Thats Not News Epidsode 8

Season finale

test

A large broom needed to clean up England's doom



Its been a week since England’s exit from the World Cup and on goes the seemingly never ending fall out in the media, the text message jokes and the angry pub based debates.

It’s fair to say that England’s dismal failings in this World Cup have upset a lot of people. Phone-ins have been littered with cockneys shouting that the overpaid players and manager should now tip up their wages to nurses before being sent to do battle in Afghanistan.

But should we be that upset? Did we not see it coming? How really did we expect players that struggled against the USA and Algeria to come out and knock out a young exciting German team that has played some of the best football of the competition so far?

The answer is of course that we always believe that this team will come good. No matter how they play we are one game away from turning things around and becoming the world force we all hope for. Sadly, it never comes true. Oh there are flashes of hope and promise but that flicker of genius that we all know that’s in there somewhere never fully comes to fruition.

The reason why it doesn’t is never fully clear because of the alphabet of tired and worn excuses being flown around for failure. Tactics, exhaustion, the ball, the climate, pampered players, splits in the camp, coups, affairs and over discipline are just some that have been thrown out over the last seven days.

But while each fan, journalist and ex professional all have an opinion on how to fix our broken national team it’s the men at the top who have to act. But unfortunately our jurassic F.A don’t have the track record to show that a change of approach will be introduced.

In the past they have invested inflated wages in foreign coaches who are just as tactically stubborn as our own, built an overpriced national stadium and thrown money at a Burton training complex which still remains unfinished and unused. Doesn’t fill you with much hope does it?

The foreign coach experiment was supposed to bring in forward thinking football men from the continent who could change the way we approach international football. What did we get? Sven and Fabio, who although they do have individual good points are ultimately flawed by their reliance on an outdated system that does not suit the players they seem intent on playing.

The Lampard and Gerrard situation is a prime example. Capello came and promised to sort out England’s biggest unsolved mystery of how to get these two great players into the team and replicating something near their club form. Sadly as we enter the twilight of their international careers still no workable solution has been found.

Playing Gerrard from the left works when England are setting the tempo and playing well against lesser teams; unfortunately against more intelligent, stronger and ultimately better opposition the system becomes rigid and the players start sticking to their positions when what’s needed for it to work is freedom and flexibility.

It’s extremely sad to see that the most obvious solution to getting two of England’s most outstanding footballers to play together has never been given a run of games. Namely playing both of them together with a holding midfielder with either Gerrard playing off Rooney with a more natural left sided player or with a middle three including Lampard and Gerrard with more forward thinking players providing the width in a interchangeable 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. Sadly the F.A decided to pay six million pounds to a year to another man who is less open to change than they are.

This is just one element of Capello’s failures during this tournament. The Italian’s become a shadow of the solid, respectable coach we saw during the early days of his tenure. His confusing selection policies, substitutions and contradictory policies over things like contract negations have left a lot to be desired.

The BBC yesterday showed a montage of all the managers that have fallen on their sword since their country’s exit from the World Cup. There were a considerable amount but there was one notable exception, Fabio Capello. The money the Italian’s paid means there is no way he would’ve done the honourable thing and resigned. Now a get out clause in his contract has been removed the F.A can’t afford to pay off the rest of his contract, so now we are left with a manager who it seems nobody has faith in anymore.

The fact is that the sorry circles that the F.A work in has left the England national team in a mess. We will now see Capello in charge for at least the next two years up until the end of the next European Championships. That is perhaps until he’s given a new contract to 2014 after England qualify top of an easy looking qualification group. It really wouldn’t surprise me.

But like it or not we are stuck with him now so let’s hope Capello is as "ruthless" as the press make him out to be and actually ditches some of the old guard who no longer should be relied on to take England forward. What’s needed is a sprinkling of young and exciting talent that Capello says will add “new energy” to the team.

The good thing for me is that at least he recognises that he has to change to save his reputation. Come the opening Euro 2012 qualification game in September must be ready to make regular starters of the likes of Adam Johnson, Michael Dawson and Joe Hart while blooding others like Gary Cahill, Jack Rodwell and Jack Wilshire as regular squad members. Theo Walcott must also return in some form, England definitely missed having a player with pace that opponents actually fear during this tournament.

I’m not entirely sure which of the “golden generation” should survive. One thing that is for certain is that John Terry must go and England must move on from his era in the side. If the Chelsea man can’t be captain he isn’t worth his place and should be replaced in order to form a new partnership’s at the back. Players like David James, Jamie Carragher and Emile Heskey must also be forgotten if we are to start to move forward.

While Capello has decisions to make over which players should go and which young talent he should blood, he must also give them the freedom of expression by implementing a variation of the 4-3-3 system. He definitely needs to experiment to make these group of players into a well oiled international unit.

Let’s start doing things other teams do. Why not start Crouch? The Tottenham man is our nearest thing to someone like Klose, who has an outstanding goal record for Germany but not for his cub.

