The Magpie's +/- Force Ranking Updated, as of 2-Oct

We have come to an international break and so here is an update on our player's 'plus/minus' rankings.  The first ranking provided was just prior to the Aston Villa game (1:1) with, of course, successive contests against Norwich (4:3) and Rotherham (1:0).  The opposition have scored three times since the last ranking while our lads have rippled the net on six occasions.  The chart:

The largest movers are Atsu and Gayle by picking up a +3 on their season numbers.  Several players were +2 over this stretch of matches while many others did not have any change in there season-to-date totals.  Only Tiote moved backwards having previously not played and was on the pitch as a sub for a late goal against.

A player's plus/minus can be a little misleading in too narrow of a time frame (positive or negative) but does point to a player's consistency and impact for the team over a longer period of time.

Clarifying the measuring methodology:  Borrowing the common force-ranking system used in hockey, this is a ranking of which players were on the field when the most favorable goals were scored and the fewest goals against went into the net.  A 'goal for' is a +1 and a 'goal against' is a -1. Add up all the numbers and there is a total to compare to the other players in the squad. The list above is for all competitions and includes players that made the field of play.  Some have since been transferred away or loaned out.