Jim White, Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy disagree over Luke Ayling standing after Leeds United red card
Jim White says Luke Ayling could be to blame for Leeds United’s relegation after his red card against Arsenal, but Simon Jordan and Danny Murphy have defended him.
The Whites defender was shown a straight red card for a needless two-footed tackle on Gabriel Martinelli in the first half, as Jesse Marsch’s side slipped into the relegation zone following a 2-1 defeat.
But while discussing the incident live on talkSPORT on Monday [May 9], the three hosts went back and forth on the incident and ultimately disagreed on how much this red card could be to blame in the bigger picture of their season.
“I think in the moment you’d probably go in there, have a bit of a ding dong and give him some,” Murphy said, when asking how he’d react to a teammate doing what Ayling did.
“But then you’d look at the bigger picture and say he’s been tremendous for a long time and it’s very out of character for him. He’s been reliable, one of the better performers over the last couple of seasons.
Jordan then asked, “What was he doing? What do you think when you look at it as a former player, I mean he’s trying to clear him out isn’t he?
Murphy replied emphatically saying, “I think if it wasn’t in front of the Leeds fans he wouldn’t have done it.”
But then White went one step further and suggested that fans of the Elland Road club could hold it against him.
“Leeds fans will remember Ayling if Leeds go down. They’ll remember what he did there, that rush of blood to the head. Because cleaning someone out equals red card.
But Jordan quickly disagreed, claiming that the defender had plenty of credit in the bank at the club.
“I’m not sure on that,” he said. “He’s got enough credit in the bank.
“Two weeks ago against Wolves he was a different animal in their eyes. They’re in trouble now. I know he can’t [help them] but that’s a moment in time.
“You can’t define that season by that moment. Because you can pull back and say if he hadn’t have been in that moment against Wolverhampton Wanderers then they might not have got the result they got in that particular game. So he has credit in the bank.”
Shocker
There’s no doubt about it that what Ayling did was incredibly stupid and he was totally caught up in the moment when he went flying into the tackle.
But to think that the fans would turn on him after this one incident, when he’s done so many good and positive things for the club this season alone is absolutely crazy thinking from White.
Jordan and Murphy are spot on. Ayling has got plenty of credit in the bank with fans and while they’ll know that he made a mistake, they’ll also know he’d never hurt the team intentionally.
Ultimately it won’t be that card that is the difference between staying up and going down. Leeds were already 2-0 down in the game, and it’s the goal difference from the beatings earlier in the season that have got them in the bottom three with just three games remaining of the season.
In other Leeds news, Gary Neville shares how much relegation will cost Leeds and Andrea Radrizzani will be terrified