Farewell 2009: the year of the claret

As we prepare to say goodbye to one hell of a year watching Burnley Football Club we must do so with the pain of another away defeat. It's a shame that the calendar year couldn't have ended with our first premier League away win but sometimes you can't have it all in football; and we've certainly been spoilt over the last twelve months.

Having been away for the disappointing defeat to Wolves I returned a few pounds heavier for the Boxing Day draw against Bolton. It was another one of those games where I'm still not quite sure how we didn't turn one point into three, as after a dull first half Burnley well and truly battered the visitors in the second period.


There was however some gloriously spurned chances which could easily have made it to the final cut of the plethora of football blooper DVDs that had been opened across the town 24 hours earlier. Steven Fletcher in particular was guilty of a couple that in truth looked easier to score. At times I was having visions that comparisons with the likes of West Brom who play good football but don’t take their chances and go down would be coming painfully true come next May.

But there were some extremely encouraging signs, David Nugent was finally given a start alongside Fletcher and the pair linked up brilliantly. Chris Eagles was once again in sparkling form, Kevin McDonald continued to grow into his midfield role and the defensive partnership of Bikey and Duff was no nonsense and solid.

Taking all those factors into consideration, I was expecting us to give Everton a tough game on our final assignment of the year and was quietly optimistic of breaking our away duck. Things looked good for about an hour at Goodison and although the Toffee’s had some decent possession and chances we were having some very good spells ourselves and could have been ahead especially when Nugent saw his effort come back off the post.

As the game reached the sixty minute mark, Stephen Jordan decided to try and undress Steven Piennar as he got himself a fist full of the South Africans shirt. A late tackle on the Russian with the long name had already earned the Burnley left back a first half yellow card and referee Howard Webb wasted no time in brandishing a second and sending Jordan for an early bath. It was one of the few right decisions made by the shiny headed referee, whose judgement seemed to be based on the shouts of the home fans for the majority of the game.

This time it was act of stupidity that cost us, as Jordan’s offence was committed in an area of no danger to the Burnley goal with plenty of men behind the ball. Sadly, he let down his battling team mates, his manager and fans as from then on David Moyes’ men took a stranglehold on the game. As a result the lively but tiring Nugent was replaced by Kalvanes and our best hopes of snatching a victory slipped away. Soon after sub James Vaughn opening the scoring as he tapped in a cross from short range. Coyle claimed that Yakubu was standing in an offside position blocking Brain Jensen’s view, but the replays show that in the eighteenth phase of the offside rule he was played on by a loose strand on Tyrone Mears’ bootlaces.

A lovely move finished off by the excellent Steven Piennar in the end condemned us to a two nil defeat. It was a crushing blow for the players who battled hard and looked extremely disappointed at the final whistle. Nevertheless the Burnley fans provided a fantastic atmosphere without much help from the subdued home crowd (the um-pa-pa dancing to the announcement of “Police Operation Goodison” was a particular highlight).

Yesterdays result means we finish the year in thirteenth place in the Premier League, a whole twelve league places than we were at this time in 2008. It’s been a tremendous achievement by all the players and staff at the football club and a year I will never forget. Games like the emotional rollercoaster of the Carling Cup double header against Spurs, that joyful tear-jerking noisy night at the Madjeski, the thrill of Wembley and beating Manchester United in our first ever Premier League game at Turf Moor are now forever etched in the memory. Now we must continue to move forward as we continue in our quest for Premier League survival. Here’s to 2010 being another vintage year for Owen Coyle’s Clarets.

As early Chrismas presents go...

...that was a bloody good one. What another fantastic night of football at Turf Moor. Last nights one all draw with Arsenal was a thoroughly enjoyable encounter, one that's still got me smiling like that rather wet Geordie kid that won the X Factor.

For those gooners who dismissed Burnley before this game, next time you come to Turf Moor be prepared for another long ninety minutes. Owen Coyle's men did what the gaffer promised and went toe to toe with the Gunners for pretty much the whole ninety minutes in what was a superb display of counter attacking football.


We know how good Arsenal are and how well they move the ball so for the most part had to make sure that when we had our share of possession we kept the ball and made the most of it. Although things didn’t get off to the best of starts as within the first sixty seconds we almost gifted them a goal. Then minutes later, in between Arsenal almost putting the ball into their own net, we did just that, as Andre Bikey’s demand for too much time on the ball allowed Fabregas to easily dispossess him before the Spaniard neatly slotted the ball past Brain Jensen.

It was a hammer blow, a moment of utter deflation for the raucous Turf Moor crowd. But as ever Burnley showed the heart, desire and true bravery that has and will continue to get them back into many a game. Arsenal looked vulnerable at the back when under pressure, while for all their neat play around the box were lacking a true centre forward and in my opinion were wasting their creative gem Arshavin by deploying him as the lone man up front.

The visitors then could’ve had more; as Fabregas broke through and found the side netting before Arshavin saw an effort come back off the post. Then Burnley began to get it together again and just shy of the half hour mark Bikey showed his less casual side as he broke into the box only to be clattered by Vermaelen. Graham Alexander stepped up to take the penalty and as usual made no mistake by smashing the ball home to draw things level.

Fabregas’ hamstring couldn’t take much more and was withdrawn before the half ended, which finished with Vermaelen almost atoning for his error by forcing Jensen to tip over a thundering header. Despite these chances Burnley were very much in the match and were starting to compete with Arsenal in every department. In the second period, Burnley’s part grew as they began at times to completely dominate proceedings. Arsenal were left frustrated and rarely threatened the Beast’s goal despite their methodical build up play.

The Clarets pressed and almost took the lead as a mazy run and shot from the outstanding Chris Eagles came thundering back off the post. Minutes later a controversial moment saw the linesman’s offside flag raised as Steven Fletcher tapped home a Kevin McDonald cross. At the time most inside Turf Moor thought it was a goal and almost all probably still do having seen the replay from the comfort of their living room. I said before this game Burnley would have to ride their luck to gain a positive result, but in the second half the same can be said for Arsene Wenger’s men who were fortunate not to be trailing.

Before that Wenger had taken off the ineffective Theo Walcott who was never in the game thanks to a Stephen Jordan carried the glass produced England winger in his pocket during his time on the pitch. Even when Arshavin moved over to the right hand side the Burnley left back looked solid and assured.

As the game drew to a close, things became stretched and end to end but neither side could clinch a winner. Burnley had taken points off yet another one of the Premier League big boys at Turf Moor, that’s now three of the current top four that have failed to secure a single victory here. The likes of McDonald, Eagles, Jordan, Fletcher and Alexander were in truly inspiring form and looked like they’d been playing at this level for years.

After the game both managers were asked about our next opponents Wolves’ decision to make ten changes to the side that beat Tottenham against Manchester United. Wenger spoke about having to match Manchester United over 37 games and not 38 while Coyle rather diplomatically played down Mick McCarthy’s decision.

In my view McCarthy not only short changed the fans who travelled to Old Trafford but the players who fought so hard last season to pit themselves against English football’s elite clubs. Although it’s incredibly flattering to have a manager resting his entire team so they are fresh to face Burnley it’s a tactic I’m not a fan of. Here’s hoping to it backfiring dramatically come Sunday; and if it does I suspect there will be some grumblings not only from the vast majority of the Molyneux crowd; but also from inside the home dressing room as well.

Wolves may be holding up the white flag when it comes to the big four; but as Arsenal learnt last night that will never be the case for Owen Coyle’s Burnley. The only flag that mattered to us last night was the linesman’s wrong one which denied us the chance of another famous victory.

Coyle to grapple Wenger in Turf Moor carpark

Tonight's night really can't come quick enough for me as we welcome back Arsenal to the scene of their Carling Cup decline last season with the prospect of another tough night in the north ahead of them. The fact that Owen Coyle has demanded his players go "toe to toe" with the Londoners should make things particularly difficult for Arsene Wenger's men (we're not ruling out an ambush as they get off the team bus).

Night time Turf Moor triumphs over the likes of the Gunners and Manchester United, as well as the Tottenham semi final epic have set the bar as some of the most memorable evenings in our recent history. The darkness seems to descend a special atmosphere around Turf Moor that makes the hairs on the back of your neck instantly stand to attention.

I’ve had a feeling for a while now that this game could provide another similarly thrilling encounter where we run our big time opponents close, ride our luck and in the end secure a positive result. After four games without a win upsetting the form book with a surprise three points isn’t beyond the realms of possibility. That’s especially the case when you look at Arsenal’s injury problems. Arsene Wenger is already without Van Persie, Clichy, Gibbs and Eboue and also has doubts over Fabregas, Arshavin, Gallas, Walcott and Traore.

Prior to tomorrows game, one of our other Carling Cup Capital Punishment victims of last year Fulham escaped further retribution with a one all draw at the weekend. Back at the Turf after two defeats on the road we earned ourselves a hard fought point against Roy Hodgon’s men. The Cottages produced an extremely organised display and have definitely been put together tremendously well by the man with the game’s greatest accent. The spine of their team is pretty solid and is sprinkled with talented footballers all over the park.

Burnley’s best play in the first half came down the right hand side as Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears time and time again threatened with excellent link up play that kept Paul Konchesky on his toes. But other than that it was a fairly disjointed performance in the opening forty five minutes as we struggled to make an impact in midfield while our back four were kept busy by the lively Duff and Zamora.

The breakthrough came when we were punished for not reacting to a quick free kick and as the skipper Steven Caldwell misjudged the resulting ball the excellent Bobby Zamora was left through on goal to open the scoring.

Zamora may be criticised for his lack of goals but his hold up play was sensational as he time and time again brought his midfield into the game. If he can continue such form and start to put the ball in the net on a regular basis then he could definitely be challenging Carlton Cole to replace Emile Heskey as England’s target man option after next years World Cup.

