Particularly last season, in which Sunderland boasted the worst disciplinary record in the Premier League. It makes sense in a way - a working-class team will always get behind tough-tackling hard men, and encourage their players to "get into them" during any period of opposition possession. The most consistently popular player in the current squad, the oft-misunderstood Lee Cattermole, actually only picked up one of these red cards. The biggest culprit was one Wesley Brown, somewhat living up to his "Big Bad" moniker. However difficult it is for a team to save a game while a man down, Sunderland fans simply can't help but urge the boys to get stuck in at every opportunity. That's just the way it is on Wearside.