Let’s play Rooney wide from a three man attack, where he can cut inside and do some damage. At Manchester United there are an abundance of creative players to feed Rooney, England don’t have that. In qualifying he was far more effective and got the team playing from deeper positions which was rarely seen at this World Cup. Let’s not have our best footballer swallowed up by intelligent sides whose centre backs and holding midfielders stunt his influence when he is left to rot up front. We need to srop trying to turn our most naturally gifted footballer into an old fashioned target man. Sir Alex Ferguson can play him where he wants but England need more from Rooney outside the box than United do.

Below is how I’d like the side to set up come September with the players who should be nearest the starting eleven.


GK: Hart

DF: Johnson Cahill/Dawson/R. Ferdinand A.Cole

HM: Hargreaves/Rodwell

CM: Lampard/Gerrard/Wilshere/Milner/Huddlestone

AT: Lennon, Walcott/A. Johnson/Crouch/Rooney

Other squad members; Foster, Green, Gibbs, Barry, J. Cole, Defoe, Bent.

It may not be overly radical but for England the change in formation is the most important part of how we recover from this dismal showing in South Africa.

For me it’s the grass levels of the game that needs to see wholesale changes; for starters we need a more workable solution to getting more English youngsters into Premier League sides must be achieved. At a much lower level the FA must now champion skill and technique by getting more children playing football in the right way. Sir Trevor Brooking is currently trying to implement this and I wish him well in his attempt to single headedly move our tired old FA into looking at 21st Century models like the one that is seeing Germany storm into another World Cup semi final with a young and vibrant side.

England may have been unlucky in that Lampard’s goal was never given in that quarter final a week ago today. But in fact that non-goal may have done us a huge favour as without the total capitulation that followed it may not have given us the chance to force changes to the personnel, the way we play our football and the whole way we approach developing our young talent. Sweeping changes are needed across the board, now can someone please get Fabio and the rest of the F.A a big brush and tell them how to use it?

A large broom needed to clean up England's doom

It's been a week since England’s exit from the World Cup and on goes the seemingly never ending fall out in the media, the text message jokes and the angry pub based debates.

It’s fair to say that England’s dismal failings in this World Cup have upset a lot of people. Phone-ins have been littered with cockneys shouting that the overpaid players and manager should now tip up their wages to nurses before being sent to do battle in Afghanistan.

But should we be that upset? Did we not see it coming? How really did we expect players that struggled against the USA and Algeria to come out and knock out a young exciting German team that has played some of the best football of the competition so far?

The answer is of course that we always believe that this team will come good. No matter how they play we are one game away from turning things around and becoming the world force we all hope for. Sadly, it never comes true. Oh there are flashes of hope and promise but that flicker of genius that we all know that’s in there somewhere never fully comes to fruition.

The reason why it doesn’t is never fully clear because of the alphabet of tired and worn excuses being flown around for failure. Tactics, exhaustion, the ball, the climate, pampered players, splits in the camp, coups, affairs and over discipline are just some that have been thrown out over the last seven days.

But while each fan, journalist and ex professional all have an opinion on how to fix our broken national team it’s the men at the top who have to act. But unfortunately our jurassic F.A don’t have the track record to show that a change of approach will be introduced.

In the past they have invested inflated wages in foreign coaches who are just as tactically stubborn as our own, built an overpriced national stadium and thrown money at a Burton training complex which still remains unfinished and unused. Doesn’t fill you with much hope does it?

The foreign coach experiment was supposed to bring in forward thinking football men from the continent who could change the way we approach international football. What did we get? Sven and Fabio, who although they do have individual good points are ultimately flawed by their reliance on an outdated system that does not suit the players they seem intent on playing.

The Lampard and Gerrard situation is a prime example. Capello came and promised to sort out England’s biggest unsolved mystery of how to get these two great players into the team and replicating something near their club form. Sadly as we enter the twilight of their international careers still no workable solution has been found.

Playing Gerrard from the left works when England are setting the tempo and playing well against lesser teams; unfortunately against more intelligent, stronger and ultimately better opposition the system becomes rigid and the players start sticking to their positions when what’s needed for it to work is freedom and flexibility.

It’s extremely sad to see that the most obvious solution to getting two of England’s most outstanding footballers to play together has never been given a run of games. Namely playing both of them together with a holding midfielder with either Gerrard playing off Rooney with a more natural left sided player or with a middle three including Lampard and Gerrard with more forward thinking players providing the width in a interchangeable 4-5-1/4-3-3 formation. Sadly the F.A decided to pay six million pounds to a year to another man who is less open to change than they are.

This is just one element of Capello’s failures during this tournament. The Italian’s become a shadow of the solid, respectable coach we saw during the early days of his tenure. His confusing selection policies, substitutions and contradictory policies over things like contract negations have left a lot to be desired.