With a second home defeat of the season staring us in the face, the crowd rallied as Burnley surged forward to try and make amends. After a fantastically whipped low cross from Stephen Jordan was only half cleared the ball dropped Wade Elliot who drew things level with a fabulous volley. Hopefully the strike will give Elliot a touch more confidence as he seems to have struggled to make an impact over the last couple of games he's played in central midfield.

Once we switched to 4-4-2 we looked more much comfortable, the introduction of the lively David Nugent always seems to help the side look more dangerous and provide us with the extra dimension we sometimes so desperately lack. Kevin McDonald also adds more balance and substance to the midfield, but never seems to be given his chance in our regular system of three central midfielders. Against Manchester City he was deployed on the left hand side and in his start against Pompey and the majority of his other subs appearances he’s played alongside Grezza in a reverted 4-4-2.

I would love to see both Nugent and McDonald included in the starting eleven tomorrow night; but whatever eleven is picked by Owen Coyle I’m sure that with another electric atmosphere inside Turf Moor we will raise our game and get at them from the first whistle. If we can keep things close who can bet against us pushing Arsenal all the way and making it another famous night on the pitch (and carpark) in the history of Burnley Football Club.

England: C is for Caution

While many in the press are getting about giddy England’s World Cup draw I can’t help feeling that perhaps the majority of us should be keeping our feet on the ground.

Hailing our Group C opponents as the “easiest” of all time is perhaps a little strong as while the USA, Algeria and Slovenia are hardly names from footballs illustrious past, they all represent that tired old cliché that “no games at this level are easy”.

Watching the first part of the draw on the BBC before leaving work to tune into the rest on the radio I must admit that the drawn out bore-fest made better listening than it did viewing.

The best bit of the pre draw entertainment was wondering which of Cape Town’s nightspots the likes of Lineker, Motson and Lawrenson were heading to afterwards, with all of them looking like a muggers dream in their chinos and tucked in shirts pressed to perfection.

Then came the star of the show; the draw’s host South African superstar Charlize Theron. Never before has such elegance been made out of wood; but the Monster actress managed it with her Eurovision Song Contest style presentation skills fused with Hollywood glamour. No wonder FIFA President Sepp Blatter was left slumped in his front row seat mopping his oversized brow.

After Theron had feigned interest and let some other FIFA dignitary warble on about how the draw works and what we should do if we wanted to take our own life if the draw got too much, the main event was ready to begin.

With no need for a ball by ball account of what happened next, we all now know England were handed the afore mentioned USA, Algeria and Slovenia while other group highlights included the Group of deaths such as Group G (Brazil, Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea) and our neighbouring Group D (Germany, Austrailia, Serbia and Ghana).

While there is no doubt that England should progress to the knockout stages, winning the group must be our priority and we will get off the toughest possible opponents on June 12th against the USA.

Our American cousins have shown in recent years that they should not be mocked as the “soccer” remedials who are more likely to catch a cross field ball than volley it. They have come a long way since the “miracle on grass” that embarrassed England in the 1950 World Cup Finals in Brazil. Almost sixty years later the American’s sit four places adrift in terms of FIFA rankings and looked extremely dangerous at last summers Confederations Cup in South Africa were they knocked out Spain in the semis before scaring Brazil in the final.

Uncle Sam’s squad boasts an impressive talent pool. AC Milan’s Oguchi Onyewu is strong in defence, the likes of Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard are well respected amongst Premier League opposition while Beck’s sparring partner at LA Galaxy Landon Donovan will be wanting to prove that he is a star worthy of the world’s biggest stage.

If there is a danger of underestimating the strength of the USA, then the same can be said of our next two opponents Algeria and Slovenia. The Algerians have four players based in England themselves and will not fear us, especially after going toe to toe with rivals Egypt in somewhat of a bloodbath to make the finals. The well organised Slovenians will also be tough to beat. This is their fourth trip to a major tournament despite only playing their first match as a country in 1992. Any side that can knock out Russia in the playoffs is more than capable of causing an upset on their day.

But while I will be quietly expecting us to win the group I don’t expect it to be as “E.A.S.Y” as today’s Sun’s front page would suggest. But all this excitement about is pointless as even in one of the stronger groups I would still be expecting England to progress. Our trouble will come in the last sixteen and beyond where we will see just how much we have improved under Fabio Capello.

If all the bigger sides progress the way the form book would suggest then the Italian could take us to the semi finals where Brazil are our likely opponents. A win there would perhaps see Spain in the final. So lets not get carried away, we are guaranteed to win nothing and will only be successful if we maintain the professional attitude and keep improving on the level of performance we have achieved so far under our new manager.

It may sound boring but for the first time where England are concerned I am not letting myself get carried away with thoughts of World Cup glory; instead I’m doing things the cautious Capello way.

The happiest of unhappy draws

After our late point stealing antics at Manchester city last time out it was perhaps just a matter of time before footballs funny old symmetry came back to bite us in the backside. Sadly it spun round all too quickly to see us walk away from Turf Moor with just a single point on Saturday after leading Aston Villa for the majority of the game.

The days swirling wind and rain was hardly the perfect tonic for good football but this was still a game I was really looking forward to as I saw Martin O'Neil's men as the perfect side to measure how our Premier League credentials were coming along.

For the first forty five minutes we were once again looking comfortable as we dominated much of the proceedings. We were winning the first and second balls in the middle of the park, our full backs were snuffing out the danger from England wide men Milner and Young while Agbonlahor and Carew were kept quiet by Carlisle and Captain Caldwell.

It was the skipper who added to his impressive defensive performance with the opening goal nine minutes in as he met a perfect Robbie Blake free kick to loop the ball past the heavily booed, flapping Friedel. In contrast to Villa’s underperforming England stars, it was the Burnley wide men who were creating the majority of the problems as the pace of Eagles and craft of Blake threatened to add to our lead.

Villas best chance came when Agbonlahor, who seemed to be playing far too deep for a player with his pace, chased down a through ball that looked destined to be met first by the oncoming Brain Jensen; but the England striker got there first and with the goal gaping laid the ball back to Ashley Young who failed to find the target.

While we bossed the first half, the second was to be a different story as Villa started strongly and got better and better as the game progressed. We desperately needed a second goal to give us some breathing space as the pressure on our back line kept building. Chances came in the form of a free kick from Tyrone Mears and an excellent effort from Steven Fletcher while at the other end Brain Jensen kept out Agbonlahor’s break away effort with a fine fingertip save after some route one football from Brad Friedel.

The delivery of Villa’s set pieces was getting more and more robust, especially from Ashley Young who was whipping them in with great quality. That combined with the worsening weather kept every claret hoping for another Turf Moor victory on the edge of their seats. Emile Heskey and Stuart Downing were brought on to add to the away sides attacking threat while Coyle tried to sure things up by withdrawing Eagles, Fletcher and Blake in favour of McDonald, Gudjonsson and Nugent.

As the game entered its latter stages an extremely tight offside decision managed to go against us, being pretty much level with the incident I was sure Nugent had got himself back in line with the last Villa defender before he was played through to audaciously lob the ball of the oncoming Friedel; the linesman thought otherwise.

In a cruel twist of fate two minutes later Villa were level; Brian Jensen managed to come and punch away a cross before the ball was returned by James Milner only for the Beast to this time stay on his line as the ball was met by the head of Emile Heskey, who out-muscled the otherwise exceptional Stephen Jordan to guide into the net.

With only two minutes left of normal time it was a gut wrenching blow as a potentially vital two points slipped from our grasp. On reflection it was a fair result with both sides dominating a half a piece but many leaving Turf Moor at full time were left with that strange feeling that only football can bring; prior to the match nearly everybody would’ve been happy with drawing against Villa yet after ninety minutes many were left disappointed with taking a solitary point.

It’s now been two years since Owen Coyle’s first game at Turf Moor, when he took to the dugout as the club celebrated 125 years of existence with a nil nil draw against Stoke City. Since then we’ve been completely transformed and have just made it three games unbeaten in the Premier League. Not only has Coyle given the fans an exciting two years of football but he has also taken the club out of the financial mire. Last weeks release of the previous years books showed a 9 million pound loss, something that promotion has wiped out. Nobody at that game against Stoke would’ve thought we’d be where we are now, completely debt free and slightly disappointed at taking a point against Aston Villa to keep us in the top half of the Premier League.

Saturday also saw us get somewhat of a backhand compliment from Martin O’Neil as he described Burnley as a “notorious” venue to visit in his post match interview; comments which instantly propelled Turf Moor just ahead of Compton in the rankings of the world’s shadiest places. The good news is that after O’Neil’s kind words we are now only a couple of places behind Baghdad and Kabul.

But if that is the case then next Saturday we must clamber through the hoards of cockney gangsters, pimps and prostitutes in order to reach our destination of the Boleyn Ground in the heart of the “notorious” East London. If we manage to get there alive we will look to add more misery to the side that are cuurently bottom of the Premier League’s Claret and Blue mini league West Ham United and maybe just maybe get that first away win of the season?

The sweet, sweet taste of an away point

Saturday's thrilling three all draw away at Manchester City was one of those few occasions in football where a single point felt like three.

Having yet to pick up anything away from home so far this season there were few who gave us any chance if turning our fortunes around, especially when Mark Hughes' starting eleven came through with the likes of Tevez, Adebayor and Bellamy all included.

But that very same team also had Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott at centre half with a midfield packed with largely attack minded players. Reading their line up gave me more confidence than fear as I knew that we could hurt City if they allowed us too much time on the ball and the space to create chances.

Fortunately that's exactly how the first half panned out, we passed the ball brilliantly and regularly found Chris Eagles in acres of space on the flank as he and the likes of Steven Fletcher, Wade Elliot and Tyrone Mears created wave upon wave of attacks down the right hand side. And not just that, whenever we gave the ball away we were quickly getting men behind the ball and thwarting the home sides advances.

Eighteen minutes in a ball from the Claret's right back was slapped behind for a corner by the hand of Lescott to earn us a penalty. Graham Alexander stepped up and for the second week running gave the keeper no chance and Burnley a one nil lead.

