arbitro

A really interesting appointment and I'll be curious to see how he adapts to international football. I suppose with having fewer games he won't have to deal with dullards like Waggott and Pasha on a regular basis. I wish him well and I will watch Sweden wherever possible and remember him with fondness.

I expect he will be playing for the under 21's at Aston Villa tomorrow.

It all comes down to interpretation and opinion. I happen to believe it was the right outcome and that Endo blocking Colwill was pre conceived. I would support the decision to disallow the goal based on the evidence. In fairness I saw a piece from Klopp who didn't have any real issues with it being disallowed but did say that there should be lots of goals chalked off from now as it happens at most set plays.

Undoubtedly we have conceded far too many goals all season but there was a spike from the Sheffield Wednesday game onwards. I really think most of these were from individual errors from a quite a few players but primarily the keeper.

For me it's a clear and obvious error correctly overturned. Endo was there to block Colwill and allow Van Dyke a clear header and as such deliberately blocked him. A real clue is that Endo isn't looking where the ball is. In my view a clear transgression of the law and correctly ruled out. Blocking is so prevalent right now and in a congested penalty area I think difficult to spot in real time. One of the reasons VAR was introduced was to assist in these type of situations and on this occasion it was the right decision.

I have just checked. Up until the Sheffield Wednesday game in early December we had conceded 26 in 18, an average of 1.44. From then we conceded 27 in 11 (average 2.45) up until Tomasson leaving.

This represents a chance to go through to the FA Cup quarter final and whilst that would be a huge fillip for the fans and players it would also bring in some much needed revenue. I honestly will be hugely disappointed if Eustace plays anything less than his strongest team. I've just been to Ewood and the excitement is building. There were quite a few buying tickets, the catering vans were delivering food and the tv cameras are setting up. I hope we don't dampen that enthusiasm by 'resting' players for a league game nearly four days after.

I actually thought it was the correct decision but the official line was that Endo was offside from the first ball into the penalty area is what I would dispute. Technically he was but didn't interfere with play immediately but then he deliberately blocked Colwill who was marking Van Dyke allowing him a free header. For me the offence is the block rather than the offside it was disallowed for. I think that if he hadn't blocked Colwill then Van Dyke wouldn't have scored.

I think it's too simplistic to say it's predictable as yesterday we played several different ways particularly in the second half. We went long, tried to play through them and also tried to get in behind. For me that is far from predictable and factor in the first half hour at Preston and probably the last half hour at Cardiff when we were on top by playing a diverse game. I accept that for periods at Preston, Birmingham and Cardiff we were predictable but we defended in the really well for most parts. It's early yet and any new manager needs time to weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of the squad so I am prepared to be patient as I believe we all should be. Three goals conceded in his first three games is an important fact particularly after pretty much everyone said we need to tighten up defensively after conceding an average of nigh on two goals per game.

I also think there is an element of arrogance and obstinacy from Kompany in persisting with him. Speaking to some Burnley friends they are more critical of his stubbornness in a few aspects than anything else.

He was criticised for the Preston goal and to crticise Pears for the goal yesterday is doing a massive disservice to a terrifically well placed free kick. I don't believe Wahlstedt has any aspect of his play that is better than Pears. They both have weaknesses but for me Pears inspires much more confidence amongst the players and supporters.

24 of the goals conceded by Wahlstedt were from December 2nd which is the period being referred to.

I'm honestly not sure what 'hoofball' is. One fundamental difference is that we are putting more crosses in from wide positions and creating chances from them. Pears is kicking it more and defenders aren't taking chances but this 'hoofball' term is derogatory as we are also playing some decent stuff. It's a lazy description and often when a manager gets tagged with it if tends to stick. One of the best footballing teams in Norwich only had 8% more possession than us and only 16 more passes in our half than us in theirs. The had quite a few more passes than us in their own half but to me letting them have the ball there was part of the game plan. We also had 60% possession at Cardiff, at Preston we only had 36% and 47% at Birmingham. I personally don't think that typifies 'hoofball'.

He did get bigger though. It was just in the wrong part of his body 😂😂.

