Unsurprisingly Leeds have today come out and backed Samu Saiz after the Spanish forward was accused of spitting in the face of a Port Vale player. The whole situation seems bizarre, with Michael Brown saying it happened in the 40th minute, and the commentator for the EFL being told it happened in the tunnel.
Brown accused Saiz after the game and said that he had spat in the face of a player during the 40th minute. Watching the game back absolutely nothing happens in that minute of the game, Saiz doesn’t even appear to be near a Port Vale player. Brown also said that it was the reason for the Port Vale bench was so “irate”. He is actually pictured in the minutes after the spitting apparently took place, and he is just casually shouting instructions at his players…so why he said what he did in terms of the bench reaction is very odd.
Now looking back and watching the game back it becomes very clear that the Port Vale players, led by ex-Leeds midfielder Danny Pugh were making a point of letting Saiz know they were not happy. They relentlessly kicked and then verbally abused Saiz, clearly a half time discussion had taken place about the alleged incident. Leeds have said that they “are confident that the referee’s report will vindicate him” after Saiz denied the claim. The FA have also been made aware of the situation but Brown himself has said there is no proof of this. Saiz brushed off the treatment in the second half by scoring two more goals on his debut.
