West Ham must beware the yellow peril after eight cautions at QPR

Dave Evans, West Ham Correspondent Tuesday, October 2, 2012
6:30 PM

The Hammers clashed head on with card-happy ref Mark Clattenburg on Monday night at Loftus Road

West Ham set an unenviable Premier League record on Monday night at Loftus Road when eight of their players received yellow cards.

Only Guy Demel, Matt Jarvis, Ricardo Vaz Te and Andy Carroll avoided the dreaded yellow peril of referee Mark Clattenburg during the 2-1 victory over Queens Park Rangers.

But looking at the incidents, perhaps only the fouls of George McCartney, Mark Noble and Mo Diame really merited bookings.

Substitute

Ironically, it was a Rangers player who saw red when substitute Samba Diakite received a second yellow card after just 20 minutes on the pitch.

West Ham won the points and also a fine of £25,000 for their misdemeanours, something that did not impress manager Sam Allardyce.

“He hasn’t spoilt our result, but if you look at the spectacle of the game, there were an awful lot of fouls and decisions he gave that he didn’t need to,” summed up the manager afterwards.

You could understand what he meant. This was a typical, robust London derby, with some tough tackling, but nothing looked malicious in what is supposed to be a contact sport.

“He gave an awful lot of yellow cards that nearly spoilt the game,” continued Allardyce.

“We’ve got fined and he’s given 22 fouls against us in a non-physical contest, which is disappointing.

“But it hasn’t affected our performance or our result. What it did do was frustrate everybody.”

West Ham will be called up in front of the FA to explain why eight of their players received cautions and they will have to be careful in the future.

Whether there will be any sanction against the card-happy Clattenburg seems less likely.