The BBC yesterday showed a montage of all the managers that have fallen on their sword since their country’s exit from the World Cup. There were a considerable amount but there was one notable exception, Fabio Capello. The money the Italian’s paid means there is no way he would’ve done the honourable thing and resigned. Now a get out clause in his contract has been removed the F.A can’t afford to pay off the rest of his contract, so now we are left with a manager who it seems nobody has faith in anymore.

The fact is that the sorry circles that the F.A work in has left the England national team in a mess. We will now see Capello in charge for at least the next two years up until the end of the next European Championships. That is perhaps until he’s given a new contract to 2014 after England qualify top of an easy looking qualification group. It really wouldn’t surprise me.

But like it or not we are stuck with him now so let’s hope Capello is as "ruthless" as the press make him out to be and actually ditches some of the old guard who no longer should be relied on to take England forward. What’s needed is a sprinkling of young and exciting talent that Capello says will add “new energy” to the team.

The good thing for me is that at least he recognises that he has to change to save his reputation. Come the opening Euro 2012 qualification game in September must be ready to make regular starters of the likes of Adam Johnson, Michael Dawson and Joe Hart while blooding others like Gary Cahill, Jack Rodwell and Jack Wilshire as regular squad members. Theo Walcott must also return in some form, England definitely missed having a player with pace that opponents actually fear during this tournament.

I’m not entirely sure which of the “golden generation” should survive. One thing that is for certain is that John Terry must go and England must move on from his era in the side. If the Chelsea man can’t be captain he isn’t worth his place and should be replaced in order to form a new partnership’s at the back. Players like David James, Jamie Carragher and Emile Heskey must also be forgotten if we are to start to move forward.

While Capello has decisions to make over which players should go and which young talent he should blood, he must also give them the freedom of expression by implementing a variation of the 4-3-3 system. He definitely needs to experiment to make these group of players into a well oiled international unit.

Let’s start doing things other teams do. Why not start Crouch? The Tottenham man is our nearest thing to someone like Klose, who has an outstanding goal record for Germany but not for his cub.

Let’s play Rooney wide from a three man attack, where he can cut inside and do some damage. At Manchester United there are an abundance of creative players to feed Rooney, England don’t have that. In qualifying he was far more effective and got the team playing from deeper positions which was rarely seen at this World Cup. Let’s not have our best footballer swallowed up by intelligent sides whose centre backs and holding midfielders stunt his influence when he is left to rot up front. We need to srop trying to turn our most naturally gifted footballer into an old fashioned target man. Sir Alex Ferguson can play him where he wants but England need more from Rooney outside the box than United do.

Below is how I’d like the side to set up come September with the players who should be nearest the starting eleven.


GK: Hart

DF: Johnson Cahill/Dawson/R. Ferdinand A.Cole

HM: Hargreaves/Rodwell

CM: Lampard/Gerrard/Wilshere/Milner/Huddlestone

AT: Lennon, Walcott/A. Johnson/Crouch/Rooney

Other squad members; Foster, Green, Gibbs, Barry, J. Cole, Defoe, Bent.

It may not be overly radical but for England the change in formation is the most important part of how we recover from this dismal showing in South Africa.

For me it’s the grass levels of the game that needs to see wholesale changes; for starters we need a more workable solution to getting more English youngsters into Premier League sides must be achieved. At a much lower level the FA must now champion skill and technique by getting more children playing football in the right way. Sir Trevor Brooking is currently trying to implement this and I wish him well in his attempt to single headedly move our tired old FA into looking at 21st Century models like the one that is seeing Germany storm into another World Cup semi final with a young and vibrant side.

England may have been unlucky in that Lampard’s goal was never given in that quarter final a week ago today. But in fact that non-goal may have done us a huge favour as without the total capitulation that followed it may not have given us the chance to force changes to the personnel, the way we play our football and the whole way we approach developing our young talent. Sweeping changes are needed across the board, now can someone please get Fabio and the rest of the F.A a big brush and tell them how to use it?

Can Capello get der Kaiser a beer?

Well that was much better wasn’t it? England finally started to get going at the World Cup with what was all in all a very good showing against Slovenia yesterday afternoon.

Jermaine Defoe’s 23rd minute strike proved enough to take us out of the group in second place and set up an intriguing last sixteen tie against “them Germans” in Bloemfontein on Sunday afternoon.

Performance wise it was the first time in the competition that Fabio Capello’s men really moved the ball sharply with plenty of neat interchanges and created plenty of very good chances. At the other end David James was cool and calm in goal, while the back four headed by an inspiring John Terry through themselves at everything.

What was perhaps most pleasing was the Terry inspired huddle on the final whistle. That sort of reaction after any important result often shows a strong togetherness, collective spirit and desire to be successful. That’s what England need now; the shackles from the opening two games seem to have been removed and the players now look ready to take on the world again.

