How stats back up Sunderland fans’ Match Of The Day gripe Published: 29 January 2015 please log in to view this image HOST ... Gary Lineker. 1 comment FANS regularly complain about their club’s place in the Match Of The Day running order – and now Sunderland supporters have the stats to back up their argument. No team in the Premier League has been shown last on the BBC highlights programme this season more often than Sunderland, who have occupied that slot seven times. That is once more than Aston Villa, and twice more than both Swansea City and Crystal Palace. Sunderland have been shown first on the programme, hosted by Gary Lineker, once this season – and that was the 8-0 drubbing at Southampton in October. Meanwhile, both of the times they were on second also ended in defeats, to Arsenal and Manchester City respectively. please log in to view this image However, the BBC insists the running order is “not personal”. The BBC’s head of football, Mark Cole, said: “It’s not personal. “We’ve got a couple of Sunderland fans in the office and the chap who does all our stats is a Sunderland fan, so he’s keeping a particular eye on it. “If they’re on last by the end of the season the most, then it means they’ll still be in the Premier League, because they won’t be drawn into those big relegation battles that feature highly in the programme.” Meanwhile, Newcastle United have been in the last slot just twice this season, while they have been on first three times.
Been said, watching us at the minute is second best to watching the back of your own eyelids. If I was a BBC editor I'd probs just not bother showing our games at all like. Zzzzzzzzzz.
Off the top of my head Newcastle will have been on first when we beat Chelsea and then probably when we got an absolute stuffing off one team or another. People make too much out of this, I'm willing to bet you'll have been early in the running order when you lost 8-0 it's not a great thing! Villa and Sunderland have scored the fewest goals so you'd expect them to be at the bottom of the highlights reel. Villa only higher presumably as they got a few eye catching results early in the season? Quick glance and the stats do make them appear the dullest - 36 goals in 22 games (for and against) so far, next lowest is 49 I think.
