SHIRT PULLING IS STILL JUST FINE

Premier League training grounds received a visit from refereeing chiefs last week. It was your usual eve-of-season briefing and in it the players were told there would be a clampdown on shirt pulling in the penalty area this season, so watch your step.

It took one game for that worthy priority to be turned into yet more hot air. How Leroy Fer must have been letting out a little smirk with the one he got away with.

Some shirt pulls are so obvious that they shouldn’t really need a crackdown to be given. The one Fer executed on Michael Keane as he was set to head the ball into the net fell into that category. The officials simply had a shocker.

It was a huge moment in the game. Without the pull Keane surely heads Burnley into the lead their second half display had deserved. With it they should have had the chance to do that from the penalty spot.

MIDFIELD MATTERS

It must have been a tricky pre-season for David Jones and Dean Marney this summer, with Burnley making plenty of moves for midfielders as Sean Dyche looked to replace Joey Barton in the middle of the park.

It looks as though Steven Defour will be that man, but the Clarets’ experienced, dependable duo in the middle showed they still have it on Saturday.

They might not have the glitz and glamour of some of the bigger names in the top flight, but in the second half they outplayed and outfought Swansea’s three man midfield.

Marney especially put in an all-action display while Jones’ created danger from set-pieces and if new arrivals do come the fight for places in the middle is well and truly on.

BOUNCING BACK

The two other promoted sides picked up points on the opening day but it was a frustrating start for the Clarets.

Now the test for them is how they bounce back. A Turf Moor clash with Liverpool and a trip to Chelsea come next, there are no easy games in the Premier League but these two don’t look appetising at all.

We don’t need another history lesson in how the season started two years ago, and on the evidence of the opening day there is no reason to panic.