But let’s not get carried away with winning the thing just yet. While at times England were brilliantly explosive at others they still had elements of an imminent self destruction about them. Although I believe we will continue to get stronger the more we can progress in the tournament, these defensive frailties can never be fully masked. We must persevere in this manner and hope we can continue to get past teams with more of the same swashbuckling Premier League style performances.

To do that we need to score more goals after a poor return of only two so far. We all know how dangerous the likes of Defoe, Rooney, Lampard, Gerrard and Milner all are in front of goal and if we can open the Germans up with similarly penetrative attacking play then we will hopefully reap the rewards and take a better proportion of the chances created.

The main question now is that does Capello now stick with the same eleven for Sundays last sixteen showdown? Providing Rooney is fit then for me the answer is yes.

I was shocked to hear some journalists calling for Rooney to be dropped even after yesterday’s performance. One such chap labelled him “Emile Heskey like” due to the fact Rooney’s name has rarely appeared on OPTA stats for scoring goals or direct assists.

Although still not at his best, Rooney was at the heart of most of the neat link up play that was coming from England’s advancing midfielders and full backs. His movement and vision with balls around the corner of defenders and through their legs will once again be vital to England’s chances of victory against the Germans on Sunday.

Without him I’d be worried that we’d struggle to emulate yesterday’s performance and slide back into the disjointed England we saw against Algeria. There is little doubt Rooney was one of the worst players in that game last Friday but when England are vibrant so is Rooney and he will only continue to regain his swing the more those around him improve theirs.

When the team plays poorly Rooney’s frustrations often make him a bad player and the shadow of himself that had struggled up to yesterday. Having Jermaine Defoe alongside Rooney also helped as the Tottenham man now takes some of the goal-scoring responsibility off Rooney’s already strained shoulders. While often not involved in much of the general play, Defoe often came alive with his movement in the final third and showed his worth perfectly when stepping across the Slovenian defender to put away Milner’s cross.

Another worthy change made by Capello was bringing in James Milner onto the right hand side. The Villa man almost instantly struck up a very tasty partnership with Glenn Johnson down the England right. It was a very good performance from Milner who crossed effectively, showed he could beat a man and also worked hard for the team especially when helping out Johnson at full back. The partnership was also mirrored on the other side by the terrific Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard.

At the other end of the field Capello must also choose between Upson and Carragher now the Liverpool defender has returned from suspension. Upson did well alongside Terry and should keep his place at the heart of England’s defence. There are question marks as to whether the pairing would be suited to a less physical and more creative attack than the Slovenians but at this stage we need to stick with a winning team, yet more disruption to the line-up would be unwelcome at a time when we look to be turning the corner.

So what of the Germans? Our old foe have certainly had the better of us in the past at the finals of major tournaments but this is a new era for both sides. The Germans look less like the “efficient” well oiled machine of times gone by and instead play with more openness and freedom than their ununified past. This is something England must look to exploit if they are to get through the tie without the dreaded extra time and penalties.

They do however remain a massive threat that should not be underestimated. Up and coming talent such as Müller and Özil have so far shone while being helped along by the more experienced Schweinsteiger, Klose, captain Lahm and penalty missing Podolski.

Like England, Germany have defensive frailties of their own and if both sides get the ball down and play then this latest encounter between the former enemies could be best of the many “World Cup classics” throughout the years.

Franz Beckenbauer has labelled England “stupid” for finishing second in the group and setting up this mouth watering clash. With yet another derogatory comment from Der Kaiser the question has to be asked, could he be running scared of Fabio Capello’s men? After all Germany have already been beaten during this World Cup while England remain unbeaten despite the slowest of starts to their campaign.

Lets hope England don’t enter into such mind games and just sit back on Saturday night with one of Fabio Capello’s beers and realise that without setting the world alight they could be on the verge of going very far in this World Cup. For the players it’s now all about turning this new found spirit into enough momentum to keep on progressing. Oh, and did I mention the part about having to win a good old penalty shoot out?

Fabio orders fingers on lips

While a fan that confused the England dressing room with a toilet goes on trial this week in South Africa much of the country is still holding court about that performance against Algeria on Friday.

At the least Pavlos Joseph has an excuse for his wanderings; the stench coming from the England team dressing room after that game probably resembled that of the dirtiest of public lavatories.

It was a truly woeful performance from Fabio Capello’s side, most definitely the worst under his tenure. But what’s changed between the side that cruised through qualifying and the one now trying to stagger blindly into the World Cup’s knockout stages?

Some lament the long hard slog of a European season that has seen not only England but France, Spain and Italy also falter in the opening games, while some say the Italian disciplinarian’s hard line approach is too much for a month long tournament. Other notable mentions include the climate, the Jubilani ball and a simple loss of form.

Whatever camp you fall into the most likely answer to England’s failings would be a combination of the lot; however the dominant and recurring theme seems to be falling at the feet of Capello.

