16 Reasons Why Newcastle Have Gone From Mid-Table Mediocrity To Relegation Fodder

13. The Seemingly Endless String Of Red Cards And Suspensions

Mike Williamson's red cards against Aston Villa and Leicester City (three games collectively), Moussa Sissoko's against West Ham United and Liverpool (three games collectively), Steven Taylor's against Chelsea (one game), Fabricio Coloccini's against Everton (three games), as well as Daryl Janmaat's against the Foxes (one game) are Newcastle's sendings-off from this season. In terms of yellow-card-accumulation suspensions, Jack Colback has been banned for three matches, Williamson for one and Sissoko for one. Add in Papiss Cisse's retrospective bans for elbowing Everton's Seamus Coleman (three games) and for spitting in Manchester United defender Jonny Evan's face (seven games), and the number of collective suspensions rises once more. In all, Newcastle players have been suspended for a combined 25 matches - and more than 20 of those games have been since Carver took charge. Discipline - or a distinct lack of it - has cost the Magpies dear in the second-half of the season.