SOME of the A-League coaches think they can see a trend, and they're right. These are the statistics that show teams are fouling more, with cynical tactics that some believe are starting to spoil the spectacle of Australian club football. 
Figures compiled by the Fox Sports Lab show that fouls per game are up by more than 13 per cent on last season, with some clubs in particular rather more guilty than others.
On the day of the Big Blue, one of the season's more combustible fixtures, the hard facts are this season it's Melbourne Victory who are comfortably the worst offenders. More than 19 times a game they commit an offence, almost a foul more than the Central Coast, the team closest behind.
Last season's worst, including the finals? Also Melbourne Victory, at 16.7 per game, almost a foul and a half more than anyone else.
Which means Victory's already poor record is considerably worse this season. The figures suggest the team in the A-League with most attacking flair is also its most cynical.
But they're not the only ones, and the overall rise in fouls hasn't gone unnoticed by the referees, who are trying to do something about it.
Various coaches have also commented on it. John Aloisi called on referees to award more early yellow cards, to put players on notice. Graham Arnold claimed there was "a trend of fouls in transition", as teams try to break forward.
Last season, Ernie Merrick claimed Wellington were getting kicked off the park. By way of comparison, the team currently fouling the most in the EPL is Chelsea, at 14 fouls a game. No other side is more than 13.
Put it another way - when Victory play the Mariners, you can expect a foul roughly every 100 seconds. It's impossible for a game to flow.
But the truth is, the referees are trying to stamp it out.
Their boss, Ben Wilson, went to every club in the off-season and warned them that a trend of cynical fouling was apparent, and referees would clamp down on it.
So far this season, yellow cards are up by 35 per cent per game. "We're doing what we said we would but the players aren't responding," Wilson said. "Ultimately teams determine their style and their tactics." The coaches who send weekly emails to Wilson protesting at other team's negative tactics should realise it's probably a waste of time.
One A-League coach summed it up succinctly, in   March."If the fouls are there, they should be given, and the people who make the fouls should be dealt with," said Kevin Muscat - the coach of Melbourne Victory.