Leandro Bacuna - Sold

[Axl Rose]

It was harsh on Bacuna but I'd still like to see a line drawn under his career now. He's a brain fade waiting to happen and at his best is nothing more than mediocre. The vast majority of the time he's piss poor. I don't want to see him play for the club again. Chance after chance after chance. He's had his time, now we should fuck him off.

I agree. I've had my fill of stupid footballers, as well as shit ones, and unfortunately he fits both categories.

I completely agree I file Bacuna along side with Gabby Lescott Richards.

Me too. I can't stand the three of them. They're all crap players with crap attitudes. Bruce would win alot more fans if he just got rid of these ******.

[aj2k77]

Bruce has said himself that with Bacuna it's all about him and nothing else, fuck him off in the Summer, he's crap anyway, get a few quid from a mug punter and move on.

[Clampy]

I do like Bacuna. I think he's a useful player to have around the squad bearing in mind he tends to play a lot of his time out of position.

[N'ZMAV]

Bruce has said himself that with Bacuna it's all about him and nothing else, fuck him off in the Summer, he's crap anyway, get a few quid from a mug punter and move on.

Yeah - might as well flog him, we wouldn't miss him.

[cdbearsfan]

I, for one, am shocked that a Manchester United player has had a ban which is half as long, for a much more serious offence than that committed by an Aston Villa player.

[KevinGage]

Back in the good ol' days, Yanited could decapitate a referee and a compliant media would downplay it as the sort of spirit required to win titles.

Far easier to throw the book at soft targets such as Aston Villa.

[ChicagoLion]

I, for one, am shocked that a Manchester United player has had a ban which is half as long, for a much more serious offence than that committed by an Aston Villa player.

The FA consider any physical altercation with an official as the most heinous crime.
You can sort of understand it when you consider the example it could set and the problems they are facing with recruiting and retaining referees at grass roots level.

[tomd2103]

I, for one, am shocked that a Manchester United player has had a ban which is half as long, for a much more serious offence than that committed by an Aston Villa player.

Not really.  I would say both the incidents at Old Trafford would have been red cards had they been seen and would have got an automatic ban.  I would say that had serious injury been sustained in either incident, then a further ban would have been merited.

Bacuna's offence was a different type of offence to those two, but given some of the punishments that have been dished out for similar offences, six games does seem a bit extreme on reflection.  The four game ban given to the player who pushed the ref at Hillsborough would have sufficed. 

[Dave Cooper please]

I'm happy with the six game ban if it now sets the precedent and EVERY time a player touches an official when disagreeing with a decision he gets at least a six game ban.

[cdbearsfan]

A rule which, we all know, will be abandoned the second that the offender is wearing a red shirt.

[LeeB]

I'm happy with the six game ban if it now sets the precedent and EVERY time a player touches an official when disagreeing with a decision he gets at least a six game ban.

I think it should be more like 10

[trevor fisher]

dc dave collett is the only one to raise the bigger issue, how the FA treat the villa. Really this needs to be a separate thread and one should be started, taking up the contrast between Ibrahimovic and Bacuna. Leo was out of order, no one disputes he was and should be punished. But a three match suspension increased to 6? Is that fair? And if not, does this and the history deserve to be questioned?

I think it does, and the punishment for the pitch invasion still rankles. Yes fans should not be on the pitch and the club deserved to be fined. But the comments from the media (another problem for villa) were out of line and need to be put into the pot. This was not a return to the 80s, Villa does not have a violent fan base as the arrest tally shows.

While some of the posts have seen the 6 match ban as  appropriate for touching an official, had the Mings - Ibrahimovic incidents resulted in serious injury, then there would have been an outcry. Media comment has been muted. Yet Mings seemed to stand on the head of the swede - and he is contesting the charge, so we need to wait to see what happened - but Ibrahimovic has accepted a charge of violent conduct for elbowing Mings. And got pushed to the ground in what Bournemouth players saw as an outrage.

So the punishments seem out of line, even if as has been said the touching of an official is seen as a higher offence, 4 game ban for a similar offence has been quoted.

The underlying issue is whether VIlla are treated fairly by the authorities and the media, and if we can divorce this from Leo who is not a popular player then lets look at the bigger picture. And just to put the historical perspective into the frame, we are two months away from the 60th anniversary of the last cup win. And the MacParland- Wood clash. Peter Mac has long since been tried and convicted by the media, for an incident which was not his fault and was legal in the rules of the day.

We are likely to hear more about that in May, and be tarnished with winning the cup by foul play. If Villa are now regarded as a dirty club, and may have been given that image 60 years ago, its time to address that image problem. Its gone on too long.

[SoccerHQ]

Did the FA release the reasons for the increased ban...they do that for a lot of disciplinary cases now like Wenger a few weeks back.

I too think 4 games is the precent. I just assumed they added more due to Bacuna not apolgising after the game so lack of contrition means a couple more on top of the standard ban.

[trevor fisher]

what the FA has said to justify this is obscure, but pales into insignificance against the bans handed out to serious violence missed by the ref in the Man u - Bournmouth game. Mings has now had a 5 match ban for deliberately  stamping on the head of the swede. Ibrahimovic has a three match ban for elbowing Mings, presumably in retaliation and leading to him being pushed to the ground and potentially leading to a mass brawl.

Leo gets 6 matches, tho it is said here that perhaps it was increased becauase he didn't say sorry. Like a politician, perhaps? They are always saying sorry.

The issue is not about Bacuna, its about fairness. As with the fine for the crowd invasion and other incidents where villa get stamped on, the authorities and media seem to have it in for the club

Which raises the wider issue, where the club lost its pride. We don't excuse what Leo did, but why there are comments about Leo and not the way the club has been treated over the years is a mystery. The world sees us as a failed institution, and that was so under Lerner. But its time to get our pride back, starting with questioning why we and our players get treated in ways that are out of order.

[dave.woodhall]

Infamy... Infamy...