What a load of old ****e this is. I know Saints would have been hit after what happened at Newcastle, plus the Clattenburg thing, but to be this far down the table is a joke. Not aware of one over the top tackle or elbow or cheating by Saints compared to well known instances by teams above us. The Liverpool love in with officials is also backed up by this table... http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/fair-play.html
To be below West Ham, with their style of play, with Kevin Nolan in the face of officials every single game & Allardyce much the same. Laughable.
Pardew pushed a linesman and head butted an opponent, but Newcastle score more points for respecting refs and opponents How are we below Chelsea in these categories?
You need to click on the "how it's calculated" link. It's our fault! There is a section on the public. We need to stand up and cheer when the opposition score. There is also a mark for attractive and attacking play. Of course we should be down the league; all this passing the ball football is simply not the way to go. Lump it forward for more points.
Here are some interesting extracts from 'how FairPlay is calculated': It seems that our run in with Clattenburg is deemed worse than Andy Carroll's 'punch' on Mignolet, West Ham and a few others' poor style of football, and a team's manager, namely Pardew, head butting an opposing player. Really just shows that this list really isn't worth reading.
Judging the public is the most ridiculous measure of them all, closely followed by the 'be nice to the referee' category. All those games at the start of the season when we sang "we always get **** refs"
The most disappointing bit for me is the "be nice to refs" stuff. Respect them yes, the respect campaign is important, but extra marks for being positive to them? FFS. They really are the ones last picked on the play ground aren't they?
It appears to be a Fair Play Table based on opinions and not facts as far as I can see. http://espnfc.com/stats/fairplay/_/league/eng.1/barclays-premier-league?cc=5739 Gives a more balanced view.
I think it is most amazing that Chelsea do so well, especially with Mourinho's statements and it is ironic that Man U have dropped down the table since Alex Fergusson left... Obviously it is quite subjective and I can see why we might do worse this season than previously but it seems odd that the bottom three teams in the fair play are the ones with the least bookings!
That's interesting that Stoke are bottom with the most bookings, especially as that was attributed to Tony Pulis' style of play.
It shouldn't mean a sodding thing, but I think I'm right that there "could" be a European place up for grabs when results are pooled with other uefa leagues? Referees are paid to do their job & the accountability of their performances isn't available to the public like this table is. Why not make public the refs assessments each week? Might even improve their performances. I reckon the "us & them" attitude between clubs & refs is kept in check more by the Refs & FA than it is by the clubs. You don't want refs being pally with certain clubs, even though its pretty clear that's always gone on.
I agree. The refs association or whatever they are called should publish referee performance tables. Encouraging players, coaches, clubs to be "nice" to referees is not the way forward. Accept/respect any decisions made by all means, but no need to go any further than that.
The FA & refs association still seem to live by the mantra that all Referee errors are "genuine mistakes". That simply is not the case and gives incompetance a get out of jail free card. Refs have a tough job, but doesn't mean they can't learn & improve and be more accountable. The more they hide behind crap like this table, the more the media will ride them. Of course, some managers & players don't help things, but its the FA & PL's job to sort them out properly (they don't).
You are correct, three extra Europa League spots are up for grabs, one for each of the top three leagues in the Fair Play Rankings. The highest placed team who hasn't qualified for Europe is then given a place.