While City probed for an equaliser, things were about to get even better. Another impressive bit of play down our right hand side saw Chris Eagles perfectly slide the ball across the City goal for the oncoming Steven Fletcher to take full advantage of to double our lead. The upset was now most definitely on, little Burnley were teaching the rich kids from the City a well deserved lesson.

Sadly, although it was a much improved away performance we were about to be taught another timely lesson ourselves. The impressive Shaun Wright Phillips gave City hope just before half time as he rather fortunately pulled one back via the cutest of deflections off the boot of Stephen Jordan. With the home side buoyed it was now our job to continue with the same work rate and concentration levels in the first part of the second half that kept City at bay for the majority of the first period.

Unfortunately when the onslaught came we weren't prepared and crumbled, Kolo Toure levelled within ten minutes of the restart before Craig Bellamy gave City the lead just short of the hour mark. With the game spinning out of our control Owen Coyle made a couple of spectacular tactical changes to get ourselves back level. On came Joey Gudjonsson and Kevin McDonald in a double substitution to bolster the midfield, while David Nugent was thrown on ten minutes later to add some spark in attack.

Coyle's attempt to nullify City's threat and make the game ugly worked to perfection; patience was now to be the key as it was inevitable that we would create another chance before the end. Nugent was working hard in the channels and his dogged persistence paid off with four minutes to go when he swung in a cross from the right hand side which was perfectly headed down by Steven Fletcher for the oncoming Kevin McDonald to smash past Shay Given. For the third time in the game the travelling Claret's went wild as we secured a much deserved first away point.

After the results we've had away from home so far this term this result is a timely reminder that if given the time and space to punish teams we most certainly will.

What we saw yesterday was two teams on very different learning curves. While we are still very much a work in progress in terms of becoming a fully fledged Premier League side, Manchester City are still working out how they can make the breakthrough to rejoin English football's elite.

The young City fans chatting behind me on the way out reminded me of the gulf between the two sides financially when they decided 50 million pounds worth of new players could solve City's problems. Unfortunately, throwing money around isn't the solution to all of their woes as while City are an impressive attacking force, they are largely an imbalanced side desperately in need of a leader at centre half.

For Burnley, we still need to keep learning about the art of closing games out and at times making the game ugly at this level. Yesterday we did it but far too late to turn one point into three. But we've spent a fraction of what City have and are always going to concede goals against opponents with such quality. For us any point away from home in this league will be treated like a victory and Saturday was probably the greatest example of that we will find this season.

No luck for Halloween Hull

The decision of quite a few Hull City fans to come to Turf Moor in Halloween fancy dress was perhaps always going to turn out to be an ominous one, especially when I spotted the Grim Reaper strolling down Harry Potts Way; although I'm still not sure whether he had actually taken the official supporters club travel.

The pressure on the visitor's manager Phil Brown in the week building up to the game had been mounting considerably, which lead him to illogically insist that his players were "one million percent" behind him. So if this game was to be a "six pointer" in terms of Burnley's survival hopes then using Browny's school of maths who knows how many points a win would've been worth to them?

Burnley started the brighter of the two sides without really making their possession count while the Tigers looked quite shaky and nervous. They seemed to happy to conceed needless throw-ins and corners when more confident players would've cleared the ball up-field or passed it out of defence.

As the first half was descending into a scrappy affair the breakthrough came. Wade Elliot played in Tyrone Mears whose air shot was judged to be a foul by Stephen Hunt on the Burnley full back. A sheer stroke of luck, although to be fair to the referee Mike Jones his view was severely restricted. But the ball still needed to be put away and it was with aplomb from Graham Alexander on his one hundredth appearance in Claret and Blue, earning me a more than welcome fifteen quid in the process.

From then on the remainder of the first half was largely Burnley’s; the man mountain Zayette blocked a fierce Blake drive, while Bikey, Elliot and Eagles also went close. The failure to see off the visitors was to almost prove costly though as a different Hull came out of the away dressing room after the break. They began to get a hold on the game and pushed Burnley back especially after the introduction of Mendy and Altidore.

Thankfully Brian Jensen was back to his commanding self and proved vital in taking the pressure off especially when saving well from the lively Ghilas. I must admit concern was growing, especially after the way we fell apart after taking the lead in our last two games against Blackburn and Wigan.

Thankfully lady luck was about to shine for us once more, in a rather big way. A questionable free kick was awarded to the visitors on the edge of the Burnley box which Giovanni lined up and beautifully found the top corner of the net. Sadly for Hull the man in black proved vital again, blowing up for a foul in the wall before the ball found its way beyond the outstretched Jensen. I was beginning to think that hidden under that Grim Reaper’s outfit was a referee’s uniform.

If that wasn’t enough of a blow for Hull then Giovanni’s booking for dissent being quickly followed up a second for a foul on Fletcher saw them down to ten men. Then stepped forward Alexander once more, as the Scot drove forward a pass to the overlapping Tyrone Mears looked certain until he unleashed a superb drive past Matt Duke into the bottom corner.

The strike was the perfect way to answer the critics that have called for him to be dropped or rested from the side. That has never been an issue for me, especially at a time when Chris McCann is absent, the experience, leadership and calming influence of the man they call Granddad is essential to the makeup of the team. Grezza’s situation has been compared to that of Ryan Giggs, but while Manchester United have the luxury to rest players Burnley do not and personally I wouldn’t want it any other way.

While Hull City’s fans will lament the referee’s failure to deal with the games controversial moments, over the course of the ninety minutes Owen Coyle’s men were well worth their victory. Saturday’s result is even more important to us as we are still producing far from our best form. We’ll now use this three points and clean sheet as a springboard to somehow get a result at Manchester City next weekend; but for Hull I’m pretty sure the Grim Reaper will be following them back to the KC Stadium for Saturday's visit of Stoke City.

To Hull and back; an almost perfect symmetry

Almost two years ago on a freezing cold Tuesday night in November at Turf Moor one of the worst games of football I'd seen in a long time took place. After an exhausting ninety minutes viewing from my seat in the Bob Lord Stand Phil Brown's Hull City came out one nil winners over Steve Cotterill's Burnley.

That was the last time we were to be known as that as Cotterill was later dismissed by the Burnley board in a sacking probably best remembered for him turning up to his own funeral as he sat looking glumly in the resulting press conference as Chairman Barry Kilby delivered the club's reasoning to the press.

I remember thinking that both sides weren’t really up to much that night; the Claret’s looked weak and drained of confidence while Hull simply relied on their intimidating physical presence and organisation. Either way I didn’t foresee much success for either of what seemed to be the Championship’s also-rans.

But how times quickly changed; somehow the Tigers managed to put an astonishing run together and lift themselves into the playoffs that season, only to then earn a smash and grab promotion via the playoffs courtesy of a beautiful volley from local lad Dean Windass. Meanwhile on the other side of the country new Claret’s boss Owen Coyle was busy improving on his work in progress at Turf Moor.

Then while Hull were impressing all in the Premier League with fantastic early season wins away at Arsenal and Spurs, Burnley were doing the same against the big boys in the Carling Cup where we also upset the Gunners, along with Chelsea whilst giving Tottenham a scare in the semis. Now after Hull’s last day survival and Burnley’s play off promotion tomorrow we come face to face once more but this time as heavily tipped Premier League relegation candidates.

It’s been a tough time recently for the boys from the Humber as the club seems to be going through turmoil on and off the pitch. The clubs finances are in a mess with their share of Premier League gold seemingly disappearing into an over ambitious black hole. Just imagine what state they’d be in if they were paying Michael Owen’s wages on top of what they are already shelling out? This financial mess has led to Chairman Paul Duffen resigning this week with the returning Adam Pearson ready to step into the chair.

The loathable leather faced Phil Brown has also been under lots of pressure but for the time being looks like keeping his job. It’s a difficult one with Brown, for Hull fans he will always be the man who took them to the Promised Land and kept them up but does that success mean he is immune from the sack even if results and performances remain consistently awful? The Tigers currently sit in the relegation places and in their last two games his team have only managed two shots on goal.

Now this weekend it is our turn to heap further misery and pressure on the club as we must get back to winning ways after back to back derby defeats against Blackburn and Wigan. Last weekend’s first home defeat reminded me of when Roberto Martinez came to town with Swansea last season. The performance of his Wigan side was very similar as they work hard for each other and passed the ball well, while their lone striker Jason Scotland once again was enough on his own to occupy both of centre backs.

That game changed when we suffered the unfortunate injury to Brain Jensen in the build up to the Wigan equaliser. It was probably the most bizarre goal I’ve ever seen at Turf Moor to see our goalkeeper collapsed in a heap on the floor while the ball was stroked home into an empty net by Hugo Rodellega. Who needs beach balls eh?!

While the Beast clutched his ankle the crowd scratched their heads as to whether Jenson's injury was serious or simply embarrassment at his indecision. The verdict from the Turf Moor medical staff was of slight ankle ligament damage. Let’s just hope he can get himself back in goal on Saturday and put the last two weeks behind him.

The rest of last Saturday’s performance saw us in and out of the game. Sadly when we were in it we were largely ineffective. There were one or two bright moments particularly from Chris Eagles but in the end we were well beaten.

It seems to me we are losing the battle in central midfield. Ever since Andre Bikey moved into the spot vacated by the injured McCann the balance just hasn’t been right. The Cameroonian has done his best but now needs to be back in his best position at centre half and be replaced by someone who can start and finish attacks and move the ball from side to side.

That man for me is Kevin McDonald. The young Scot has so far failed to live up to the potential he showed when he first arrived at the club. Injuries have blighted his progress and perhaps by his own admission he will say he lost his way slightly last season. But certainly in his cameos in the last two games he’s looked bright, hungry, composed and well worth his opportunity in a midfield lacking spark.

