Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist hit out at Leeds United fans after what they did
Leeds United fans have been called out by Jeff Stelling and Ally McCoist for their response to Illan Meslier’s costly error against Sunderland.
Speaking on TalkSPORT (7 October, 6:58am), McCoist and Stelling were eventually in agreement that Meslier needed consoling after he allowed a bouncing ball to evade him and find the back of the net.
Junior Firpo, whose supposed winning goal was cancelled out right at the death in the 2-2 draw, was criticised by Stelling for storming down the tunnel at the full-time whistle.
Stelling said: “It’s fair to say that Leeds United fans – they absolutely battered me for trying to defend the goalkeeper.”
McCoist replied: “Can I ask you in which way, shape or form are you trying to defend him?”
Stelling responded: “What I felt was that afterwards – and Leeds fans are going to tell me this is not the case – Junior Firpo had scored, he went straight down the tunnel at the end, no attempt to console the goalkeeper.”
McCoist then said: “Wrong. You’re right then, you’re right.”
Stelling added: “I’m going to get battered for this again now, but that’s what he needs, and when he next plays for Leeds, I hope every single Leeds United fan gets behind him.”
Illan Meslier has trust to rebuild with the Leeds United fanbase
For all the ups and downs the club has gone through since Meslier displaced Kiko Casilla between the sticks in early 2020, the 24-year-old Frenchman has almost exclusively been their number one.
Only a short spell on the bench towards the end of the Whites’ relegation from the Premier League in 2023 saw Meslier taken out of the firing line, but that’s what plenty of fans will be calling for right now.
Karl Darlow, entering his second season as United’s number two, is the obvious choice to replace Meslier at Elland Road, having made an impressive start to his late-blooming international career with Wales.
However, Daniel Farke is not a manager to make sweeping changes on a whim, and it seems likely that he’ll give Meslier the benefit of the doubt to re-discover his form after the Sunderland debacle.
That may not ease the nerves of the Peacocks fanbase when they return to Championship action against Sheffield United on 18 October, and it’s now up to Meslier to show he can still be Leeds’ number one.
In other Leeds news, one journalist has backed the Whites and two other Northern English clubs to get promoted this season.
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