Those in and around the England camp seem keen to point out that the players don’t seem to be enjoying being in South Africa and this ultimately is affecting performances. This is of course in stark contrast to the same group of players who apparently did not enjoy Sven’s gentlemen’s club either.

But is this true and what do the players actually want? John Terry’s Sunday press conference seemed to suggest they’d have lots to say about the style and selection used in the previous group games but according to reports the Italian allowed none of this came to fruition in the subsequent team meeting when he told them not to speak.

“The manager spoke and addressed the Algeria performance” was the view of events expressed by Frank Lampard this morning. By that it seems Capello will continue to keep his strict distance from involving the players and their opinions in his way of doing things by seemingly ordering the players to keep their fingers on lips and cross their legs.

With Matthew Upson set to resume his unbeaten six game qualification partnership with John Terry in the absence of Jamie Carragher, England should once again be able to keep it tight at the back. What we really need is our more forward thinking players to lose their shackles and express themselves.

But what of the introduction of Joe Cole? Time will only tell whether the Italian takes the opinion of not only the team but nation on board and give him a chance on the right, left or even behind Wayne Rooney. I don’t think I care where he plays at this stage, England need some of the intelligence and craft that Cole possesses to try and open up opposition defences that have so far been difficult to penetrate.


After identical results so far the whole country are now hoping for a repeat of what happened in the group stages at Italia 90 when Mark Wright’s goal against Egypt put England through to the knockout stages. Rooney, Gerrard and Lampard must once again try and emulate the likes of Lineker, Gascoigne and Waddle in order to see the team through.

Back in the present day the worrying talk of a mutiny in the camp for the moment seems to have been put to one side. Let’s hope this now silent and hidden discontent doesn’t manifest into the explosion of fury that saw the French in meltdown over the weekend. Anything less than a win against Slovenia could well be the catalyst for it. Not that it will happen of course, this is England and we’re still going to win the World cup; aren’t we?

The price is hype

An early goal, not one but two injuries, a horrific goalkeeping blunder, one world class save, some spurned chances to win it and plenty of vuvuzela’s; all in all I think I’m quite happy with that point from Saturday’s World Cup opener against the USA.

While the American front pages celebrate the result as a famous moral victory, much of England’s press have gone from the typical hysteria about winning the competition to changing their minds completely and are now finger pointing and worrying whether we’ll even make the second round.

It was foolish for anyone to think the injuries to Gareth Barry and Rio Ferdinand would not affect the spine of the team in the early stages of the tournament. Without Rio we have no real tried and test partnership at centre back and in the absence of Barry we are missing out on what has formed the basis of a successful midfield during England’s impressive qualifying campaign.

The question has to be whether or not England will get stronger from the lessons learnt in the game or will our form continue to suffer?

You have to hope the former would be true and we will learn valuable lessons from this game and go on to beat Slovenia and Algeria at a comfortable pace. However the fact is that after a successful qualifying campaign there do seem to be a quite a few questions about our plan b now we’ve been hit by one or two injuries in key areas.

With Ledley King’s injury Capello must now decide who is best to partner John Terry at the back. After his sub appearance at the weekend Jamie Carragher looks to be the man next in line in the manager’s mind. However the lack of pace he showed at times is a worry, especially alongside the equally slow Terry.

Matthew Upson covered ably for Terry and Ferdinand in qualifying while the form and pace of Michael Dawson must make his inclusion tempting. Whoever gets the nod I think we may have to accept the mistakes will be made while a new partnership beds in at the back.

How quickly Gareth Barry can recover from his ankle injury is now key to England’s progression in the rounds beyond the group stages. The City man made the bench on Saturday so let’s hope its sooner rather than later before he can slot back in in-front of the back four. If Barry doesn’t make Fridays clash with Algeria, Cappello must consider Michael Carrick for the holding role in order to free up Lampard and Gerrard from their restrictive defensive duties and help protect the likely partnership of Carragher and Terry.

Then there is the goalkeeper. There is little doubt that Robert Green’s blunder will have secured his place in the next game as Capello will not want to destroy the confidence of his chosen number one nor appear to panic. However, David James experience and Joe Hart’s form will continue to raise one or to eyebrows about his selection in the first place. Although I would love to have seen Hart take the jersey, at this stage of all three candidate’s careers I would still have given the shirt to David James.

I would also love to know how Joe Cole never got on the pitch. I was quite surprised he didn’t start the match ahead of James Milner on England’s left but was left shocked that Capello opted for Wright-Phillips ahead of him once the Villa man was replaced. The balance of the side didn’t quite feel right with two pacey wingers against a side like the US. I would have been much more natural to have Cole’s guile and craft on the left to compliment Lennon’s pace from the right. Hopefully that will be something that can be rectified against the Algerians on Friday.

