David O'Leary could face a lengthy touchline ban following his sending off during yesterday's volatile 0-0 draw with Chelsea at Elland Road. The Leeds boss was dismissed at half-time after his confrontation with referee Paul Durkin which was provoked by Graeme Le Saux's horror tackle on Danny Mills just before the break.
The Dubliner, fully expecting to be summoned by the FA, has already vowed to fight whatever charge they impose in an effort to avoid a potential touchline ban. Mills was left with stud marks from his hip to his knee down his left thigh following Le Saux's two footed lunge, which O'Leary has described as disgraceful.
O'Leary is determined to take on the FA as he believes Durkin made a mistake in not giving Le Saux, acting captain in the place of the injured Marcel Desailly, a red card. He insisted: "I will have my say when I go and see the FA. I did lose my temper and I had a go at the referee and the linesman because I was so incensed with the tackle. I'm not proud of myself, but I hope Paul Durkin, who is a decent referee, when he sees what happened will realise why I was so angry. We get so many wishy-washy cards handed out at times, but for the good of the game the players and the supporters, these are the tackles you want referees to make decisions on and punish people on, not for somebody falling over their handbag."
He continued: "Two-footed tackles should result in a mandatory sending-off. Things like that really enrage me and when I played I hated that type of thing. I don't condone it, and when it happens you want the referee to stamp it out straight away. Danny could have had a badly broken leg. You want to see the state of his leg, anyway. Those tackles should be eradicated from the game. There should only be one colour card for that type of incident and the game would be better off for it."
O'Leary is adamant he did not use foul and abusive language towards Durkin, who when asked for his version of events would only say: "That is between myself, David O'Leary and the FA."
The Leeds manager, who had never been sent-off in a glittering playing career with Arsenal, Leeds and the Republic, certainly felt aggrieved he was banished and yet Le Saux was allowed to play on as he added: "I cannot believe the linesman (Phil Sharp) - who is only 10 yards away - didn't help in any way. When I confronted Paul I was shouting, but I kept being told to go away. I told him his linesman had not helped in any way and that he had been a joke. When I then saw the incident on the television it made me more crazy. It didn't cool me down. It didn't help me. I've tried to be laid back this season because you cannot win the battle with referees, but after seeing that tackle I couldn't help but get incensed."
Meanwhile, the FA have confirmed that Le Saux will not receive any further punishment as the defender was shown a yellow card for the incident by referee Paul Durkin. Spokesman Adrian Bevington said: "The referee took the decision to caution the player and so the matter was dealt with at the time. No further action will therefore be taken."
Filed by Shane Murray
