At last we have a bit of good news in the wake of the depressing defeat by Rotherham United. Gaetano Berardi has had his three-match suspension reduced by one game.
A statement on the official site says "while the club does not condone Berardi’s actions and fully accepted his sending-off, a reduction in the standard punishment of a three-match ban was sought and successfully won upon appeal.”
This was on the grounds that a three match man was excessive in the circumstances. In other words, Berardi only reacted in the way that most people would have done after being whacked in the face by a flailing elbow and left with a suspected broken nose. I’m still not convinced he actually committed a sending off offence, as all he did was push Leon Best in the chest, but he might have got the red card for his overall reaction.
He still misses the games at QPR on Saturday and at home to Hull the following week, but he’s now available for the match after that, which is away to Charlton. It’s a shame when he’s been playing quite well in an unfamiliar position at left back, and seemed to have curbed the rash side of his personality that saw him pick up two red cards in quick succession at the start of last season.
It remains to be seen how we will cope in his absence if Charlie Taylor doesn’t recover in time to reclaim the left back role by the weekend. Will we move Wooton to left back while putting Sam Byram back in the team to play on the right? Or will our highly rated young full back Lewie Coyle make his first team debut?
Some will tell you it’s a shame that Bellusci escaped punishment for sneakily whacking Best in the face as the fracas developed. It was behind the referee’s back as he dealt with the exploding Berardi on the touchline, but clearly visible on the TV and he could have been done by video evidence. If it wasn’t for the fact that we’re already running out of defenders through injury and suspension, I wouldn’t have been sorry to see our most unreliable player ruled out for a couple of games.