Even before this gameweek, the card count at QPR left a lot to be desired. Under both Neil Warnock and Mark Hughes, the R’s saw themselves top the table for red cards received, with five dismissals previously racked up. So when another sending off occurred this week – making it six in thirty games (though incidentally their first away from home) – it wrote another line in the chequered disciplinary record of the Loftus Road team.
The red card this week went to the one man entertainment show that is Djibril Cissé. Having arrived at the club at the end of January, Cissé promptly scored on his debut the following day, but a straight red in the next game against Wolves saw him sit out the following three. Back from suspension and immediately amongst the goals, his two strikes in two saw some renewed Fantasy investment, but a two-footed lunge on Sunderland’s Frazier Campbell at the weekend and subsequent four-match ban (as a result of his second straight red) will see a five match record for the Frenchman of: Goal, Red, Goal, Goal, Red. By the time he has served his dues, he’ll have been available for selection for just five of the 12 matches since he signed.
Another to see red this gameweek and head into an enforced rest was Norwich captain Grant Holt. Thanks to two yellow cards (the first, missed by some media outlets, for dissent) Holt was given his marching orders after a late tackle on Wolves’ Michael Kightly and will now miss the trip to Craven cottage against Fulham.
Finally, in yellow card watch, Arsenal centre-back Laurent Koscielny was spared 90 minutes on the high wire against Aston Villa after picking up an injury in the warm-up, while Ryan Shawcross negotiated his game at home to Manchester City without troubling the referee’s pocket either; both go into the next weekend in the same situation, hoping to avoid another yellow before the April 8 deadline.
GAMEWEEK 31 BANS
- Grant Holt (Nor) – 1 Red for 2 Yellows (1 match)
- Djibril Cissé (QPR) – 1 Red for serious foul play (first of 4 matches)