Towards the end of last weekend’s game the Wigan fans sang “It’s just like watching Brazil” as for the first time in a long time we were outplayed at Turf Moor and gave up the ghost before the final whistle. This weekend when Hull come to town things will be different as sadly for their well pruned and over tanned manager Phil Brown the only thing that could ever be Brazilian about him is his pubic hair arrangement.

Hull will come to Burnley with their usual physical, get men behind the ball mantra and try to frustrate us. But unlike the last time the two sides met at Turf Moor under Steve Cotterill, Owen Coyle’s new look Claret’s are more than capable of putting this game to bed and stretching the gap between the two teams to seven points.

Both Burnley and Hull may have enjoyed similar fortunes over the last two years but one thing is for sure; neither side will want to end up back where the started in the Championship next season. As the clichéd six pointers go, we may only be a third of the way through the season but this game definitely has the feel of one.

Hoofball 3 Football 2

Having been barely able to crack a smile since our derby day defeat on Sunday I've taken the time to digest exactly why we left Ewood Park with no points.

My conclusion? Well, that's pretty simple; Blackburn deserved their victory on the day. That's not because they outplayed us as a football side, instead they earned their victory in typical Sam Allardyce fashion. Rovers were simply more physical than Burnley, they pressed us better and picked up more of the second balls.

From the moment that Robbie Blake wonderstike hit the back of the net we were second best for the rest of the first half. We stood off Rovers, gifted them plenty of possession and handed them three goals.

Despite the Dunn equaliser and Chimbonda third being well worked moves, the ease at which we let it happen was laughable. It was almost like a training ground demo as we limply opened ourselves up.

In the build up to the second goal there was a foul on Stephen Jordan by Franco Di Santo that was missed by the referee which forced the Burnley fullback to obstruct the oncoming Brain Jensen. That incident aside, we hadn’t learnt from any of the lessons that lost us the game at Stoke as a side with exactly the same long ball and throws tactic punished our naivety once more.

In the second half we improved as the likes of Wade Elliot and Robbie Blake tried to get us playing the football we had come accustomed to. Sadly it just wasn’t happening for us and time and time again we needless gave the ball away.

The introduction of Chris Eagles helped as he immediately took the fight to Rovers. His cameo performances have been of a consistently high standard since the start of the season and must soon surely earn his place in the starting eleven. It was nice to see him show some fight and he deserved his last minute goal, even though it merely served to give the score-line a fairer reflection of the game. Kevin McDonald also did his claim for a starting berth no harm as he looked composed and assured when he was brought on for Andre Bikey.

Eagles post-match comments impressed me too, as our number 33 stated that on our day Rovers are no threat to us. And I’m with him on that; but the fact of the matter is we lost to an average side who, and it pains me to say this, looked like they wanted it more on the day. Let's just hope a defeat against our most fierce rivals will mean will we finally learn from our mistakes.

Despite our defeat I will always commend Owen Coyle and his team for at least trying to play football. For the most part we weren’t at the races on Suinday and let ourselves down; but I’d rather keep the ball on the floor and take the chance of our play not coming off than have our goalkeeper take free kicks on the half way line and lobbing every throw in thirty yards.

The East Lancashire derby part one may have been won by Blackburn; but until our chance to put things right at Turf Moor next March we’ll just take keeping ourselves above Blackburn in the league; starting with a win in our next local derby against Wigan on Saturday.

Bring on the Bastards

It's here, the build up to the first Burnley Blackburn derby in four years is well under way, the first in the top flight for over forty years. This game was top of my list when the fixtures came out, the moment when we can finally face Rovers as fully fledged Premier League equals.

In the FA Cup clash of 2005 and the face offs in the Championship Rovers always had the financial edge with their Premier League bank balance and parachute payments. But none of that matters this time as Owen Coyle has assembled a squad that as a true football team can beat Blackburn on any day of the week.


Not being old enough to see the last Burnley win over Blackburn in 1979, my first real experience of the derby was back in the 2000/01 season where both sides met in the Championship. The “battle of Turf Moor” may have been lost but the sight of David Dunn being sent flying by Kevin Ball was a small moment to savour and has already been resvisited a few times on YouTube this week. The return game at Ewood saw us lose five nil in what was the most depressing journey home I’ve ever made from a game; whilst the FA Cup fifth round tie in 2005 saw us lose 2-1 despite a brilliant goal from Micah Hyde and some of the wildest celebrations over a single strike I’ve ever seen.

Stories from the distant past fill me with hope of what I could be experiencing come Sunday's final whistle. My favourite being a tale from the last time the two sides met in the top flight on New Years Day in 1966. Burnley won the game two nil in a victory that saw a Rovers fan being laid out by Burnley keeper Adam Blacklaw as he ran onto the pitch towards the Clarets’ stopper. Towards the end of that game, many will remember Ralph Coates cheekily sitting on the ball in the dying moments as Burnley cruised to victory. Those were happy moments shared by those slightly older than me, all I have is bitterness and resentment following the three defeats I’ve seen and I’m more than ready to taste our new moment of glory.

Prior to kick off next week the Burnley fans will have been bused into Ewood Park by the coach load. A lot has been said about the draconian police measures and loss of human rights etc that our fans must endure. I don’t want to say anymore about that, although I do feel sorry for any Claret not living locally who can’t make the game because of it. Sadly that’s the way it has to be for now and the game must take priority.

The compulsory coaches must now be used a positive and add to the atmosphere of the day. Three thousand Clarets traveling in convoy down the M65 into opposition territory will give us an edge. By the time the players arrive and are ready to warm up there may already be a stand full of clarets waiting for them in good voice in the Darwen End. For the Burnley players it will be a sign of encouragement and hopefully the sight Claret and Blue will add fear and take some of the edge off home advantage for the Rovers players.

The danger man for Blackburn will be David Dunn, who I can actually say without the need for gritted teeth that despite being a crock is a wonderful footballer; unfortunately for us, he is injury free and enjoying a good season playing in the hole.

Although, while I can point to Dunn, I can also look at more than one man in Claret and Blue who is likely to cause Rovers serious problems. If Wade Elliot can continue to drift into play like he did against Birmingham and pick the ball up in a variety of dangerous positions he will hurt Rovers. There’s also Steven Fletcher and David Nugent who are forging an exciting partnership and together will cause the Blackburn defence a whole host of problems. While who can forget our little magician Robbie Blake? In Blakey we have a player who can turn a game in an instant, particularly with his ability from set pieces. And oh how I’ve dreamt of a trademark Blake free kick winning this game for us.

The Andre Bikey and Graham Alexander partnership in midfield will hopefully add the steel we’ve been missing away from home and be more than enough to cope with Rover’s combative style. While the back five will all need to be at their best to deal with the long ball’s and throws that caused us problem in our opening day defeat to Stoke.

There is a slight worry that the referee won't be strong enough to withstand the home advantage and the ballaching of Big Sam, who whenever I've seen him speak would rather point to refereeing frailties than his sides defensive ones. Let’s just hope our attacking style can exploit plenty of the latter come Sunday.

An interesting stat sees Blackburn one victory ahead of us in terms of head to head clashes, something which doing the double over them this season would reverse nicely.

In the last couple of weeks Blackburn Rovers have released a t-shirt reminding their fans that they beat us five nil back in 2001. It’s apparently being sold alongside “a DVD called Bring On The Clarets, as part of a range called ‘get ready for the Clarets’.” While they may want to tell their fans what this game is all about for a very reasonable retail price, over at Turf Moor those gimmicks are not needed.

There’s no smugness or expectancy of an easy victory; all we have is a pure and unadulterated desire to put one over on our enemy and be the ones walking out of Ewood Park next Sunday as the best team in East Lancashire.

Owen Coyle's record breakers...again

There's only one way to respond to a heavy defeat in any form of football and that's by winning your next game; for any side newly promoted to the Premier League it's all about that old soccer am coined phrase "bouncebackability" and that's exactly what Owen Colye's team showed on Saturday when Birmingham City came to town.

The only change saw Joey Gudjonsson drop out of the side to make way for the skipper Steven Caldwell in a move that saw Andre Bikey pushed into the middle of midfield. As the game began the players showed no ill effects of the 5-0 defeat to Spurs last weekend as they came flying out of the traps.

Birmingham had definitely come with the plan to try and frustrate us; Alex McLeish has built a team that is notoriously difficult to break down with a habit of nicking late goals. Sadly for their fans that's all they have to offer, perhaps that's why so few bothered to make the trip north to Turf Moor.

Burnley's first half probing saw no breakthrough as the blues defenders blocked everything in sight; including a couple of thunderbolts from Bikey. Nugent's shot from outside the box was the only effort of note as Joe Hart saved well. The away side also had their chances; confusion caused by a corner played out to Steven Carr left Lee Bowyer with the goal gaping as he somehow managed to miscue the ball away from goal.

As the half time whistle went the away following began to chant "4-4-2" in a misguided attempt to try and serenade their manager into ditching their policy of parking the bus. Sadly for them, their X Factor audition fell on deaf ears; although they did get changes in the form of Liam Ridgewell as a makeshift left back and the slightly more attacking Seb Larson, who was brought on to add abit of flair to the blue's drab midfield.

Before the oncoming pair had time to find their feet Burnley took the lead. Seven minutes into the second half Tyrone Mears quickly turned defence into attack as he broke from a Birmingham corner to find Steven Fletcher who drove forward before embarrassing Joe Hart to score his first official Premier League goal.

Minutes later Fletcher should've had his second as a beautifully lofted ball from Robbie Blake left the Scottish International one on one with Hart only for the ball to take an age to come back off the post. Turf Moor was once again rocking. It was only a matter of time before we got a second, Birmingham just couldn't cope with the pace of our game. Then came the move of the match, Andre Bikey skilful managed to make space before exchanging a perfect one two with Nugent before knocking the ball into the net past the oncoming Hart. A fantastic Burnley move and as Owen Coyle said, one that was worth the admission fee alone.

