As if things weren't bad enough at Perth Glory, a major outbreak of red cards is now threatening to further threaten the dreadful season the club is having. As many as 5 red cards have been dished out to Glory players in the last 3 matches. This makes 8 for a season just 19 matches old- a record that would make even the Wimbledon side of 20 years ago proud.
Although Glory might complain that a red card wasn't dished out to Fury player Hughes for either of his two blatant in-the-box fouls on Robbie Fowler, neither of the decisions that led to Sekulovski and Griffiths being dismissed could be argued (despite Steve McGarry's trying). Similarly, the red cards to Griffiths (again), Neville and Mitchell in previous matches were fairly clear cut and it would be hard to fault the referees' calls (despite Steve McGarry's trying in these instances as well). In fact, had Fondyke been more harshly dealt with after his delightful if aggressive slide on Kevin Muscat Glory's record might've been 8 red cards in 6 matches- truly breathtaking.
In 6 matches, Glory have had at least 1 player sent off in all but 1 of them. 2 of those 6 have seen 2 players sent off. Those are staggering numbers.
Just like the run of losses earlier in the year, the numbers indicate a massive, massive problem at the club that seems to be obvious to everyone but the coaching staff and owner of the club. As if having the worst team in the competition (and knowing more money is being spent on them than on any other playing list) wasn't bad enough, Glory fans are being further humiliated by having the dirtiest side in the league. It's simply unacceptable.
In comparative terms over the whole season, the story gets worse. Perth have something in the order of 30% more yellow cards than runners-up in the poor discipline stakes, Melbourne Heart. They have more than double the number of cards league leaders Brisbane have received in as many games. Perth have received more than 30% of red cards dished out in the entire league this season- 3 times the average outcome. Perth commit more fouls per game than any other side. They are, in short, somewhere between unnecessarily crude and outright dirty.
No fan can know for certain the reasons why discipline has been so poor at the club. Four logical reasons might be:
1) Frustration at poor form and poor team structure,
2) The captain sets the tone, and our captain is perhaps the most niggling and fouling player in the league,
3) "get-stuck-into-them" attitude being spruiked by the gaffer, or,
4) Overwhelming lack of pace and ability compared to opponents means committing a foul is regularly the only way to stop an opponent attack.
For me, all four reasons have probably combined to produce the damning statistics for the side. The players must surely be frustrated by their performances this season, Burns has the second most fouls and cards in the league (behind only former teammate Wayne Srhoj), Ian Ferguson wouldn't have shied from many challengers as a Scottish Premier League holding midfielder and would almost certainly encourage this attitude in his players, and most of the cards dished out have been for persistent fouling or a player catching an opponent from behind as he's about to stream past and get one-on-one with Tando Velaphi.
This last factor becomes even clearer when you look at the players who have been sent off- Griffiths and Sekulovski twice, Neville, Coyne and Mitchell once and Jacob Burns once as the only non-defender in the list. I can't, in truth, remember one red card which has come for a vicious foul- all of them have been for professional fouls and most of them because the last defender has been skinned by a quicker and/or more skilful opponent.
The real question is whether Ian Ferguson sees these statistics as a major contributing factor to the poor season the club is having, or a sign that the club is heading in the right direction. I think if any of the coaches to have had any level of success in the A-League were in charge, they would be looking at the former. And I wouldn't argue with them.
