With Kiko Casilla between the sticks, Leeds United started this season at a gallop. He was then accused of racially abusing Charlton’s on-loan West Brom striker Jonathan Leko. That brought about an FA charge that is due to be heard this week according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein.
Casilla started the current campaign like what you’d expect from a former Real Madrid stopper with Champions League experience. The clean sheets racked up behind a mean defence and he looked imperious. Then, in the 1-0 loss to Charlton at The Valley, he was accused of allegedly racially abusing Leko and it is safe to say that his form has dropped since then.
Errors have crept into his game, some of them glaring and costing Leeds points. Such has been the perceived decline that a section of the Whites fanbase has been all over social media and all over Casilla. The negative comments that he has received tells you more about the fickle nature of some United fans than it does about what they see as a decline in Casilla.
His plea for a personal hearing into matters was granted by the FA in a case that has now dragged on since late-September. However, The Athletic’s Ornstein says that there is light at the end of the tunnel with an FA disciplinary panel due to rule on the case this week. Both Casilla and Leko are due to give evidence with discussions expected to conclude on Thursday.
Ornstein says that Leko’s accusation will be supported by Charlton striker Macauley Bonne with former Leeds loanee Eddie Nketiah plus “as many as six of Casilla’s Leeds team-mates” expected to appear in front of the hearing’s panel. Ornstein also gives details of other support that Casilla will be receiving including character statements from former club Real Madrid and his former goalkeeping coach at Espanyol, Thomas N’Kono – the former Cameroon international.