Ultra-Violence Or Referee Bias; Why Do Chelsea Get So Many Red Cards?

Posted by

Mere months into the Chelsea job and Avram Grant is fitting in just fine with the Premier League big boys. After the 2-0 win over Derby County, Grant was left fuming at the constant injustices suffered by his team. Essien was sent off towards the end of the match, the third player red-carded in Grant’s 13-game tenure, and the Israeli was left bemoaning his team’s treatment at the hands of bloodthirsty referees.
In classic ‘No offence but…’ style, Grant grumbled:

“I don’t like to speak against referees. I’ve not done it many times in my life and I don’t want to do it now, especially as it’s the referee’s first year in the Premier League. But I had a feeling — and they told me before I came to Chelsea and it’s true — that we are an easy target for getting red cards. We got them against Manchester United and against Fulham and both times we lost points. Everybody saw that it was not a red card today. I don’t like the idea that we are an easy target. I don’t like it and everybody needs to think about it.”

So are Chelsea, like Manchester United, natural victims that are so frail and innocent that they need others to stand up for them or is it the referees who are acting with reckless abandon?