VICTOR Wanyama’s three red cards this season means that he has become one of the most indisciplined players in Saints’ history.

The combative defensive midfielder is the only player in the club’s post-Second World War records to ever be sent off three times in a single season.

The Kenyan achieved that shocking record after his dismissal in Saturday’s 1-0 win over West Ham, which was his third in 13 Premier League games.

After also getting red carded against Bournemouth and Norwich earlier this term, he has now been launched to the summit of the bad boy rankings.

He leads the way – surpassing Francis Benali, Rory Delap and Neil Ruddock, who all achieved two reds in one campaign.

Wanyama serves a fivematch ban for his latest offence – although he may feel hard-done-by to see red for the clumsy challenge on Dimitri Payet in the Hammers victory three days ago.

The 24-year-old – considering he has been continually linked with a transfer window exit from St Mary’s – may now only have eight games left in a Saints shirt, with Arsenal and Tottenham reportedly ready to pounce for the former Celtic man.

Wanyama joins another exclusive club. He has now become the seventh player to be sent off three times in the same Premier League season.

Perhaps he was given an invitation on Saturday by current West Ham boss Slaven Bilic, who he joins along with former Wimbledon cruncher Vinnie Jones, David Batty, Craig Short, Frank Queudrue and Wes Brown in that group.

Wanyama is still well away from competing with the likes of Benali, though, who collected 11 red cards during his 15-year Saints career, and in back-to-back campaigns (1996/97 and 1997/98) collected two reds.

In all fairness to Big Vic, during the 1960, 70s and 80s, getting sent off was rare, with officials far more laissezfaire about physical, and sometimes even violent, football.

There are definite grounds for the school of thought that it is much easier to get red carded in this era where high tackles are punished with strong repercussions.

On top of that, the Saints man’s indiscipline has appeared following more than two years without a red card, and two of those dismissals, curiously, have come at the hands of the same referee — Mark Clattenburg.

Previous to his latest misdemeanours, Wanyama had gone 68 league games without getting sent off, a run which stemmed back to March 2013, when he was red carded in a 1-1 draw at St Mirren while he was at Celtic.

Overall, Ronald Koeman’s outfit are seventh in The FA’s disciplinary Premier League table, with 37 yellow cards and Sadio Mane’s dismissal at Liverpool adding to Wanyama’s treble of red.

West Brom lead the way with 46 booking and three players sent off. Newcastle, West Ham and Stoke join Saints on four dismissals.