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.