Birmingham's last kick of the game consolation couldn't even take the shine off a marvellous performance by Owen Coyle's team. The introduction of Andre Bikey into the middle paid dividends as once he got over a shaky first half due to his switch of position he grew and dominated the centre of the park along with Alexander throughout the second period. The added steel in that department along with the flawless return of skipper Steven Caldwell saw the spine of the team become much stronger than in previous weeks, allowing the likes of Wade Elliot, Steven Fletcher, David Nugent and Robbie Blake to play their natural inventive game.

The full backs are too playing their part, Stephen Jordan has proved all his doubters wrong with his consistency so far this term and Tyrone Mears, dominant in both defence and attack looks to be our signing of the summer. The Claret's right back definitely makes up for our lack of natural width on that flank with his tireless work rate.

At the Turf we continue to look very much at home in the Premier League and at this rate our survival party could be brought considerably forward from the last game of the season in May. If it was, it'd easily be a more debauched celebration than Simon Cowell's 50th. Who's betting that naked bloke in the car had something to do with Louis Walsh?

Saturday also saw us break the record for the number of straight home wins for a newly promoted side, one better than the landmark set by our neighbours Blackburn Rovers. And that's where we head next, to Ewood Park for the most anticipated game in years. Echo the cry with me, "Bring on the Bastards".

Mistakes cost Clarets dear

Well our away form continued to resemble a retarded abacus against Spurs at the weekend. I'm sure by now even the most unfortunate of children will have mastered their first count to five as it's now a sequence of 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0 defeats away from home in the league- if we're not careful that bastard kid will be doing the most complicated times tables by Christmas.

The only thing that's missing in the sequence so far is a one nil away beating, something which I think we'd have taken over the last couple of games away from Turf Moor.

There is no doubt that the Premier League offers us some almost inevitable defeats but the manner in which we lose will always be well within our control. In every match we play we always manage to get the ball down and play some of our trademark good football but that can’t be at the expense of some of the kamikaze defending we saw at the weekend.

As individuals we work hard enough away from home but it’s nothing like the well rounded team performances we see at the Turf. It just seems that despite our fair share of possession, the lack fire in the final third adds to the already considerable pressure being put on our goal.

There were of course chances on Saturday; Steven Fletcher had a perfectly good goal ruled offside to make it one nil, while Robbie Blake couldn’t squeeze in Cudicini’s fumble to get us back into the game at 3-0.

But at both points that’s where we crumbled and conceded killer goals to completely stunt our rhythm.

Elementary defensive mistakes are costing us dear and with the possible exception of Tottenham’s second which should have been a foul in the build up you can point to errors that should not be happening at the rate they are in almost every goal.

Away from home our backline is lacking communication, concentration and at times competence; we definitely need to hope that the skipper Steven Caldwell is fit enough to start sooner rather than later to inject some much needed leadership and organisation back into our defensive line.

The lack of protection they are receiving from the midfield is also seriously adding to our woes.

The hard working Gudjonsson played well on Saturday but again the trio of Joey, Elliot and Alexander played mainly as individuals and not as a unit which left gaping holes for Spurs to surge through and pick more holes in our already leaky defence.

Out wide it seems Steven Fletcher is screaming out to be played down the middle on a more regular basis, while as much as I love Robbie Blake he will always be hit and miss depending on whether he receives enough of the ball high up the pitch to make an impact.

I’m still banging the Chris Eagles drum for him to be given a start in a bid to freshen things up. In one or two positions there is some real competition for places, but it can only be called that if the players knocking on the door are given their opportunity to impress; and as things currently stand Eagles is deserving of that chance.

There have been calls for a change of tactic on our travels but I’m not sure how else we could set up that would offer a better way of protecting the back four and competing with the opposition. Maybe a traditional 4-4-2 (not the one we flitted between at the weekend) would allow us to play further up the pitch, especially with the neat touches and hold up play offered by the likes of Steven Fletcher and David Nugent. That approach is always a tricky one in the modern game, especially looking our previous opponents Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea who can play from back to front with such devastating pace and power.

We can’t be too disheartened though, although nobody likes to be hammered, the start we’ve had is still better than anything we could ever have imagined. The lack of an away point or goal will come but we must make sure its sooner rather than later as we can’t afford pin all our hopes on what is so far our superb home form. We need to learn our lessons much faster and make sure we give ourselves a chance in football matches away from Turf Moor; especially with that trip to Ewood Park ever looming.

Nugent is most definitely a claret

Oh, the joys of waking up on a Sunday morning with the incomparable feeling of another three points towards our survival. Our first Saturday win in the Premier League also saw us score more than once for the first time this campaign and turned a once hated figure into a new Claret and Blue hero.

Owen Coyle fairly decided against making changes to the side that has started every game since winning our opening home game against Manchester United giving the eleven chance to answer some nonsense written about them following the whitewashings against Chelsea and Liverpool.

For the majority of the first half it felt like the players were still reliving their ordeals at Stamford Bridge and Anfield as they looked nervous and shaky. Sunderland looked the much better side and took the game to us with neat and incisive play from the likes of Malbranque, Reid, Bent and Richardson.

Despite their early dominance it was the Clarets who made the breakthrough as an Alexander through ball was met by Elliot before he was met by the Ferdinand brother they should’ve kept locked in the basement as Anton clumsily felled the Burnley number 11.

Up stepped Alexander who struck the ball decisively down the middle of Craig Gordon’s goal from the penalty spot. But not even the goal advantage could kick start the Clarets into life as Sunderland pressed and pressed and continued to look extremely threatening.

Our centre backs looked far too casual with Bikey in particular wanting too much time on the ball. Finally we were punished for it as Carlisle failed to step up leaving Darren Bent onside and with plenty of space to pick his spot and coolly slot the ball past the Beast to draw the scores level.

Something was need in the second half if we were to keep Sunderland from taking the ascendancy and we got it in the form of an Owen Coyle team talk. In the second period we began to look more composed and show we could match the Makem’s mix of nice football and physical presence.

Then came Coyle’s masterstroke as the pair probably unluckiest not to start the game Nugent and Eagles were both brought onto the field within minutes of each other. In between their introductions Steve Bruce went all out for the win as he introduced the giant Kenwyne Jones to the action for Malbranque. This opened up the game in the Claret’s favour as Sunderland deployed Frazier Campbell as a makeshift right winger.

Nugent began to have much more of an impact at leading the line than Paterson as he began to make life hard for Ferdinand and Turner by winning the arial battle. Eagles also thundered into the match as he time and time again tore into George McCartney down the Burnley right. The tide was very much beginning to turn.

Then came Nugent’s moment as he started and finished the first of his two wonderfully worked goals. A perfect cushioned header found Eagles who zipped down the line before linking up with the overlapping Mears who touched the ball back for Elliot who delivered an exceptionally inviting cross for Nugent to head home and finish a fantastic Burnley move.

Then with five minutes to spare came his second, a wonderful run from the excellent Elliot was delivered wide to Mears who found the feet of Nugent, only for our new hero to turn and guide the ball into the top corner. Game over- insert coin.

The performance from England one day international was the perfect way to silence the doubters who still see him as a Preston player. Like Alexander, there is no doubt that Nugent is now a Claret.

It was great to see a player so shot of confidence at Portsmouth play with a smile on his face again and enjoy his football. You could tell he loved being back out on the pitch and looked back to the cocksure figure we all loved to hate during his PNE days as he cheekily put linesman flag for a corner after his chasing down failed to win a Burnley corner. Credit Owen Coyle with restoring his confidence in such as short space of time, it just shows what telling a player like Nugent what a good player he is can do.

But it wasn’t just the David Nugent show; all over the pitch we looked confident once we settled into our footballing rythem. Right down the spine of the team we looked solid in the second half, while we are beginning to see some good partnerships forming all over the pitch. Mears and Eagles look promising down the right while the understanding between Blake and Jordan on the left is paying dividends.

A perfect home record was capped off by another sensational win. The good times continue to roll, who can remember the last time an England International scored the winner for Burnley at Turf Moor? Answers on a postcard.

Home is where the heart is

When in my last piece I spoke of Anfield being a footballing church I didn't expect to be welcomed by the Liverpool fans with a hastily arranged special Saturday service.
Prior to kick off the reds fans roared to their hymn Never Walk Alone which led me to believe that both sets of fans were going to contribute to a fantastic atmosphere. But while the Claret's played their part they were pretty much subdued for the whole ninety minutes despite the 4-0 scoreline. I'm not even sure Emmanuel Adebayor could've got them going.
I truly believe fans in the higher echelons of the Premier League are spoilt and almost can’t be bothered unless it’s a top four clash or a so called “great European night”. I just hope the Debrecen supporters making the trip from Hungary tonight aren’t overly expectant about the Anfield experience.
Unlike their fans, the Liverpool players were excellent and just like Chelsea two weeks earlier showed us exactly what being in the Premier League is all about. In our wins against Manchester United and Everton were we the team that harassed and closed down forcing our opponents into simple errors, but this time we were played at our own game by a tremendous high tempo Liverpoool.
Our midfield were never in the game as Gerrard, Kuyt, Beneyoun and Lucas tore us to shreds while our under the cosh defence understandably succumbed to some sloppy errors.
The great relief after the game was that we were heading back to sanctuary of Turf Moor after two away drubbings against two of the Premier League’s best. Although Sunderland look a good side, it’s against teams like them that we need to pick up points.
Barring Tottenham at the Lane, the next six games represent a real opportunity to add to our already impressive points tally. October pits us against Birmingham, Wigan and Hull City at the fortress while there is also our long awaited trip to Ewood Park that can’t come quick enough.
Some on the phone-ins and messageboards have unbelievably begun to criticise Coyle and call for drastic changes to the team and his tactics. I’m not sure how that’s possible given our last two opponents and I’m quite sure no matter what personnel or formation we’d have applied the results would’ve been almost identical.
There are one or two players though perhaps pushing for a starting berth, Chris Eagles looked hungry and up for the fight when he was introduced at Anfield while its only a matter of time until new signing David Nugent gets his first start after also looking impressive from the bench last weekend.
But whatever eleven starts against Sunderland on Saturday the game represents our chance to really push on and cement our place in the middle of the table for the next month or so. But for the moment I’m just happy to get back to the Turf and hopefully watching us getting a touch of the ball.

