Bad luck, naivety leave the Brewers at wrong end of fair play rankings
OSHILAJA’S DISMISSAL TOOK ALBION’S RED CARD TALLY TO FOUR THIS SEASON
BURTON Albion sit rock bottom of the League One fair play table following Deji Oshilaja’s sending-off against Charlton Athletic.
The table is worked out with one point for a yellow card, three points for a red card consisting of two yellows and five points for a straight red.
Oshliaja’s dismissal took the Brewers to four red cards for the season, one more than Gillingham, but all three of Steve Evans’ side’s reds have come as the result of two yellows, whereas two of Burton’s have been straight reds.
Fourteen teams in the division have not had a player sent off yet. One of those is Wigan Athletic, yet they are also near the bottom of the table, having racked up 41 bookings.
Also vying for the bottom spot are Charlton, who collected their first red of the season on Saturday when Jayden Stockley was sent off along with Oshilaja. They collected four other yellow cards in the game, which gives them one less than Wigan.
You do not have to be an especially old supporter to remember when Burton, under Nigel Clough, used to challenge for the top of the Fair Play table, whatever division they were in.
So, have the Brewers evolved into a dirty team under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink?
Of course not and it really would be asburd to draw that conclusion.
I would suggest the current situation is to do with nothing other than the law of averages not having sorted itself out at this stage of the season. This is hardly a team schooled in the dark arts.
I could point to the teams whose managers are – in my view – schooled in those arts and encourage their players to practice them but there’s no need. Anyone who has been watching League One for any length of time knows who we are talking about.
If Burton’s players are guilty of anything, it may be naivety – and chuck in a sprinkling of bad luck.
Burton’s four reds have been for John Brayford, for two yellow cards away to Bolton Wanderers, Charlie Lakin, for two yellows away to Crewe Alexandra, Jonny Smith’s straight red against Wigan Athletic and now Oshilaja’s.
Bad luck, largely, is certainly how Hasselbaink sees it. He was asked about it after the Charlton game.
“If you go in and analyse them all, Bray, two yellow cards at the last moment, yes, he could have done better,” said the manager.
“Jonny Smith, come on, we are talking about Jonny.
“Deji – he’s saying he didn’t hit (Stockley). And, yes, Charlie needs to do better.
“So I am not really concerned. We are not a dirty team, especially not Jonny and the one for Deji.”
Let us look back at how the four red cards happened.
■■JOHN BRAYFORD v BOLTON
The Brewers were being given the runaround away to Bolton, there’s no denying it. Brayford was booked in the 69th minute for tugging back Antony Sarcevic.
But he was being given more trouble by the mercurial Oladapo Afolayan, who was on fire, and he was late and sliding when he caught the Bolton man in the 86th minute.
It was the sort of thing which will happen to a defender as commited as Brayford from time to time.
■■CHARLIE LAKIN v CREWE
Lakin received his marching orders on a bad day all round for Brewers, the victims in Crewe’s only win of the season so far.
Lakin was walking a tightrope from the third minute, booked for a strong challenge on Callum Ainley, but there was just a hint of injustice when he stretched for a loose ball near the touchline and Crewe’s Scott Kashket went to ground rolling around.
He did so in front of the Burton supporters, who were incensed by his reaction: smiling and pretending to rub his leg once Lakin had been booked and sent off. It was still, arguably, a challenge Lakin should have avoided but the Crewe man earns no credit for his action.
■■JONNY SMITH v WIGAN
For me and many others who saw it, Smith’s sending off as he attempted to control a chest-high ball and was ducked into by defender Curtis Tilt, remains one of the great injustices.
Michael Mancienne’s foot had been higher when he hooked the ball in Smith’s direction but the
Wigan man nearest him chose not to challenge.
The same day, Curtis Davies’s foot was higher when he hooked in a goal for Derby against Blackburn Rovers but the defender nearest shied away from challenging.
On Saturday I saw players control or hoof the ball at a similar height half a dozen times and even the card-happy Trevor Kettle saw nothing wrong. It’s normal.
But Smith, seven yellow cards in 182 career appearances, is serving a three-match ban and that’s that.
■■DEJI OSHILAJA v CHARLTON
It is very fresh in the memory, although most people needed replays to catch up, as Oshilaja’s scuffle with Stockley was off the ball.
Stockley has form, accused of breaking a Celtic player’s jaw with his elbow when he was with Aberdeen, in a game before which his manager had admitted to warning him to be careful with his elbows.
Oshilaja will have known that Stockley is, for want of a better word, combative. He will know he should not have got involved but, sometimes, human nature takes over.
Add in a referee who needs little excuse to show his cards and Burton are bottom of the fair play table.
The only way is up – surely.