Tuesday 1 November 2011

Conclusions from Turf Moor


Burnley1-3Leicester City
(HT 1-1)
Wallace 23Konchesky 20
Nugent  54
Gallagher pen 62

Turf Moor, attendance: 13,286
BBC Match Report


Home Team: Grant, Trippier, Amougou, Edgar, Mee, Stanislas (Treacey 68), Bartley (Duff 90), McCann, Wallace (Hines 78), Austin, Rodriguez

Away Team: Schmeichel, Peltier, Mills, Bamba (St Ledger 83), Konchesky, Danns (Johnson 80), King, Wellens, Gallagher (Schlupp 88), Howard, Nugent



  • Getting the rub of the green is a nice feeling. There have been enough bad calls against Leicester City this season, so it was nice to see some karmic retribution meted-out and the Foxes win their first penalty kick of the season. Paul Gallagher made no mistake in slotting-home the spot-kick in his trademark style.
  • Once again the Foxes are on the verge of the play-offs. Once again Leicester City lie just two points adrift of sixth and a coveted play-off slot. With Sven Goran Eriksson's side bottling it with every opportunity to enter the top six, it will be very interesting to see if a Leicester City led by caretakers - or indeed by a new man - can end that two-year-old duck against Leeds on Sunday afternoon.
  • What price on Mike Stowell for Next Permanent Leicester City Manager? The caretaker duo of goalkeeping coach Stowell and academy director Jon Rudkin have seen their team perform admirably twice on the road, apparently injected with an enthusiasm and passion for the game not seen during Eriksson's reign. With the odds on Roy Keane becoming the next Foxes' boss slashed this afternoon to 3/1, what price would the bookies offer on the quietly impressive caretakers? Stowell's stock is surely rising...



Winners
David Nugent
Another great performance from a man who is also continually popping-up with crucial goals. David Nugent restored the Foxes' lead before the hour with a deft header thanks in no part to the work of Richie Wellens and Paul Gallagher but his diligent work throughout this fixture - and against West Ham United at the weekend - cannot go unnoticed.

Paul Konchesky
Ex-Liverpool full-back Paul Konchesky has had his critics of late, but nobody could argue against the Premier League class of his opening goal. A superb effort from long range, the 30-year-old is light years ahead of the likes of Bruno Berner in the left-back pecking order.

Richie Wellens and Paul Gallagher
Points for audacity alone, Wellens' sumptuous back heel allowed Gallagher the space in which to pivot and provide the cross from which Nugent put Leicester ahead. The phrase 'liquid football' springs to mind. The Wellens haters should be rightly silenced after this performance, whilst Gallagher will be satisfied that he was able to show what Leicester City have been missing as he returned from injury - including a trademark spot-kick.



Losers
Neil Danns
This was a very disappointing performance from the returning Neil Danns and he has done himself no favours to stake a claim for a place in the very competitive Foxes midfield.

Kasper Schmeichel
The young Dane will be horrified that it was his mis-handling that allowed Burnley to equalise just three minutes after the Foxes grabbed a deserved lead. Kasper Schmeichel would be horrified too if he were to read that, for the first time this season, he is amongst the Losers for that single reason. The goalkeeper remains the best signing made by Eriksson but his form does seem to be slipping of late, with mistakes beginning to creep in to his game. A need to impress his obvious raw talent on a new manager could be just the boost Schmeichel requires.

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