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Once again we saw Steve Clarke complaining about the standard of refereeing in the Championship this week, claiming they should be "professional" and not have another day job on the side. So he’ll be pleased to hear that project manager Michael Bull is taking charge of clash with Blackburn on Saturday, and what’s more, it’s only his second game in the Championship since November.
Overall, the Essex official has taken charge of 29 games so far in 2014-15, giving out 80 yellow cards and a fairly high eight reds, averaging just over three cards per game. His last match in the second tier was on March 18 when he was in the middle for Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 win against Rotherham.
A linesman in the Premier League for three-and-a-half years, Bull gave a penalty just 90 seconds into his Football League debut when he took charge of Wycombe against York in February 2013. He’s given just the three spot-kicks so far this term though, much to the anger of many a League One and Two boss.
Bull has never previously taken charge of a Reading or Blackburn game, so it’s a new experience all round. Let’s hope no one gets off on the wrong foot. No literally, hopefully no one gets sent off for putting in the wrong foot. That was dreadful. My apologies.