All in all we mustn’t panic after drawing with a decent USA side. The American’s are a hardworking, difficult to beat outfit tinged with quality from the likes of Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey. But that result is now gone and we must concentrate on taking maximum points from our remaining two group games against Algeria and Slovenia.

Looking at their game yesterday England should have enough to take maximum points from both of them even whilst still ironing out the creases in Capello’s crumpled squad. And who knows? Two comfortable wins might just get the press and the rest of the country blowing their vuvuzela’s again.

Heartache, a new captain and some dodgy knee's; the World Cup is here

Well England’s captains armband has fallen to yet another incumbent, the third in the last few months. Steven Gerrard now holds the nations expectations on his shoulders following John Terry’s libido losing him the privilege and now the pain felt by Rio Ferdinand who after suffering a knee injury yesterday must sit out the whole World Cup.

Almost all England fans feel Rio's heartache, losing him is a gutting blow not just for him personally but to the team’s chances of progressing beyond the quarter finals of the competition. Anyone who says they are glad Ferdinand will be missing the tournament should remember that although his likely replacement Ledley King is an excellent defender, his own personal injury woes mean he is unlikely to last the full month.

I couldn’t believe it yesterday when the news came through about the training ground injury he picked up from an Emile Heskey tackle; at first I thought it was some kind of wind up TV prank show fronted by Heskey that sought revenge for Ferdinand’s antics prior to the last tournament. However instead of being “murked”, Ferdinand was instead well and truly “’miled” by the Aston Villa front man.

Heskey’s involvement in the incident sparked the usual anti-Heskey brigade to come out in force with comments like “it had to be Heskey", "that's what you get for taking a lump like that" and most brilliantly "Darren Bent wouldn't have done that". As I said yesterday, some people really make me laugh.

England’s defence may now have to become heavily rotated machine in order to succeed. The likes of Jamie Carragher, Matthew Upson and the arriving Michael Dawson may all have a part to play in helping to cover the backline. A lot depends on Gareth Barry’s fitness and how quickly he is ready to resume his holding role in the midfield after his ankle problem.

While he is out, Lampard and Gerrard look set to resume their unsanctimonious midfielder marriage centrally, which could lead to Fabio Capello opting for the more defensive option of Carragher at right back in order to keep the defence tight without any natural midfielder cover.

If Ledley suffers with those chronically poor knees of his then England may be relying on Dawson or Upson to step up and show what they can do on the world stage. With the plaudits that have been heaped on Dawson’s ever increasing maturity as a defender this season it must have only been Upson’s far greater international experience that has kept him in the squad.

However now that they are both battling it out on the training fields of Rustenburg to be the first choice cover for King it could well be a flip of a coin as to who gets the nod if required. The headache caused by Ferdinand’s injury must now make this particularly delicate balancing act the most important of Fabio Capello’s career.

As for Gerrard as captain, I definitely feel now we have the people’s skipper. His leadership qualities and performances on the pitch in keeping Liverpool in top four contention and European competition in seasons beyond this past one has shown he is able to at times carry those around him.

Last season wasn’t the best for Gerrard but the undoubted boost the armband will give him could really reignite his game. I’m certainly expecting him to make his position in his new role indespensible by showing some of the best examples of a skipper leading by example since Beckham single handedly took England through to the World Cup back in 2002.

One man I was delighted to see make the squad was Joe Cole. One of the most consistent performers whenever he has pulled on the three lions in the past it would’ve bean a huge loss if he made not made the final 23. We would’ve definitely lacked his natural flair and experience if he had been omitted; and in my opinion the partnership with his namesake Ashley if selected down England’s left will be vital to England’s progression in the tournament.

For next week’s opener against the USA I will hopefully be rolling in winnings after a day out at York Races. Let’s pray there will be no more injury shocks before then with a well drilled starting eleven ready to embark on the beginning of a full month’s stint in South Africa. Although I remain quietly hopeful of making at least the semi finals, given the loss of Ferdinand I think even if I win big on the horses next weekend I still won't be brave enough to be putting my money on England just yet.

Barry Kilby Interview; the Das Football Podcast is here

While Burnley are preparing for life back in the good old Championship after a glorious season in the Premier League I'm back here on Das Football after a season in the sun over on ESPN.

Recently I interviewed Burnley Chairman Barry Kilby for local station 2BR. As what happens when something is given a particular time slot, not everyody gets to hear it, so below I've posted it up online for your listening pleasure. Hope you enjoy it.

Click here to download Barry Kilby interview

World Cup blogs will start soon.

All the best.

Sam

A good way to say goodbye

Well what a way to bow out of the Premier League. For a long time now the fans have needed that sort of result, performance and spirit that the team showed in their 4-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

As supporters we’ve keep going in the face of defeat, each week believing that our turn around was just around the corner. Of course in terms of survival it never came but the way we turned Spurs over in the second half at the weekend helps to reinforce my belief that we will be challenging to make a return to this level come next May.

