Chris Sutton has told BBC Radio 5 Live’s Monday Night Club that he is “baffled” by Sam Allardyce deciding not to change Leeds United’s penalty taker – after Patrick Bamford missed his spot kick against Newcastle on Saturday.
It has been a difficult period for Bamford. The 29-year-old deleted Twitter last week after a video emerged of his misses, following his sitter against Leicester. Then, the missed penalty saw he and his family receive death threats.
Leeds have condemned the Tweets, and fans have responded by defending Bamford and underlining their support for him and his family. But, the fact remains, he missed a penalty at a crucial time – Leeds would have gone 2-0 up.
Having spoken on the disgusting nature of the threats against him and his family, Sutton did state he was “baffled” by Allardyce’s comments after the match – stating that he chose to keep the previous hierarchy of penalty takers.
“I’ve got to say I expected Rodrigo to take the penalty. Didn’t make any sense,” Sutton said, on MNC. “What I am absolutely baffled about is Sam Allardyce saying that he hadn’t designated a penalty taker, he left it up to them.
“It’s a detail like that which ultimately could cost them staying in the Premier League. So I found that, a guy whose attention to detail he’s so precise, that’s a big moment in their season. I think Leeds are down,” Sutton added.
Chris Sutton baffled Sam Allardyce did not change Leeds penalty taker
We at LeedsUnited.News of course, condemn the messages and threats that Bamford and his loved ones have received. Missed penalties are a part of football and Jason Steele put it perfectly, it’s not like he meant to miss.
Sutton does have a point. Why did Allardyce not give the penalty to Rodrigo? He has scored 14 goals this season, who scored his last penalty? The £74k-a-week star’s penalty record for Leeds is five scored, and now three missed.
