Massimo Cellino has been cleared in an Italian court of tax-evasion, however this case relates to the transfer of two players during his time at the helm of Calgiari eight years ago.

The official club feeds were buzzing over Cellino's acquittal on Thursday, however it will have no impact whatsoever on the second football league ban Cellino faces. Earlier this year, he was convicted of avoiding VAT on a Range Rover back home in Italy. He has won a stay of execution from a ban under the "fit and proper persons test" but this is by virtue of his lawyers pushing an appeal through the Italian courts.

The majority Leeds shareholder might be forgiven for thinking his luck is changing. This time last week fans were up in arms over allegations the entire team was up for sale, a further claim that he'd interfered with team-tactics during our 1-0 loss at QPR and the well-publicised £5 "pie tax" unleashed on South Stand regulars.

Protests were planned and a group called SS5 called for supporters to walk-out for 17 minutes on the 17th minute of the game against Hull City last Saturday. However just a handful of fans left the stands and some even traded blows amongst themselves. I must point-out that the first-half against the Tigers was the best-performance we'd seen at home all season so maybe that hindered a few from voting with their feet?

Meanwhile Leeds boss Steve Evans has shrugged off reports that we could lose the services of Liam Bridcutt in January to his old club Brighton, who apparently want to buy him back from Sunderland when the transfer window re-opens in three-weeks time.

The 26-year-old had a memorable home debut against Hull and put in a stirring display; breaking up Hull attacks and helping drive our own unusually vibrant attacking line forward. Evans joked he knew where another Bridcutt could be found if he did leave and appeared to blame journalists and agents for drumming up such stories.

One swallow doesn't make a summer and as Evans rightfully pointed out, it was a team-effort that trumped the Tigers last weekend. Maybe it's a little too-soon to hail Bridcutt as our ultimate saviour, he certainly looked superior to what we've been used to down the years and let's hope like the team as a whole he can find some consistency starting with the trip to Charlton tomorrow.

Photo: Action Images

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