Claret's Honeymoon just won’t end

Thank God for the International break. Prior to the fixtures coming out I was informed by her indoors that I was required to escort her to a friends wedding this coming weekend, my immediate thoughts were one of dread as to which Burnley game I’d be forced to miss. Thankfully an England Slovenia friendly stepped in and allowing me to enjoy the use of the overpriced four start hotel to its maximum.

Although for the price of sitting in a Turkish Sauna this weekend, seven days earlier I could’ve shelled out for an overdraft busting ticket at Stamford Bridge to watch us play Chelsea.

Unable to head south to watch our 3-0 defeat by Carlo Ancelotti’s men due to work commitments I instead had to settle for the fantastic coverage on ESPN (now that’s brand loyalty for you).

The game was probably a perfect example of what most Claret’s expected our previous games against Manchester United and Everton to be like as the Blues dominated from start to finish.

Thankfully our previous point gaining performances at the Turf meant this game was an easy one to write off and forget about as we had lost to a team which look like they could be this years worthy Champions. Although, just wait until we rock the boat when the cocksure Londoners visit fortress Turf Moor at the end of January.

As the weekend ended, thoughts turned to any last minute deadline day deals that might happen. No big deals were touted which led to the sorry lack of any Sky Sports News reporters standing outside the Turf pretending to receive texts from players who were not actually about to sign.

Hull striker Daniel Cousin was heavily tipped to come in on loan and it was a surprise to both us and him when the deal fell through. Poor old Cousin had already stated his elation at sealing a move to play for Owen Coyle whilst also branding his current manager Phil Brown “bizarre and illogical” in the process. Maybe he has a point Phil?

But the real surprise came just after five o’clock when news filtered through that England’s all time leading goal-hanger and former Preston hero David Nugent had signed on a six month loan deal.

The North End fans sobbed that their prodigal son was not returning home to Deepdale as he instead choose to shack up with his new Claret and Blue mistress down the road.

So far opinion seems to be split on Nugent, for years he was the cocky figurehead for all our ill feeling towards the Knob Enders but secretly I think most admired him for being one of the Championship’s stand-out players.

Some have lambasted him for not being a natural finisher- but unfortunately you don’t get natural Premier League goal scorers on loan from Portsmouth.

To be fair to him he never got a fair crack of the whip at Pompey and should be hungry to prove all his doubters wrong. What we are getting is a very good player who will add to the versatility of our squad playing either up front or in the wide positions currently occupied by the likes of Robbie Blake and Steven Fletcher. More options in the attacking third of the field is what we need and with Nugent’s hold up play, work ethic and vision for me he is very much a welcome edition to Owen Coyle’s squad.

Following this weekend’s watching of declarations of holy matrimony will be a trip to the footballing Church of Anfield. Given the Red’s shaky start to the season it is most definitely a game we’re not writing off and we’ll be looking to show people that our Premier League honeymoon is definitely not over just yet.

Clarets swallow toffees

as posted on http://blogs.soccernet.com/burnley/




This Premier League business isn't bad is it? Two wins in a week at the Turf has transformed our reputation amongst the rest of the country from relegation certainties to well, relegation possibilities. The shift may be minimal but at least we're getting some of the respect we deserve.

Anyone who dismissed Wednesday’s win against Manchester United as a fluke will now hopefully be feeling as red faced as a merlot induced Sir Alex Ferguson. Although these naysayers will probably still be branding our wins as lucky due to excuses such as United’s failure to find their flow following the departure of the heavily relied upon Cristiano Ronaldo or the upheaval caused at Everton by Manchester City's harassment of Joleon Lescott.

The Toffees rolled up at the Turf again without Lescott, who it was rumoured was over at Eastlands having a medical. Although, even if the two clubs’ hadn't reached an agreement over his transfer I'm sure the now released Lockerbie Bomber would've been a more favourable choice at centre half for David Moyes; instead he plumped for the less popular Phil Neville to play alongside Joseph Yobo.

The unchanged Clarets got off to a storming start with Martin Paterson hitting the bar within forty seconds before Tim Howard kept out Fletcher's follow up. The chances kept on coming, Wade Elliot tested Howard, there was another glorious chance for Paterson who failed to glance a header home from six yards out, while Fletcher snatched at a volley. The football was fluent as we kept pressurising Everton's backline, enjoying unrelenting success down the flanks.

The volume inside Turf Moor was once again intensely deafening as we roared the Clarets on to take more Premier League blood.

After thirty four minutes the breakthrough came as Everton's failure to deal with another cross from the left hand side led to Steven Fletcher laying the ball back to Wade Elliot who guided the ball into the corner of the Everton net from the edge of the box. Goal! Another Burnley screamer, another of the league’s top side on the ropes.

At half time all the talk in the concourse was of how we were the better side and deserved to be more than one goal ahead. An Everton onslaught was expected in the second forty-five but in truth it never really came.

There was of course the dubious penalty won by Britain's new diving hope for London 2012 Tony Hibbert. Louis Saha stepped up for the resulting spot kick and well and truly fluffed his lines; it was like watching Michael Carrick on crack.

Despite the likes of Pienaar and Osman looking bright in possession they were more than matched by our full backs. The impressive Jack Rodwell was by far Everton's best player; it's just a shame for them that he played the holding role in midfield. The frustration was there to see as the likes of Cahill and Fellaini gave away needless free-kicks is they struggled to make an impact.

Burnley's work ethic combined with their willingness to get the ball down on the floor once again paid dividends as we out-battled and out-played Everton. Andre Bikey already looks the signing of the season as his strength, composure and leadership qualities helped ensure a second clean sheet in a week for Owen Coyle's men. There were of course some nervy moments towards the end but we held out to take another vital three points in our quest for survival.

The final whistle saw our elevation to seventh in the Premier League. We may only be three games in but what an achievement by everyone in Claret and Blue so far. And what makes the past week even sweeter? Blackburn Rovers sitting down at the bottom of the league without a single point.

Burnley 1-0 Man Utd: Time warp at Turf Moor

Read the score line again and savour the moment. For ninety minutes on Wednesday night Turf Moor was back in the swinging sixties as Burnley Football Club revisited its glory years.

Owen Coyle has inspired his team to some great nights over the past year, the cup wins over Chelsea and Arsenal, the performance in the second leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final against Spurs, the playoff victories over Reading and our Wembley promotion; but this was to surpass them all.

Every route to Turf Moor was jammed with Claret as the pubs, chippies and street sellers all benefited from the pre match expectancy that filled the air.

Inside the ground Claret and Blue was represented on all four sides of Turf Moor for the first time in years, the pitch was in pristine condition, whilst the players sported their vintage kit complete with the championship winning badge of the 59/60 season and hooped socks.

A glance at the betting coupon gave us little chance of even scoring a goal never mind getting a result. Not that anyone cared, as fans we were just happy to be rubbing shoulders with Manchester United as equals in the Premier League.

Coyle made one change to the side that lost at Stoke, in came new signing Bikey while there was a slight tweaking of the midfield and forward line.

Many fans pointed in awe as the likes of Rooney, Giggs and Owen lined up before kick off. I think it’s fair to say the players were in no similar mindset as they pressed and harried their superstar opponent’s right from the first whistle.

Eighteen minutes in came Robbie Blake's wonder strike. As the ball dropped from Evra's defensive header Blake struck a thunderbolt straight past Ben Foster who could hardly have seen it fly past him. Ecstasy ensued, as the whole place went wild, a real hug a stranger moment.

We're getting used to seeing stunning goals whilst watching Burnley. The last four competitive goals we've seen have been beauties. Paterson and Thompson's against Reading, Elliott's at Wembley and our first Premier League strike courtesy of Blake have all been worthy of winning any game. Its official, wonder goals are the new tap-ins.

Then just before half time came another familiar sight; heroics from Brian Jensen. Bizarrely Michael Carrick stepped up to take Ronaldo's role as United's penalty taker after Blake had upended Evra. Saved. The Beast does it again. And throughout the night he did it again and again and again as the Great Dane bravely thwarted United's attackers several times to preserve the unlikeliest of clean sheets.

United may have lacked cutting edge but take nothing away from the players of Burnley Football Club who throughout the ninety minutes gave their all for the team.

The back four of Mears, Bikey, Carlisle and Jordan were superb, putting their heads and bodies in front of everything United had to offer. In midfield Elliott, McCann and Alexander were not fazed one bit as they competed all night against the guile of Carrick and Giggs. Blake and Fletcher were impeccable out wide, taking the pressure off by helping us keep the ball further up the field whilst also tracking back admirably. Paterson a lone figure up front kept running all night giving the likes of Wes Brown and Johnny Evans a torrid time.

As the game progressed nervy movements followed, how many times have we seen United come back in this sort of game before? On came big hitters like Berbatov and Valencia whilst Gary Neville also took to the field. But it wasn't to be as even a surprisingly short four minutes of Sir Alex Ferguson stoppage time wasn't enough for the visitors to forge a breakthrough.

As Turf Moor rocked towards the final whistle the realisation came that these really are our new glory years. Not since 1968 have we beaten Manchester United in the league and now these days are back as the illustrious history of Burnley Football Club continues under the guidance of Owen Coyle and Chairman Barry Kilby.

Survival is most definitely a real possibility as long as we can keep Turf Moor the fortress that saw off the champions of England.

Last night produced one of the great nights at Turf Moor as the Clarets announced to everyone around the world that they really are Premier League.

Nil points but Burnley are most definietly back

Well our Premier League debut may well have produced no points but there were lots of pleasing aspects to take away from yesterday’s performance at the Britannia.

Despite being rattled by Stoke’s arial bombardment, when we managed to bring the ball down from its lofty position we looked threatening and definitely produced the more attractive display.

