St Johnstone manager Callum Davidson believes his team are getting the rough end of the refereeing stick this season “by a country mile”.
And propping up the Premiership table for the number of fouls committed per card is the proof of it.
The gap between Saints in 12th and Dundee United in 11th is a significant one.
Yet the Perth men are seventh for the amount of fouls they have conceded.
SPFL Premiership
Fouls per Card
22/23 Season
As at 06/03/23Celtic 7.9
Kilmarnock 5.7
Hibs 5.6
Motherwell 5.3
Rangers 5.2
Hearts 5.1
Ross County 5.1
St.Mirren 4.8
Aberdeen 4.7
Livingston 4.7
Dundee Utd 4.6
St.Johnstone 3.8— Pie & Bovril 🏴 (@pieandbov) March 6, 2023
SPFL Premiership
Fouls Committed
22/23 Season
As at 06/03/23Motherwell 378
St.Mirren 373
Kilmarnock 349
Hibs 340
Livingston 329
Ross County 329
St.Johnstone 301
Rangers 293
Celtic 286
Hearts 276
Aberdeen 273
Dundee Utd 266— Pie & Bovril 🏴 (@pieandbov) March 6, 2023
No wonder Davidson has expressed his frustration at how little it is taking for his players to see yellow – or red.
The regularity of the cautions for Dan Phillips – who will miss Saints’ next game against Kilmarnock, the SFA have confirmed – is the prime example.
“Dan plays aggressively, stays on his feet and covers ground really quickly,” said Davidson.
“But he’s getting booked for not a lot.
“At Dundee United he got booked without making a tackle.
“When you look at our stats of bookings per fouls I’m frustrated.
“It’s the highest – or lowest, depending how you want to phrase it – in the league.
“We’ve been punished more than the rest by a country mile.
“We don’t commit that many fouls but are getting players booked. I don’t know why that is.”
VAR re-education
Meanwhile, Davidson and his fellow coaches are finding themselves needing to re-educate their players to deal with VAR Premiership football.
“With VAR a few rules have changed,” he explained. “I think we all knew it would take time.
“We’ve had some decisions go against us that have been righted by VAR.
“And we’ve obviously had a couple when VAR hasn’t helped us one little bit.
“Maybe the rulebook needs to be tweaked to right a few wrongs that are cropping up.
“Handball is one I’ve said for a while needs to be looked at.
“Dan’s type of tackle (on St Mirren’s Ryan Flynn) is another.
“Dan is doing what we’ve been taught to do – shield the ball.
“When you play in the middle of the park you can’t chase a bad touch.
“For Dan, it took a bit of a bobble.
“I used to do it all the time – take a bad touch and then chase it with a tackle.
“You just can’t do that anymore.”
Keep your hands down
Davidson added: “With offside now, I keep telling my players to stop putting their hand up.
“By doing that they could actually play a boy onside when it goes to VAR.
“Everyone does it naturally – I certainly did. That’s how I was coached. You were trying to persuade a referee or a linesman.
“But that’s gone. Offside for goals will be checked.
“I’m telling them to keep their arm down and run.”
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