Football: We don't need hurly Burley with the fans.
DERBY'S assistant boss Colin Todd wants English referees to throw the book at players who stir up rival fans.His call for a clamp-down comes in the wake of last week's controversy against Leicester when Craig Burley was involved in an explosive bust-up with Robbie Savage.
The Scotland midfielder lost the plot after Savage rubbed the Pride Park punters' noses in it by celebrating after he won a penalty to hand Leicester a 3-2 victory.
Now Todd wants whistlers to take action against players who provoke the crowd or try and land their opponents in trouble.
The No.2, who takes his side to Elland Road to face Leeds today, said: "What annoys a lot of people is the manner in which players can anger supporters.
"The way in which they demonstrate when scoring a goal or when another player is being booked is wrong.
"There is also a case for looking at those situations when players rush up to the referee and try to get him to book someone.
"That needs sorting out, because there's no doubt that can influence the whistler's decision."
Todd reckons Derby have a point to prove against Leeds after losing out to Leicester.
He said: "This is a game where we have to go out and show our mettle.
"We have to be on the front foot. The Leicester result was disappointing for all of us, but now we have to look forward. We have to give a display that will make people sit up.
"Everyone is prepared to knock us, and we have to turn that round to suit ourselves.
"If any team is prepared to scrap and mix the game up in the right way then anything is possible."
Leeds certainly look ready to scrap after their shock 1-0 UEFA Cup defeat against Portuguese minnows Maritimo in midweek.
And right-back Gary Kelly growled: "It's up to us to put what happened behind us and get the results we know we are capable of.
"We let ourselves down against Maritimo and are the only ones who can turn it around.
"Nobody likes losing, especially when you are involved with Leeds United. Fingers crossed we can now bounce back against Derby to set us up for the return leg.
"We don't the fans down often, but when we do, it's not nice. However, I am confident we can sort it out."
Eirik Bakke is available again for Leeds after recovering from a hamstring injury. However, striker Alan Smith and midfielder Olivier Dacourt are ruled out.
Derby's keeper Mart Poom and central defender Horacio Carbonari are injured, but former Motherwell midfielder Simo Valakari will play.
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| Title Annotation: | Sport |
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| Publication: | Sunday Mail (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Sep 23, 2001 |
| Words: | 440 |
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