The referee for Middlesbrough’s away match against Watford FC has been announced, and it is someone that they will be familiar with.
Oliver Langford, an official who has plenty of experience, will be the man in the middle for the clash at 3pm on Saturday, having already taken charge of Boro’s Carabao Cup fixture against Huddersfield earlier in the season.
Middlesbrough won 3-2 that evening, with a key refereeing decision going some way to effecting the overall result. Langford issued the Terriers with a red card after defender Jaheim Headley was adjudged to have been the last man when he brought down the pacy Isaiah Jones.
It came early and at a pivotal point in the game as Huddersfield were one-nil up. Boro went on to win the game 3-2 and actually faced Huddersfield again just eleven days later, but-despite showing an improvement on previous league performances-could not replicate the win, drawing 1-1 with the then Neil Warnock outfit.
Championship average
It was a good decision though from the official, who, it has to be said, is not afraid to dish out the cautions and cards. He showed four cards that night and averages around four and a half cards per match, amassing a total of 29 yellows and 2 reds over seven league and cup games this season.
That may look like a high number, but in actual fact, the average number of cards shown per match in the Championship is 4.64, with 2.21 for the home team and 2.43 for the away team. So Langford’s 4.43 is about on the money.
That is not to say that the experienced referee is not without his critics though, with one football fan actually setting up a petition to suspend him in 2020, with lots of the critical comments coming from, you’ve guessed it, Boro fans. It was in relation to not stopping the game during a match against Millwall.
Duncan Watmore (now playing for Millwall) was ‘fouled’ according to Boro fans, with no stop in play, Millwall went up the other end and scored the equaliser, making the game 1-1. It was made worse by the fact that Langford’s assistant waved his flag, but was ignored.
Players walking disciplinary tight-rope
Middlesbrough have one or two repeat offenders when it comes to bookings, namely Tommy Smith (3 yellows, and also 1 red this season), Hayden Hackney (3 yellows) and Isaiah Jones (3 yellows). They will need to give a disciplined performance.
Middlesbrough will head into the fixture against Watford with a renewed sense of optimism following their first back-to-back wins of the season, albeit with one of the matches coming in the Carabao Cup against Bradford City.
The 2-1 victory against Southampton last weekend will have given them fresh impetus to go to Vicarage Road and take the game to the Hornets who were stung 3-0 against Leeds United last time out.
Boro supporters will hope that the fact that Oliver Langford took charge of one of Boro’s few wins this season, be a lucky omen.