Leeds United received their third red card in as many games in their most recent Championship clash.
Several Leeds fans have taken to Twitter in the wake of the Whites’ defeat to Millwall on Saturday to express their disappointment that Kyle Bartley is no longer at Elland Road after Liam Cooper picked up a red card in the loss.
Bartley joined before the start of last season, signing on a season-long loan. And while it was ultimately a disappointing end to the campaign, with Leeds missing out on the top six, getting the centre-back signed permanently seemed to be near the top of many supporters’ wishlists.
The former Arsenal trainee established himself as a real leader in the Leeds team and his presence seemed to have a major impact on the likes of Pontus Jansson and Luke Ayling.
However, he would remain at Swansea City for this season. In his absence, it is fair to suggest that Liam Cooper has largely stepped up, forming a very good partnership with Jansson after being a clear third-choice last term.
Unfortunately however, Cooper has struggled to eliminate all of the mistakes from his game, and fans were reminded of that at the weekend when he picked up his second red card of the season – both of which have come in the first-half – after a rash challenge when Leeds were 1-0 down.
Like Eunan O’Kane’s dismissal the week before, the frustration surrounding Cooper’s red was exacerbated by the Whites losing, with Millwall running out 4-3 winners in dramatic fashion at Elland Road.
The Leeds captain will now miss the next four games, and that has prompted a number of fans to ask Andrea Radrizzani to do anything that is possible to bring Bartley back.
It seems to be an almost impossible task for Leeds at this stage given that he has featured more prominently for the Swans since returning from injury, but it certainly highlights that the Whites fans are not entirely convinced by the partnership of Jansson and Cooper.
Here is what some of the Leeds fans had to see about Bartley after Cooper’s red…
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