For only the second time in Premier League history, the three promoted clubs are going straight back from whence they came. Bolton, Barnsley and Crystal Palace were relegated after one season in 1997-98 and, barring an epic swing in goal difference that conspires to send Nottingham Forest down, the same fate will befall Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton this year.
All three clubs have sunk to perilous lows over the campaign. The Blades have plumbed new depths by becoming the first club to concede more than 100 goals in a Premier League season. Swindon conceded 100 in 1993-94 – a 42-match season – a total that Sheffield United surpassed in their 1-0 defeat at Everton at the weekend. They have shipped 54 goals in 18 home matches – including losing 8-0 to Newcastle, 6-0 to Arsenal and 5-0 to both Aston Villa and Brighton – at an alarming rate of three per game. Everton, who sit 15th in the table, have only conceded 49 all season.
Burnley set their own ignominious record when they became the first side to start a top-flight season with seven home defeats. The beleaguered trio have mustered just 66 points between them, ensuring they will break the Premier League record for the lowest points tally for three relegated clubs. The previous low was 76, set by Cardiff, Fulham and Huddersfield in 2018-19.
While Luton are the only Premier League club who have not had a player sent off this season, perhaps the most remarkable feature of Burnley’s demise has been the seven red cards they have received over the course of 37 matches. Only six clubs have had more players sent off in a Premier League season – Leicester (1994-95), West Ham (1999-2000), Blackburn (1998-99) and Newcastle (2008-09) had eight dismissed. Sunderland and Queens Park Rangers share the record for the most red cards, having received nine in 2009-10 and 2011-12, respectively.
Burnley had an excellent disciplinary record before this season. It seems odd that this slump in standards should happen under Vincent Kompany’s watch. As a player, the Belgian was a refined centre-back who rarely put a foot wrong or resorted to the darker arts. He was sent off just three times in 265 Premier League appearances. As a manager he has tried to implement a passing style and one would hardly associate him with a robust approach, especially compared to his predecessor at Turf Moor.
Sean Dyche’s image is much more uncompromising, but his team were saints compared to Kompany’s sinners. Under Dyche, Burnley set a Premier League record of 119 matches without having a player sent off. There were 1,164 days – more than three years – between Robbie Brady’s dismissal against Huddersfield in January 2019 and Nathan Collins receiving his marching orders against Brentford in March 2022. Under Dyche, Burnley picked up just six red cards in 258 matches across seven years; under Kompany they have already exceeded that number in 37 games.
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In an interview with the Burnley Express a few years ago, Dyche highlighted his team’s excellent disciplinary record, saying: “We’re this ‘rough’ side with no sendings off in 90 games. How can you be rough if you have no sendings off in 90 games? I don’t know where the reputation comes from – probably because the manager has a skinhead and the players try hard. I’m bereft of reasons. I just marvel at the madness.”
The pattern of Burnley’s indiscipline this season was set from the off. In their first match, at home to Manchester City, substitute Anass Zaroury was sent off in stoppage time for a dangerous lunge on Kyle Walker. The Moroccan’s red card was a landmark in itself – the first (and so far only) time a Burnley player has been sent off at Turf Moor in the Premier League. Their other 15 red cards have all been dished out in away games.
Zaroury kicked things off, literally, and the red cards kept coming for Burnley: Lyle Foster had a goal disallowed before he was sent off for an elbow at Nottingham Forest in September; Connor Roberts picked up two yellow cards at Brentford in October; Sander Berge was booked twice at Aston Villa in December; Josh Brownhill was shown a straight red for hauling down Crystal Palace player in February; Lorenz Assignon gave away a penalty on his way to being sent off in a 2-2 draw at Chelsea in March; and Dara O’Shea was shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on Dwight McNeil at Everton in April.
Kompany even got in on the act, being sent off against Chelsea for arguing with the referee about a red card shown to one of his players. Speaking after his own dismissal, Kompany complained that his side had been on the wrong end of a series of poor decisions throughout the campaign. “When it’s one game or one event, it’s always debatable,” he said. “But for us it’s the succession of it and the effects on points and the effects on our season. All of that gives you a feeling. It makes you more angry when the next one comes.”
Unfortunately for Kompany, his patience has been tested many times this season.
Source: theguardian.com
