Sheaf Saint

I'm not advocating that it was a nailed on pen, I'm just pointing out that it didn't appear to me to be a clear-cut dive that some are making it out to be. Yes if I was a Villa fan tonight I probably would be aggrieved that it was given, but I would be just as livid with my defender for putting in such a terrible tackle in the box and inviting trouble in the first place.

The instant he decides to drag his foot back, he's only going one way and that's down. Whether he did that deliberately to con the ref or to avoid a potentially bad tackle, only he will know. He should have been aware that if he left his foot in there would definitely have been contact which would have warranted a penalty so there would be no need to dive for it, unless he just didn't fancy getting injured.

Again, depends how you see it. If you look where his trailing leg is when he plays the ball, he can't jump forward out of the tackle because he's already at full stretch. The only way to move his right foot out of the way of the tackle is backwards, and given the position of his other foot (almost on tiptoe) it's no surprise he went over like a sack of potatoes.

Not at all surprising to see Paul Lambert complaining about the bad decision. If I was him I would be far more concerned about his centre backs putting in such rash tackles. Watching it again, whether J-Rod dived or was just pulling his foot out of the way is kind of irrelevant... The tackle from the defender was nowhere near the ball and had J-Rod not reacted to it then it would have been an absolute stonewall penalty, as he would have been in a potential goalscoring position. It's entirely possible that's why the ref gave it in fact.

There was another really nasty-looking one on Cork right near the end, but because he didn't go down and just got on with it, the ref didn't even give the free kick despite being right in front of it when it happened.

Sounded great on the stream I was watching. As opposed to the Villa fans who booed their team off at half time, booed them off at full time (despite them putting in a spirited late attempt to claw something back), and were even ungracious enough to boo when Shaw was being stretchered off - bunch of classless idiots. I expect it's the same fans who got all shirty when our home fans committed the heinous crime of failing to join in with their 19-minute clappy thing earlier in the season, despite not having a clue what it was all about.

Did you actually see it?

If he deliberately dived to try and con the referee then why can he be seen afterwards saying to the ref "He didn't touch me" and looking quite embarrassed that it's been given? For me there is a clear distinction here from the kind of cynical playacting you expect from somebody like Suarez for example.

Christ, another dreadful clearance from Hooiveld that just put us straight back under pressure.

Well Gaston hasn't really been involved much in the 2nd half and Villa are getting in down our left quite a bit, so it kinda makes sense to bring Fox on there to give us better cover.

That's a strange sub!

What the hell has happened to the calm, composed Saints team that ended the first half?

Why can't Hooiveld ever find a team-mate with his clearances?

Never a foul. The villa player was backing into Puncheon if anything.

How the fook did Benteke miss that follow-up!?

I don't think he dived. It looked to me like he was just trying to withdraw his right foot from the tackle so he didn't get injured. Had he not done that, there definitely would have been contact and it would still have been a penalty. He also appeared to suggest to the ref that he wasn't fouled, so you can't say he deliberately tried to con the ref with a cynical dive.

In fairness, Williams and Telfer were not in our 2003 cup final squad. WGS was lucky in that he inherited an already decent squad of players that came good under his fitness coaching, and it was after we lost the best of those players (Bridge, Beattie etc...) that we began to decline. His record in the transfer market was actually really poor IMO.

http://gizmodo.com/5942634/nasa-starts-development-of-real-life-star-trek-warp-drive?utm_source=deadspin.com&utm_medium=recirculation&utm_campaign=recirculation I wonder how much tickets for the inaugural flight will cost? I want one!

Meanwhile... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20937509

I can't watch any more.

Cork had a great game at RB against Arsenal the other day, but he's giving Mata far too much time and space on the ball today.

What with all their financial problems and precarious league position, a good cup run will be good for morale and put some money in the coffers. Oh, hang on....

So President Fernandez has sent an open letter to David Cameron in the form of an advert in the Guardian eh? What on Earth makes her think David Cameron reads the Guardian?

Indeed, at least JR's shot was on target. I thought the keeper actually made a good save. At first watching it did look like a pretty unforgivable miss from Guly but on repeat showings it did come back to him a little bit fast, although I would still expect a PL player to hit the target with it. I thought he had an OK game yesterday overall, and if he can repeat it in the next 2-3 games then he will go a long way towards silencing his critics (of whom I admit to being one in the recent past), but there is no ignoring the fact that his cross to set up the first goal yesterday was his first assist in over a calendar year which, for an attacking player, is inexcusable.

No, not by a long shot.