Sheffield Wednesday have come out bottom of the Championship table for one stat this season.
Sheffield Wednesday spent a significant chunk of the 2023/24 campaign glued to the bottom of the table, but they have since made progress and now sit only a single point from safety.
The Owls have taken huge strides since Danny Rohl was appointed as manager – winning eleven of his 26 games in charge and completely transforming players such as Pol Valentin and Marvin Johnson, well he has also got the best out of loanees in Ike Ugbo and Ian Poveda.
Rohl’s side may not be out of the danger zone yet, but they are looking much better and fans have very few complaints about the performances that the team are putting out.
However, one thing that could be a concern for Sheffield Wednesday is their discipline.
As per transfermarkt, the Yorkshire outfit currently sit bottom of the Fair Play Table for the 2023/24 campaign.
The table is sorted by how many yellow cards (one point), second yellow cards (three points) and straight red cards (five points) a team gets over the course of the season.
The Owls are the only team in the Championship to rack up over 100 points (103), having picked up 82 yellows, two second yellows and three straight reds.
Danny Rohl’s side have picked up the sixth highest number of yellows this term, however their five total red cards takes their tally up significantly, with Blackburn Rovers being the only other side to receive three straight reds.
Sheffield Wednesday are also joined by Birmingham City and Watford in the bottom three, while Bristol City, Leeds United and West Brom are top.
Why are Sheffield Wednesday so dirty?
For the most part, it is the more successful teams that have picked up fewer bookings this term, with the relegation-threatened sides mostly in the bottom half. Though what is surprising is that Rotherham United sit in sixth place, having racked up only 58 yellows.
Ashley Fletcher, Bambo Diaby, Barry Bannan, Di’Shon Bernard and George Byers are the five players to be sent off this term, while five different players have picked up more than five yellow cards so far.
This suggests it is not just one or two badly behaved players, but instead a problem with discipline throughout the team.
Rohl has so far mostly managed to handle the red cards they have endured, but it could have potentially cost them some vital points and could still pose a major problem for them in the final run-in of games.