In the first half it felt like another typical Burnley performance that saw us relegated. Despite some bright spells we conceded the obligatory early goal courtesy of more kamikaze defending, followed by a second to almost kill the game off.

However this is a Burnley side that have begun to find its feet again over the last few weeks and quickly started to make a mense. It was like watching us at the start of the campaign again as our confidence began to grow and grow and once Wade Elliot pulled one back from a fantastically worked move we never looked back.

Many may say Spurs had nothing really to play for following their securing of the Champions League qualification spot for next season in midweek but take nothing away from Burnley, they never gave ‘Arry’s side a minute on the ball and at times played some incredibly probing attacking football.

Martin Paterson in particular starred from the right hand side with a typical workman like display fused with some excellent delivery. I still feel that without his and Chris McCann’s injuries this season the league table may look slightly different right now. The rest of the team rallied too, Bikey and the skipper Caldwell kept things ticking over at the back, while the central three of Elliot, Cork and Alexander dominantly buzzed in midfield.

I know I keep talking about ifs and buts in this piece however those who’ve read this blog over the last few months will testify that it has been my intense belief that if we hadn’t switched to 4-4-2 for vital games against the teams around then we may not be on our way back to the Championship. The same goes for the decision not to play Bikey at centre back until the weekend. For me they are all decisions that form part of the litany of tactical and selection mistakes we’ve made over the past few months.

That swings us nicely onto the future of Brian Laws as manager. I personally still remain undecided. Despite relegation things have definitely picked up for him on the pitch over the past few weeks, a settled side and formation has helped as unlike earlier in his tenure the changes he’s made have pretty much been enforced.

As much as I think we have thrown away survival part of me still thinks he deserves a chance to have a crack at the job away from the immediate glare of the watching eye of the Premier League media’s pressure cooker. It’s definitely been a difficult job for him post-Coyle which is why I’m willing to be more lenient with my analysis of his position.

What we can’t get away from though is that results haven’t been good enough. The failures in tactics and selection in particular have been disappointing and I do remain slightly worried that this naivety could resurface next season in high pressure games now he’s expected to better his best ever finish in the Championship by some way. Mine and others leniency towards Laws may quickly change as we now quickly go from pretty much relegation certainties to expecting a top six finish.

Laws popularity is also a worry, while I try to remain as philosophical as possible in my disappointment with our relegation others do not. The manager was booed by some during the player’s lap of honour on Sunday while the same minority also applauded the Spurs fans chants of Laws imminent sacking during the first half.

Given this I sometimes wonder whether this general lack of acceptance may be too much for him to turn around as a few bad results at the start of next season would heap more pressure on the board to relieve him of his duties after a preseason of allowing him to start to build his own team. Could it be best to get rid now and wipe the slate clean from our Premier League season? I’m still not sure of the answer.

Laws though can go to the board having beaten Spurs and finished above Hull in the table earning the club a tidy eight hundred thousand pounds in the process. This will surely strengthen his case to be given more time, as will the fact he got the club to thirty points and above the rumoured threshold that would’ve seen him paid off on the cheap.

My fear of a mass exodus has subsided slightly although I do remain worried we may lose some key players in the summer. I expect the likes of Tyrone Mears and Steven Fletcher to be courted by others in the Premier League while there are rumours Owen Coyle may be sniffing around the likes of Wade Elliot.

Then there are the out of contract players. With Clark Carlisle seemingly the only one having put pen to paper so far, I’d love to see Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Stephen Jordan, Steven Thompson and Robbie Blake stay to be part of our squad next year.

Finally I’d like to talk about Robbie Blake who looks set to leave Turf Moor this summer. The striker turned wide man is most definitely the most talented footballer I have witnessed during my time supporting Burnley Football Club. Blakey’s flair, quick feet and eye for a goal have brightened up my afternoons watching the clarets and he will be sorely missed if he decides to walk away.

During his two spells at the club I have seen him score some remarkable goals, most notably against Preston in seasons past and Blackburn and Manchester United this term. He is truly the sort of player that I would love to have seen see out his day at Burnley Football Club. I understand his reasons if he does decide to go in search of regular first team football, but I do think he will have a big part to play with us in the Championship if he decides to stay.

As fans we certainly let him know how much he means to us on Sunday and I just hope that was not the last time I see him in Claret and Blue. What I’d really like to say to Robbie is that he could move and not achieve first team football all next season wherever he goes, but what I do know is that if he remains a Burnley player every single fan will sing his name and will him onto the pitch whenever he is not in the team.

Sometimes it is definitely better the devil you know and I hope that he doesn’t act in haste to leave a club that holds him in such high esteem. If it is to be the end then I think everyone will join me in saying thanks for the memories and agree that Robbie Blake will always be a claret.

