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?
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