Sheaf Saint

In fairness, he didn't appeal for a penalty. Looked to me like he knew he just lost his footing and then got up and got on with it. I can't stand the bloke, but fair play to him in this instance.

How did that actually go in? I'm still confused. He basically mis-controlled it and McCarthy just dived the wrong way

Bit of a harsh booking for Stephens there. Fractionally late and a definite foul, but worthy of a yellow?

I think there is a fault with my stream. It showed Shane Long just score a goal. That can't be right, surely?

Stupid, stupid boy. What on earth was he thinking?

Red card? Who for? My stream is a minute or so behind.

Puel getting angry with the 4th official. Not sure what about.

So was Chilwell. He grabbed Jan round the neck in retaliation. Could have been deemed a red card in itself.

Wow. How did that stat out?

Long offside. Well there's a f*cking surprise.

Well we were all a bit concerned when we saw how shaky the starting lineup looked, but I'm really enjoying this. Ralph has set us up perfectly and we have nullified Leicester's attacking threat and looked the much better team so far. Deserving of the lead.

2-1 Burnley now.

That's looking a lot healthier than it was this morning.

That's a superb tackle from Vestergaard!

What's this commentator on about? Us coming from behind to beat Derby last week? WTF!?

I think it was against WBA, season before last.

Great stuff. No complaints about the penalty decision and perfectly hit by JWP. We've started well. Just have to keep it tight now.

They haven't said it's a tummy bug. They've said it's a stomach injury, which means (I assume) it's a muscular problem with his stomach. Of course it's possible he is still having problems with that after 4 weeks.

Last time he had a chance was earlier this season against Brighton in the cup, and he played very well that night. He has been injured since then.

You do realise it's possible he was carrying a minor injury and playing those games might have aggravated it, don't you? Yes, there is a possibility that he might have a move lined up, but it's perfectly feasible that the club is telling the truth about his injury as well.

And Ings, and Austin, and Bertrand, and Lemina - all unavailable today as well.

JWP and Stephens both have a lot of experience and can do a job when called upon as backup players. Valery shows a lot of promise, and can actually defend, but is nowhere near the finished article. Of the four that are starting, I would say Targett is the only one that really shouldn't be anywhere near our matchday squad. A defender who manages to let his man go past him every single time has no business getting starts in the PL. Hard to judge any of the subs really, given they have so little experience at this level between them.

Just goes to who how dreadful our recruitment has been over the last 4 years that we are STILL in a situation where Shane Long manages to get starts for us. He should have been upgraded and moved on a long time ago.

At the Asia Cup with Japan for the next few weeks (depending on how far they get).

One for the future no doubt, but is that really our priority right now? What we desperately need is players who will hit the ground running and immediately improve our first team. I'm really not convinced a 16 year-old from Motherwell fits that description, no matter how highly rated he is.