Noel Whelan has been expressing his opinion on one member of the Leeds United squad, seeming to suggest they would be better off without the 27-year old.

He has offered his assessment of Samuel Saiz.

Saiz came off with six minutes remaining of their 2-1 win against Barnsley this weekend, but reacted petulantly which drew the wrath of Whelan.

"Petulance, childish, not a team player there," he said on BBC Radio Leeds. "And as for doing things like that in front of the children sitting right behind you watching, what sort of an example is that?"

It isn't the first time Saiz has set a bad example on the field having been dismissed for spitting at a Newport player in this season's FA Cup.

Whelan went on to mention that as he appeared to suggest Leeds would be better off without the player.

"You've probably done the two worst things that you'd want to do as a footballer, which is spitting at another opponent and then coming off here when you're winning the game, you should be supporting your teammates, supporting your manager, and in the end you prefer to go in there and start kicking boards and water bottles about, slapping your shin pads around. That is not what I would want in the changing room.

"Yes, he's got skill, but do you need that around? Do you really need people like that that think they're above the manager and above the other players? No, you do not."

Saiz has scored nine times in 36 outings since joining from SD Huesca in the summer.

The Verdict

Whelan is absolutely right here, Saiz is not setting a good example on the field and his performances are not important enough to have his other indiscretions overlooked.

If he was an Eric Cantona-style genius, tainted but turning Leeds into a Premier League side, maybe he could be forgiven.

He isn't though, he's not having a significant impact and his behaviour is simply demeaning to fans who pay hard-earned money every week.