Then again, we all knew what to expect from Tony Pulis and his team. The dull tactic of Rory Dealp’s long throws and their ability to force fouls high up the pitch gave them plenty of opportunities to put pressure on our penalty box.

But credit to them, they may be a one trick pony but it’s most definitely a worth while one; I’m just glad I don’t have to watch it every week.

The long throws in particular left us flustered during the first period which led to panic setting in; poor judgements and elementary mistakes followed, as did the two nil deficit.

But despite going two goals down in what was a fairly even first half we didn’t panic and kept to our principles of playing the ball and looking to pick the holes in the Stoke backline.

Wade Elliot in particular stuck to the task with a tremendous display of skill and endeavour while record signing Steven Fletcher looked the real deal with his neat touches, hold up play and intelligent runs.

All that was lacking was an end product, something which without compromising our style or 20 million pounds worth of centre forward might be a struggle this season.

Every player that took to the field put a shift in to make every one of the noisy claret contingent that made the trip to witness the historic moment of seeing Burnley back in the Premier League proud.

An impressive cameo from Fernando Guerrero was especially pleasing on the eye, especially as he’d come straight from recording an episode of Different Strokes. The tiny Ecuadorian weaved his magic and looked dangerous as we pressed for a late break through.

Despite finding it tough against the rough and tumble of Stoke I think we more than proved we are capable of getting results at this level. Against more open teams than a well organised, disciplined Stoke we will get a breakthrough.

Some in the press may have already buried our chances of Premier League survival but those who walked away from the Britannia yesterday will know that if we can keep playing in the same positive manner then points will come our way.

Starting with Manchester United on Wednesday anyone?

The waiting's over

It’s strange to think that when the Premier League was formed on the 20th February 1992 that Burnley were well on their way to being crowned champions of the old division four. Since then promotions under Jimmy Mullen, Stan Ternent and Owen Coyle have brought us to the present day, where we’re all but 24 hours away from opening our campaign as Premier League Burnley Football Club.

The transformation has been remarkable, seven years prior to winning the league in ’92 we were a game against Leyton Orient away from dropping out of the Football League completely. And now tomorrow, 83 days after sealing promotion at Wembley our newest top flight chapter begins away at Stoke after a 33 year absence.

While not screaming of Premier League glamour the Potters are instead a familiar old foe from throughout our history, which most recently have been our shared days in the Championship and the old division two.

Owen Coyle began his management of the club with a goalless draw against Stoke at the Turf back in November 2007, while many Claret’s will still have Ally Pickering’s wonder strike in a 4-1 victory at the Britannia which virtually assured our Division Two status during Stan Ternent’s first season in the Turf Moor hot-seat firmly etched in the memory.

One hundred and one years earlier at the end of the 1897/98 season a game between the two founder members of the football league resulted in the introduction of today’s familiar automatic promotion/relegation system. This was after a “Test Match” playoff between first division Stoke and second division Burnley ended goalless in a game described as “the match without a shot at goal”.

Expect no similar stalemate tomorrow as Owen Coyle brings his exciting and open brand of football to England’s top flight. There is no doubt that Burnley will not settle to make up the numbers in the Premier League, our manager insists he will stick to getting the ball down on the floor and attacking the opposition.

The squad that finished last season has been boosted by record signing Steven Fletcher who has been brought down from Scotland to get us goals, while the exciting Fernando Guerrero will assist the likes of Robbie Blake, Chris Eagles, Wade Elliot and Chris McCann in creating them.

Meanwhile other summer incumbents Richard Eckersley, Brian Easton and David Edgar will add youth and exuberance to the backline, while Tyrone Mears at 26 will bring a tad of experience. There is also the prospective transfer of Cameroon giant Andre Bikey from Reading who, if it goes through, will add steel to what a times can look a shaky backline.

Given this, it’s unsurprising that the lack of centre half cover is our main worry for tomorrow’s opener. With Michael Duff and David Edgar already unavailable, skipper Steven Caldwell is now described as a “massive doubt” due to a groin injury picked up in his midweek exploits with Scotland.

Even with Caldwell’s unlikely presence Stoke’s direct style of play will be difficult for us to match. An impressive 12th place finish last season was achieved by a footballing blitzkrieg; when Tony Pulis wasn’t content with his players hoofing long balls into the opponent’s box, Rory Delap was given the task of lobbing them in with his monstrous throw-ins. Either way, their arial assaults were fierce and clinical in nature, especially with the likes of James Beattie waiting to punish opposition defences.

Another thing Stoke have in their favour is their fans. With regular 28,000 sell outs at the Britannia last season, the club’s faithful has done the commendable job of transforming one of football’s new builds into an intimidating caldron of noise, a throwback to the atmosphere of the terraces.

We are under no illusions that there will be no easy games this season; thirty eight cup finals await before our day of destiny next May.

Nobody would have thought that after a 4-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on the opening day of last season that 60 games later we’d have been dancing out of Wembley as Play off Champions. So win, lose or draw tomorrow it will be an incredibly proud moment to see the players of Burnley Football Club take to the pitch tomorrow back in the big time.

Place your bets now

As a Burnley fan there were many chances to win a bit of extra pocket money by betting on the team last season.

While the squad were busy earning promotion to the Premier League and reaching the Carling Cup Semi Final, seeing off Arsenal and Chelsea along the way, those with an eye for a bet (and the spare money) were able to cash in on our success at the bookmakers.

Although that wasn’t the case for me, while not a natural in the field of betting I’m also as skint as a post divorce Ray Parlour.

I have tried my hand at all sorts with little to no success in the past, punting on the likes of football, horse racing, greyhounds, cricket, rugby, darts and dancing on ice; all of the worlds major sporting events.

However it was the reintroduction of the in-ground betting shacks at Turf Moor that reignited my interest last season. A pre match pint whilst picking out which Claret would score first became a regular feature of my pre match build up in the Bob Lord. In the whole season I won once; it was Chris McCann who stuck me gold (about £13.50) when he thumped in a header on five minutes against leaders Wolves on Valentines Day, needless to say where my winnings went.

Those that stuck twenty or thirty quid on getting out of the Championship certainly paid for their promotion party beer money once or twice over. Although monetary reward for the best season of watching Burnley Football Club in my lifetime would have been no bonus, instead I think I’d have used the money to kit out a few of Burnley’s homeless in full replica kit whilst giving them enough cash to secure themselves a meat and potato pie and a Bovril.

With our first Premier League campaign now just under two weeks away I’ve decided to place two wagers. Given my betting history I’m not entirely sure why, probably because the wait for the season is killing me plus I haven’t written an article on here for a while and think it will make a half decent feature (for those of you that have don’t have faiths that denounce betting anyway).

So here are my punts.

1) Burnley to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
2) Burnley to finish above Blackburn in the table.

I think these two, along with doing the double over Rovers would be the ultimate wishes of any fellow Burnley fans over the coming season.

We know that our finances compared with the rest of the league are for the most part incomparable, but what we do have is our work ethic and undoubted team spirit that may carry us through to safety.

Looking at our rivals also fills me with some confidence; we have shown we’re more than capable of competing with our promotion rivals Wolves and Birmingham. I doubt Hull City will be a force, especially with the way their goateed, perma-tanned manger Phil Brown has been behaving, offering himself to Premiership strikers in a manner that would make the sluttiest of wannabe WAGS blush. Portsmouth seem to be in financial meltdown and are having to sell players left, right and centre-forward to survive. Archetypal hoofers Blackburn and Stoke will be hit and miss, while Roberto Martinez’s Wigan may suffer from a post Steve Bruce lull while they adapt to a different style of play. And that’s just a few of the candidates, Bruce’s new club Sunderland may falter, while West Ham and Fulham will find it difficult to emulate last seasons successes and who can forget Spurs, who will probably be bottom until Christmas.

This morning I purchased my tickets for our season opener away at Stoke which made our return to the Promised Land feel even more real. The excitement is building to what will be one hell of a season. If we don’t stay up it will still have been an unforgettable ride; but if we do, I’m sure you’ll help me in making Burnley a place where even the tramps wear Claret and Blue.

Beverley Hills Clarets

Around ten days ago thousands flocked to L.A to witness a memorial for the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Today expect to see a few less well wishers as the players and staff of Burnley Football Club arrive in the City of Angels for their pre season tour.

The Clarets head stateside for the second year running hoping to recapture some of the American magic that helped them earn promotion to the Premier League last season.


Three preseason games await Owen Coyle’s men, they play VC Fusion, a rumoured behind closed doors match with David Beckham’s LA Galaxy before heading to Oregon to take on the Portland Timbers. I'm sure there may even be time to throw down some jumpers for goalposts and take on a Bloods and Crips XI.

Prior to arriving at LAX the team has already played two friendlies in the less impressive backdrops of Bradford and Morecambe.

A win and a loss from these two encounters has done the trick of loosening a few muscles and sweating out that promotion party booze.

The new boys also got their first taste of wearing Claret and Blue with record signing Steven Fletcher in particular looking sharp, showing several nice touches, intelligent runs and an eye for goal.

In the meantime the squad has also been taking shape; young defenders Brain Easton and Richard Ekersley have joined from Hamilton and Manchester United respectively to take the last couple of seats on the plane.

Owen Coyle has promised more; the Marcus Tudgay saga rumbles on with Sheffield Wednesday getting all menopausal about letting him go despite being in the last year of his contract. Trailists are also being touted with 19-year-old Ecuador international Fernando Guerrero apparently linking up with us in the USA.

With temperatures hitting the mid seventies (in L.A not Morecambe), the boys are in for a tough workout as our day in the sun gets ever closer. Let’s just hope our trip will be far more successful than when Jordan and Peter headed stateside.

The glitz and glamour of Los Angeles could provide the perfect prelude to our Premier League inauguration.

Just don’t expect to read about Chris Eagle’s getting off with Paris Hilton in the glossys anytime soon.

