Sam Allardyce claimed that Newcastle United player Isaac Hayden’s tackle on Dennis Praet would have been perfectly legal in his day.
Hayden, who has been one of Newcastle’s most reliable players over the last two years, slid in against Dennis Praet to win the ball. However, his follow-through caught the Belgian and the referee pulled out the red card without much hesitation.
The former Arsenal man will now miss hugely important games against Manchester United, Chelsea and Wolves which would be a massive blow for the Magpies. Sam Allardyce, who managed Newcastle United for six months in 2007, came into Hayden’s defence and claimed that the decision would have been completely different a few years ago.
He said: “They did go down to ten men [against Leicester] with a tackle that would have been perfectly legal in our day. He played the ball but his momentum carries him straight through into the opposition player and everyone calls that one reckless.”
“I would like to know how you do that tackle. He couldn’t stand on his feet because he was too far away. I understand he catches the lad as he goes through the ball and we don’t want to see players injured but it is very difficult to make that decision,” Allardyce said.
His dismissal made it easy for Leicester to break them down as they ran riot in the second half. Bruce will be under a lot of pressure after having won just one of their first seven games so far.
The next few games will be of massive importance for the manager as well as the club and if their form fails to pick up, Bruce might find himself out before the end of the year.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
