Mr Ashworth). A referee noted for extreme over-reactions and maverick decisions. His general decision making varies between random and perverse.
This is his 19th Southend match and we have a fantastic record with him in charge (won 13, drawn 5, lost 0); in fact there is no referee we have had a better run of results with.
However his matches have not been uneventful and include:
11/12 Cheltenham H – sent off one of theirs
11/12 AFC Wimbledon A - sent off one of theirs
10/11 Barnet A - not great - booked Hall & Easton
09/10 Brentford H - not great - booked Macca
09/10 Orient H decent game - booked Macca
08/09 Stockport H - sent off Harding
07/08 Oxford H - 8 yellows
07/08 Oldham A - sent off Richards (successfully appealed)
06/07 WBA H - 7 yellows
05/06 Bradford A - sent off one of theirs
05/06 Bournemouth H - sent off one of theirs
03/04 Canvey H - 5 yellows
03/04 Canvey A - 8 yellows and sent off Warren
03/04 Carlisle H - just 2 yellows but it was one of his first matches
He has actually had a couple of reasonable matches, especially a couple of seasons ago, when I have seen him, but needless to say these have been few and far between. His most recent away games were 2012/13 win at Aldershot (4 yellows, only Straker for us) and, in the same season our win at Wycombe in which he cautioned both of our forward pairing of Corr and Assombalonga.
Strangely his card count last season dropped to below average but he's got his game together this season with a high 32 yellows and 4 reds from 7 games. That's more like it !!
Assistants are Thomas Bramall from, appropriately, Sheffield and Iain Siddall from Bolton. Dumitru-Ravel Cheosiaua from Redditch will be Fourth Official.
Combine this with a referee who has produced four red cards in his last three matches and things could get lively.
Saturday's man in charge is the loose cannon that is Trevor Kettle. Or, rather, ex Wing Commander Trevor Kettle who used to work for the RAF and Ministry of Defence. His Armed Forces days are behind him and he now works as the Sales Director for a firm of precision engineers in Melton Mowbray.
His “LinkedIn” profile states “I am a task-driven and team focused individual who thrives of delivering a quality output whatever the scenario. My strengths are my inter-personnel, simplifying complex matters and providing clear guidance to ensure successful output.” Hmmm.....
His most recent Southend match was last season's comfortable home win (2-0) against Carlisle; a bit of an anti-climax on the Kettle front with just one yellow card for them.
Before that his last two visits to the Hall were co-incidentally both against Cheltenham. Firstly when he was good enough to send off one of theirs early on in our 4-0 win in 2011/12 (that was the last time we scored 4 goals at home in a League match – helped more than a little by Jack Butland) and more recently the season before last when a late, late penalty earned Cheltenham a point. Yellows for Prosser, Corr and Straker and one of theirs.
This is his 13th season as a League referee and his matches have been littered with controversy and condemnation throughout. I am sure there is not the slightest truth in the rumour that he only obtained and retained his position by virtue of his marriage to the daughter of the man who used to be in charge of Football League referees (Mr Ashworth). A referee noted for extreme over-reactions and maverick decisions. His general decision making varies between random and perverse.
This is his 19th Southend match and we have a fantastic record with him in charge (won 13, drawn 5, lost 0); in fact there is no referee we have had a better run of results with.
However his matches have not been uneventful and include:
11/12 Cheltenham H – sent off one of theirs
11/12 AFC Wimbledon A - sent off one of theirs
10/11 Barnet A - not great - booked Hall & Easton
09/10 Brentford H - not great - booked Macca
09/10 Orient H decent game - booked Macca
08/09 Stockport H - sent off Harding
07/08 Oxford H - 8 yellows
07/08 Oldham A - sent off Richards (successfully appealed)
06/07 WBA H - 7 yellows
05/06 Bradford A - sent off one of theirs
05/06 Bournemouth H - sent off one of theirs
03/04 Canvey H - 5 yellows
03/04 Canvey A - 8 yellows and sent off Warren
03/04 Carlisle H - just 2 yellows but it was one of his first matches
He has actually had a couple of reasonable matches, especially a couple of seasons ago, when I have seen him, but needless to say these have been few and far between. His most recent away games were 2012/13 win at Aldershot (4 yellows, only Straker for us) and, in the same season our win at Wycombe in which he cautioned both of our forward pairing of Corr and Assombalonga.
Strangely his card count last season dropped to below average but he's got his game together this season with a high 32 yellows and 4 reds from 7 games. That's more like it !!
Assistants are Thomas Bramall from, appropriately, Sheffield and Iain Siddall from Bolton. Dumitru-Ravel Cheosiaua from Redditch will be Fourth Official.
