Jose Mourinho will probably not like to read this but it is now official, Chelsea are the worst behaved team in the Premier League when it comes to respecting officials. The London club have been widely criticised for surrounding match officials all through this season, even if manager Mourinho, has repeatedly insisted his team are the victims of a ‘campaign’ by the authorities and media. Unfortunately for him though there now is data, compiled by Football Association Fair Play delegates, who attend every top flight match and mark teams for their behaviour, which proves that Mourinho’s sideshow the least respect towards match officials and are second worst when it comes to the behaviour of club staff on the touchline.When assessing behaviour towards the referee and his assistants, teams are marked out of seven and guidelines published on the Premier League website state: “A positive attitude, including the acceptance of doubtful decisions without protest, will be rewarded with high marks. Normal behaviour without any particular positive attitudes or gestures towards match officials is likely to receive a score of 6 rather than 7.”
As is well know to the top football tipster, the official table ranks Chelsea as the worst for respecting officials, with Liverpool the best and the picture is not much better when it comes to the behaviour of club staff, including the manager himself on the touchline.
The official guidelines state: “Positive and negative aspects of the team officials’ conduct will be assessed such as whether they calm down or provoke angry players or fans and how they accept the decisions of the referee. Co-operation with the media will also be taken into account.” A top football prediction know that in this characteristic, Chelsea end up second worst to Sunderland and in terms of overall fair play this season, West Ham emerge as the Premier League’s cleanest side, something which might come as a surprise to Sam Allardyce’s band of critics at Upton Park and beyond.In addition to respecting referees and the behaviour of team officials, clubs are marked on the positivity of their football (defined as “attacking tactics, acceleration of the game, efforts to gain time, and continued pursuit of goals”), the number of red and yellow cards they accumulate, respect shown towards opponents and the behaviour of fans. These are then aggregated out to produce an overall ‘fair play rating’. A sports betting expert knows that if West Ham finish top of the table, they could earn a place in next season’s Europa League even if for this to happen, England’s overall fair play rating must be in Europe’s top three for the Premier League to be awarded a place, and it currently sits third behind Ireland and Holland.