Good Morning. It's Wednesday 9th October, and here are the Leeds Utd headlines...
Berardi's sending off overturned
Gaetano Berardi’s sending off last weekend against Millwall has been overturned!
The referee James Linington concluding Berardi had denied Tom Bradshaw a clear goal scoring chance when the striker went down in the penalty area. It meant Leeds had to play the majority of the game with 10 men.
Leeds said in a statement: “An Independent Regulatory Commission has removed Gaetano Berardi’s one-match suspension with immediate effect following a claim of wrongful dismissal.
The FA also confirmed that Bradshaw won't be cited for deceiving a match official after it wasn't referred to the panel. The governing body claim as there was contact made by Berardi, however minimal. On that basis it wasn't referred to a three-man panel of ex match officials.
I think what the FA are saying is, its ok to throw yourself down to the ground as if you've been shot as long as there is some kind of contact!
Free agents available to Leeds
There is surprisingly a lot of big named players still without a club, and with the January window still almost three months away is there anyone that you would add to the Leeds Utd squad?
Goalkeepers
Emiliano Viviano
Michel Vorm
Adam Bogdan
Jordan Archer
Defenders
Martin Olsson
Ivan Strinic
Ignazio Abate
Younes Kaboul
Alan Hutton
Marc Wilson
Midfielders
Joe Ledley
Cheikh N'Doye
Yoann Gourcuff
James Morrison
Birkir Bjarnason
Vurnon Anita
Jack Rodwell
Mile Jedinak
Jordan Mutch
Attackers
Wilfried Bony
Ross McCormack
Ben Marshall
Marco Matias
Gary Hooper
Modibo Maiga
Oussama Assaidi
Obafemi Martins
Leeds fan on the mend after eight weeks
Leeds fans have raised more than £1,100 for a fan who fractured his hip in two places after getting knocked out of his seat celebrating Leeds scoring against Nottingham Forest in August.
65-year-old warehouse operator Ronald Bennett, who has been going to Leeds games for 51 years, was sent hurtling down the stairs in the Revie stand, by fans who were rushing towards the pitch to celebrate Pablo Hernandez's goal.
His son said the following...
It has been a traumatic experience for me and my father but also for the other fans who witnessed the accident.
It just shows the true spirit of what being a Leeds family is about and we are proud to see fans pull together to help others.
The surgeon who put in the titanium rods to hold his fracture together gave him four to six months but can take up to 12 months to make a full recovery.
Under the old laws he would now be retired at aged 65, but unfortunately he's unable to get any state pension until September next year.
This has put him in a difficult position financially without any source of income as he does not receive any sick pay.
I’m his eldest son and supporting him financially and domestically where I can to ensure that he isn’t under any additional pressure to make ends meet.
I just want him to have a stress free recovery and focus on himself.
We just need fans going to the game to be aware of when their team is scoring, the passion and rushing up to the concourse to celebrate a goal and with players can have devastating results.
If someone has no intention of going up to celebrate then don’t force them out if you want to go up. You see photos of limbs at matches but this could involve innocent people who didn’t want to be crushed.
If I am honest, I'm amazed that there are not more injuries of this type! The rows are so compact. Have you ever had an accident or a near accident at a football match?