'From what I've heard' – Matt Murray makes surpise claim about Casilla FA charge
There was a lot of talk about Kiko Casilla last night after the Leeds United goalkeeper made another howler – probably his worst of the season – to gift Brentford the opening goal at Griffin Park.
Fans want to see him dropped and others wondered whether the upcoming FA hearing for racist abuse was playing on his mind.
That stems from an incident in the game against Charlton back in September and it’s a real surprise it’s taken this long for it to be heard.
There was another surprise on the topic of the FA charge from Matt Murray on The Debate on Sky Sports (Tuesday, 10pm).
Murray was talking about Casilla and said that he thought the keeper was to blame for the terrible run Leeds have been on since the Cardiff game in mid-December.
“I feel that the game against Cardiff against Elland Road… he made a mistake, and I think that’s set this run off for Leeds,” Murray said.
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“I’m telling you now, if you don’t trust your goalkeeper, tonight, the ball went under his foot, he has to deal with that.
“That’s how Leeds play, they build from the back. After that, you’ve got a mountain to climb. I don’t care, if you can’t trust your keeper you’re in trouble.”
However, it was what he said about the FA hearing that gave us a jolt.
Talking about whether the case was weighing on Casilla’s mind, Murray said, “From what I’ve heard, quite rightly, he wasn’t found guilty.”
Now, Murray has obviously got it a bit wrong – the hearing hasn’t actually happened yet, although there is a possibility that the charge could be dropped.
But not a lot has been said about what actually happened, what was said and what Casilla has said about the incident.
It sounds like Murray has heard something, though, and that it reflects well on Casilla – to the extent that he thinks Casilla is innocent.
If Casilla is found guilty of racist abuse then he will deserve his ban.
However, if he’s done nothing wrong and this case has been drawn out for almost five months for nothing, then Leeds will have been hurt unnecessarily and the FA will have a case to answer themselves.
In other Leeds United news, ‘One of the worst signings in our history; Sack him’ – Many Leeds fans savage player v Brentford