First posted on http://blogs.soccernet.com/burnley/ on 16/7/2009.

Owen Coyle's record breakers

What a marvellous couple of days for Burnley Football Club.

Owen Coyle has once again continued his good work in the transfer market by bringing in three players.

The club's transfer record was smashed on Tuesday as Steven Fletcher made the trip down from bonny Scotland to put pen to paper on his three million pound transfer.

The fee doubles the reported price paid for both Martin Paterson and Chris Eagles last summer, meaning that if the BBC’s Record Breakers was still on the telly then Owen Coyle’s transfer kitty could’ve become a regular feature for the likes of Ronald Regan Jr, Linford Christie and Kris Akabusi to lament about.

Maybe they should bring it back; surely there is a whole host of talent out there that could front it; perhaps Dwain Chambers, Peaches Geldoff or Michael Jackson’s doctor could do the honours?

Anyways back to events at the Turf.

First to ink his Claret’s contract was Tyrone Mears making him Burnley’s first ever Premier League signing.

At half a million pounds Mears looks a steal, a right back of great ability who possesses the undoubted pace and power that we ultimately lack as a Premier League outfit.

Big money transfers from Preston to West Ham and then from the Boleyn Ground to Derby County shows that he is a player who has been highly valued and sought after. As does Marseille’s desperation to keep him, apparently offering over double our offer as a last ditch effort to secure his services permanently.

There is no doubt that Mears comes with a little baggage. He spectacularly fell out with his old Derby boss Paul Jewell and snuck off to meet the French club’s officials after the Rams decided to turn down their offer of a trial and loan deal for the player.

Such was Mear’s desperation to get away from the scouse Ron Jeremy he apparently climbed through a window in order to crawl past his manager’s office at Derby's training ground to collect his boots before legging it across the channel.

I’m surprised Jewell didn’t give chase in his shag-mobile forcing our Tyrone to bunk down in a HGV posing as a shin-pad wearing asylum seeker in an attempt to escape the clutches of the evil porn star.

Long before all this malarkey the right back decided to switch the name on the back of his Preston shirt from the customary surname to his nickname “Tye”. This unsavoury incident left him looking more like a second rate hip hop artist than a professional footballer.

But now all that’s behind him and he comes to Turf Moor older and hopefully wiser.

Even though injury meant Mears only made a handful of appearances for Marseille, the change in lifestyle will hopefully have been a positive influence on him.

The best thing about this signing is that “Tye” has something to prove. His spells in the Premier League, particularly with West Ham, haven’t been a great success and at 26 now must show he is able to play in the world’s top division.

We must also commend his keenness to get to the club, cutting short his holiday in Marbella to complete the deal.

As the day rolled on, more was to come. News filtered through that Hibernian had given us permission to speak with Steven Fletcher and that he was at Turf Moor ready to discuss terms and complete his medical.

Before the day was out the 22 year old signed a four year deal and became the club’s new record signing.

Like Martin Paterson before him, Fletcher comes with a reputation of being a hard worker and a talented finisher. The Scottish International who has been capped four times by his country and netted over fifty times for Hib’s has also been linked with a plethora of top clubs during his relatively short career, including Real Madrid.

The fans north of the border seem to love him and explain that his less than prolific season last time out was down to their manager’s long ball, unattractive style of play. Given this, his game should fit in nicely with the open and attacking philosophy employed by Coyle.

There is no doubt that he is not the finished article but neither are we as a team and a season in the Premier League will give Fletcher and fellow young guns Martin Paterson, Chris McCann, Chris Eagles, Jay Rodriguez, Kevin McDonald and our third signing of the week David Edgar a chance to develop in English football’s top flight.

Edgar joined on Wednesday from Newcastle with Owen Coyle circling the Fog on the Tyne to pick the bones from a great big Geordie carcass.

Another defensive option at centre half or right back, the twenty two year old known for his leadership skills will add youth and vibrancy to our back line.

The Canadian burst on the scene at St James Park last season with a debut goal against Manchester United; and with him suspended for our season opener at Stoke, lightening could definitely strike twice when the champions arrive at Turf Moor on August 17th.

So what a great week for new arrivals as our Premier League squad begins to take shape; but it sounds as if Owen Coyle is not done yet with reports this morning suggesting Hamilton youngsters James McCarthy and Brian Easton are next on his shopping list.

As the season approaches I’ve no doubt that the Owen Coyle revolution will roll on and continue to try and break records, whether Kris Akabusi and co care or not.

Originally posted on http://blogs.soccernet.com/burnley/

I heart Graham Alexander

I used to hate Graham Alexander.

When I say hate, I mean the immoderate pantomime loathing reserved for players who associate themselves with Preston North End. You know, the type that makes you shout out things like “Alexander you knob” every time he ran by.

But “Grezza” wasn’t just another Preston player; he was North End’s captain supreme and goalscoring fullback.

He chose Deepdale over Turf Moor in 1999 and then went on to become epitome of everything that was good about Preston who were consistently just doing a little bit better than us.

They finished Champions of Division Two as we snatched second place on the last day of the 1999/2000 season and from then on finished higher than us in the Championship table more often than not.

During that nine year spell Alexander became Preston’s longest serving player and bagged 52 goals.

Admit it; you hated him too didn’t you?

But now I love Graham Alexander.

When I say love, I mean as far as one heterosexual man can go without crossing the great big pink line. You know, the firm gentleman’s handshake, the purchasing of a pint and then maybe a quick kiss on the cheek?

My feelings changed on one Wednesday late in August 2007 when the Scottish International turned up at Turf Moor having signed a two year contract.

Two hundred thousand pounds was paid to Preston for his services. At the time it was seen more as getting one over on our rivals, a bit like having it off with Jordan and then sending Peter Andre the video. It was priceless fun, excuse the pun.

“A captain, a leader and a winner” is how Steve Cotterill described the club’s newest incumbent of the number 2 shirt.

And he brought all that and more. Arguably the best of Cotterill’s signings (probably on a par with Robbie Blake coming back to the Turf) Alexander was eventually utilised fully by Owen Coyle in the centre of the park and added grit, steel and composure to the Clarets midfield.

During our promotion winning season Alexander was exceptional, perfecting the holding role and playing almost every minute of every game. The thirty seven year old was able to break up play and let players like Chris McCann and Wade Elliot get forward and express themselves.

If that wasn’t enough the world’s greatest penalty taker bagged a total of ten goals, mostly from the spot, including a key spot kick in the first leg against Reading at the Turf.

A true professional, Alexander is the perfect example of what makes a great Scottish International- he’s English.

Our promotion at Wembley ended a personal hoodoo for Alexander, it was seventh time lucky for him in May as he was finally promoted through the playoffs following three semi final and three final defeats.

He also managed to end that irritating curse I mentioned earlier, as it is now Burnley that are doing better than Preston. And not just slightly better either.

Now having signed a new one year deal at the club, Alexander’s experience will once again be vital next season.

After everything we’ve been through during our blossoming love affair over the last two seasons it looks like our relationship is ready to go to the next level; from the chastity ringed Championship to the erotically charged Premier League.

Originally posted on: http://blogs.soccernet.com/burnley/

Coyle is Claret's most important fixture

This Premier League stuff isn’t bad is it?

In the last few weeks Burnley’s name has been added the Premier League section of various websites whilst looking at the new league table certainly makes for hours of entertaining reading.

If things aren’t strange enough already then look at me; A Burnley Premier League blogger.

Things got even better up on cloud nine this week when the fixtures came out.

A quick glance at the opening few games saw us pitting our wits against four of the leagues top five clubs last season. Following our season opener at Stoke its then games against Manchester United, Everton, Chelsea and Liverpool. Talk about a baptism of fire.

But this is what being in English football’s top flight is all about. The games may be tough but it’s certainly a much better option than the trips to Peterborough, Doncaster and Barnsley that we could’ve been facing.

Last season saw us come out of August with two league points and one goal scored so it won’t be a complete disaster if we were to come out of our opening fixtures with little to show from them.

As ever we will be hoping for Owen Coyle’s team to beat the bookies and pick up a few surprise results; and with Manchester United and Everton notorious slow starters in previous seasons who knows?

More realistically we will all be earmarking games we think we can win, most notably against teams like Wigan, Hull, Stoke, Blackburn, Birmingham and Wolves

October in particular is a month in which we could rocket up the form table with games against four of those teams including our most fierce rivals Blackburn.

Not being old enough to witness a Clarets victory over the “bastards” the games on the 17th October and 27th March at Ewood Park and Turf Moor respectively are a mouth watering prospect.

There has however been the sour taste of defeat during Rover’s relegation seasons in the Championship. This time though it feels like we are more evenly matched, we certainly play the better football than Big Sam’s men and hopefully can finally put one over on our six fingered East Lancashire adversaries.

Perhaps the greatest fixture of all was revealed when Owen Coyle announced that he was definitely a permanent one at Turf Moor having signed his new deal this week. There is little need for me to heap yet more superlatives on our Master of Universe, his record speaks for itself and to be quite frank, I’ve already used every delightfully praising adjective I can find in the bloody dictionary.

If we are to survive in the Premier League we will need Coyle’s craft to carefully add to a team that refuses to accept defeat. The defence certainly needs beefing up, however it seems that it’s the other end of the pitch that we could be strengthening first.

A bid of over a million pounds for Swansea striker Jason Scotland has reportedly been made and turned down. The Trinidadian is certainly a handful and has bagged plenty of goals during his time in England. Concerns have been raised over whether he’ll be able to make the step up and at 30 isn’t the type of player that the board suggested we’d be signing. On the other hand I think he’d certainly have an impact and would be a decent acquisition at the right price.

While all the transfer dealings rumble on and agents continue to pimp around their players, signings will be made and some will be missed. All we can do is sit back, relax and put our trust in the manager- and why shouldn’t we? After all, Owen Coyle is God.

Originally posted on: http://blogs.soccernet.com/burnley/