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Well this week's idiot is Robert Madley.
That's perhaps unfair. The refs get criticism from all sides for their decisions. I was vocal on Sunday that Simpson had to go. He swiped his elbow at the ball, clear penalty. Days later, with a clearer a head, I might concede that it was perhaps the correct decision. The elbow movement was consistent with his running motion.
In his post match comments on Sunday, Ronald Koeman spoke like one of us. He pointed out four different penalty shouts that weren't given in the last three games and you could hear the anger in his voice. But really only the Tadic no call against Stoke was a stonewall penalty.
That's not to say the saints haven't been dealt a bad hand by the refs this season. If a chorus of "You're not fit to referee!" isn't sung on Saturday then its probably because the Northam boys have opted to sing a ruder version. But going into the match against Newcastle at the weekend it may be the visiting fans who are more worried about the appointment of Mr Madley. The press on Tyneside have made a big deal pre-match about the last magpies game he refereed.
It was the derby match at the Stadium of Light and he showed Coloccini a questionable red card that was rescinded post-match. Newcastle went on to lose the game 1-0 and it could prove very costly at the end of the season. Madley also took charge of their defeat to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. But that happened to be a shocking display that could in no way be blamed on the official.
Robert Madley has only taken charge of one saints game this season. We won it. And since returning to the premier league we have done well when he has been the man with the whistle. Here is the saints league table sorted by average points per game. Saints at the top, sinners at the bottom:
| Referee | Wins | Draw | Losses | Points | Average Points |
| J Moss | 9 | 1 | 2 | 28 | 2.33 |
| M Atkinson | 7 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 2.33 |
| R Madley | 3 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 2.25 |
| C Pawson | 3 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 2.00 |
| R East | 4 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 1.86 |
| P Dowd | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1.75 |
| A Marriner | 4 | 5 | 1 | 17 | 1.70 |
| M Jones | 4 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 1.56 |
| M Dean | 4 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 1.45 |
| All Games | 55 | 39 | 52 | 204 | 1.40 |
| M Halsey | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1.33 |
| H Webb | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1.29 |
| K Friend | 3 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1.29 |
| N Swarbrick | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1.25 |
| A Taylor | 1 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 1.00 |
| P Tierney | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 |
| S Attwell | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1.00 |
| M Oliver | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 0.80 |
| L Mason | 1 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 0.78 |
| C Foy | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 0.71 |
| M Clattenburg | 2 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 0.67 |
| L Probert | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0.50 |
So these are the numbers. Good to know my hatred for Clattenburg isn't unjustified.
And apologies to Mr Moss for all the times I have laughed at his inability to run. It appears we are a champions league team when he is the man in the middle!