Up until the Sheffield Wednesday match in early December we were fine defensively. After that we conceded far too many goals, many of which were from individual mistakes particularly goalkeeper and defenders. Without going over old ground the results fell off a cliff and that is what managers are judged on. But surely up until December you can't have been too unhappy with results.

Bloody hell that's a harsh opinion. I was mightily peed off but at that time I'm sure we were in a playoff position and before the game actually above them.

And it should have been. The look on Adam's face is almost like he's expecting to be sent off. But he wasn't so let's enjoy the moment. 😂😂 You can take the boy out of Blackburn...............

I just saw that too. He was a 70's and 80's maverick who worked hard and played hard too. Supremely talented footballer who entertained us with his terrific skill. RIP.

That makes it even sweeter. Poor Vincent.

I was worried about McFadzean given his age but I have been pleasantly surprised. Positionally he is probably the best we have and his physicality is undoubted. Occasionally he could be prone (along with Hyam) to a ball in behind but today is the first time in four games where it has happened. Playing against a better passing team like Norwich means pushing up a little further to deny them time and space to play. I thought we did this well today as opposed to sitting in deeper like we did against Birmingham and Cardiff who are more direct. It's horses for courses and I'm happy that Eustace recognises this and adjusts his tactics accordingly.

I think loads of problems is exaggerating it. They got in behind a couple of times in the second half as we stood off and allowed McClean time to play a straight ball through. Pears read them both and got there comfortably. And in the games under Eustace so far it's the first time we have been exposed like that. I thought we coped extremely well defensively today.

I thought Szmodics looked knackered today and no wonder. I don't know if it's been posted yet but his wife gave birth to a little girl around 11 am after going to hospital at 2 am. Sammy was with her all the time and turned up at 2 pm to play. His commitment can never be questioned 😁😁. It would have been great for him to score a winner. Congratulations to the Szmodics family.

Today we had ten shots, five of which were on target. Whilst the football isn't as aesthetically pleasing today we can't complain about our efforts on goal and on another day could easily have won. I liked Tomasson and greatly admired what he did and tried to do but I realise that under Eustace things are going to be completely different. I accept that however results over a longer period will determine much more of my opinion. I am not bothered about what any neutrals think to be truthful.

First point I have to makes how inept the referee was. I thought he didn't look interested in the game and lots of decisions both ways were afterthoughts. He just didn't have any empathy with the game and his attitude was questionable, almost like he didn't want to be there. From my view it was a relatively easy match to referee but he made really hard work of it. I enjoyed today's game and I thought we played more football today than we have in the previous three. It was always going to be difficult against an in from footballing team but I'm pleased we had a go at them particularly after going one down. You could make a strong case for the Norwich keeper being their best player and the number of chances we created was impressive. Lots of good performances today but probably most pleasing was Buckley. Hopefully he has got over his issues and will be the player most of us know he can be. We were quite solid defensively but susceptible to balls in behind given our lack of pace but Pears read the situations well and came out quickly. Norwich have some really talented players so I think today is a decent point and given a bit of luck it could have been three. for me it was the best performance of the new managers shirt reign as we mixed up the way we played, absolutely the right thing to do in my opinion.

First point I have to makes how inept the referee was. I thought he didn't look interested in the game and lots of decisions both ways were afterthoughts. He just didn't have any empathy with the game and his attitude was questionable, almost like he didn't want to be there. From my view it was a relatively easy match to referee but he made really hard work of it. I enjoyed today's game and I thought we played more football today than we have in the previous three. It was always going to be difficult against an in from footballing team but I'm pleased we had a go at them particularly after going one down. You could make a strong case for the Norwich keeper being their best player and the number of chances we created was impressive. Lots of good performances today but probably most pleasing was Buckley. Hopefully he has got over his issues and will be the player most of us know he can be. We were quite solid defensively but susceptible to balls in behind given our lack of pace but Pears read the situations well and came out quickly. Norwich have some really talented players so I think today is a decent point and given a bit of luck it could have been three. for me it was the best performance of the new managers shirt reign as we mixed up the way we played, absolutely the right thing to do in my opinion.