Thought of the day.

After Plymouth won with a 50/50 added time penalty it struck me that Plymouth seem to get a lot of them compared to us.  So I checked.  Easily done on the interweb.

Plymouth have had eight penalties this season compared to our two.  They have had more than any other team in League One.

Other teams to get plenty of penalties awarded to them are Blackburn (6), Shrewsbury (7) and Peterborough (6).

The old argument for Man Utd getting lots of penalties at Old Trafford was that they spend more time attacking so the chances are they will be fouled more in the box.  But we are the third highest scorers in League One, have people like Williams and Taylor who run at players, spend a lot of time attacking and get lots of balls in the box.

What is the explanation?

(1) Bad luck?

(2) Other teams don't commit fouls against us as much as they do against other teams?

(3) Referees are biased against us for some reason?

(4) Other teams have players who are (to put it kindly) more streetwise and adept than our players at winning penalties?

I don't have the answer, but I suspect it is a combination of (1) and (4).  I really don't think referees are biased.  Incompetent sometimes but not biased.  And I  don't think other teams are less physical against us than against others.  I do think that other teams have players who look for contact and go down quite easily.  Carey at Plymouth is one of them.  Their own supporters know that.  I am not saying it wasn't a penalty but I suspect that one of our players might not have been as 'clever' as him and we might not have had it given, even at the NYS. 

I have a fifth possibility.  We are quite a physical side with a big striker.  I wonder if referees are less inclined to give us penalties (or even free kicks) because we put ourselves about a bit compared to others?

-- Edited by smiler on Monday 30th of April 2018 05:26:50 PM