Down but not out

It’s taken a while in trying to sit down and give our relegation from the Premier League the justice it deserves and for that I apologise. In reality I should be making the most of this platform as within a month I too will fall through the Premier League’s trap door via the ESPN Soccernet’s Correspondents league table.

I said prior to Sunday’s game that if we were relegated I’d take off my shirt and cry like one of the many fat Geordies I saw on my T.V screen last year when Newcastle went down. Although Liverpool sent us packing back to the Championship it didn’t happen. Sadly I don’t have the tattoos or big enough man breasts to do those boys on the Tyne any justice.

Although it is extremely disappointing to be relegated to the Premier League our fall from grace is softened greatly by our healthy bank balance. After seeing the team I love struggle to combine survival and success on the pitch over the last few years it is amazing to see Burnley Football Club in such a strong financial position.

It has been a joy to watch our small town club go toe to toe with the leagues big boy and even better to turn some of them over, but the way we set up to tackle the Premier League was always going to prove to be more prudent than potent. We go down not only able to compete on the pitch against the rest of the Championship, but for the first time ever we are able to challenge some of the leagues bigger clubs for the best players in terms of budget.

On the whole the season has been an amazing experience, growing up I never thought I’d see the day my team beat the likes of Manchester United in a league match. Of course there are some regrets and little frustrations that eat away at you. In those quiet moments you think about what would’ve happened if we hadn’t suffered the disruption of Owen Coyle leaving? What if we’d have picked up an extra point here, or a win there? And particularly for me, the sadness that we are down with two games left to play.

All season I’ve said that if we go down I’d like it to go down to the final day, then we could go back to the Championship knowing we pushed those around us to the limit. Unfortunately, the likes of West Ham have pulled themselves clear of relegation when in reality ourselves and Hull have not taken advantage of their inability to get results over the last few months.

Looking at the way we played against Liverpool I genuinely believe that if we’d have got that starting eleven set up in that particular way earlier in Laws’ tenure we might still have a chance of staying up. The energy which we showed would’ve been enough to get us wins against Wolves and Portsmouth at home and probably one or two other results too. Instead the manager persisted with 4-4-2 more often than not until that hammering by Manchester City.

That six one spanking and the home defeat to Rovers a week previous will go down as the two major lows on the pitch during the campaign but looking back there are so many more positives to take. I’ve already mentioned the Manchester United victory; then there were the wins over Everton and Sunderland at home, a tremendous night at Turf Moor where we drew with Arsenal and of course our first away win at Hull.

Liverpool weren’t four goals better than us on Sunday but the game proved another harsh Premier League lesson. Our two main faults this season have been defensive lapses and not taking our chances; against Liverpool it was chances squandered in the first half that cost us. The score line didn’t reflect the way we played and the passion that was on show but in the end it didn’t matter as without those three points we were down anyway.

The major low off the pitch is obviously the whole Owen Coyle scenario. Whether he was right or wrong to go our former deity jumping ship in January devastated the football club. In fact the whole town was left rocked as he and the majority of the coaching staff also went “sideways” to the Reebok.

For me he will always be remembered for the remarkable job he did in taking Burnley Football Club into the Premier league. It is a feat that should never have been tainted but sadly it has been as I will always look back on what might have been if he had shown us the loyalty I think we all feel we deserved. Whether we did or not is a different story; football is a fickle game and in truth both Owen and Burnley got what they wanted from each other. We secured our future with a dream season in the Premier League and he got to become a top flight manager beyond this season.

Would we have stayed up with Coyle still in charge? I think we would have. We may have been on a bad run that continued further after he left but with the signings he took to Bolton and the way he picked us up from a poor run of form last season I think he’d have got us getting results again.

That’s not a dig at Brian Laws either, in my view the job he inherited was much more difficult than the one Coyle vacated. Laws has tried his very best to keep Burnley up against a backdrop of rising unpopularity, tales of infighting and post Coyle gloom.

Sadly we lost vital home matches against Portsmouth and Wolves and drew with Stoke when in reality considering our away form we had to take a minimum of seven points from those three fixtures. From then on the gradient on which we were fighting our battle for survival was dramatically increasing week by week.

There is no doubt that the Premier League is an extremely tough place to be. With fewer games to get results that millions of pounds depend on we have often found ourselves up against teams that have spent big in order to simply get their hands on their next paycheque. It’s a viscous circle that is bad for football, especially when you see the likes of Portsmouth and Hull who like us came to the Premier League after spells in the wilderness and blew it all.

Out of the three relegated clubs Burnley will be in the strongest position for a return back to the division next season. Whether that can be achieved is another thing but I am sure that we’ll give it our best shot. Promotion last season was the beginning of a new chapter it the life of Burnley Football Club and I’m glad to say relegation won’t be the end of it.

Whether Brian Laws will be the man at the helm remains to be seen. I have thought he will be given the chance to build his side next season but now I am not so sure. With talks set to take place at the end of the season and rumours abound of points clauses in his contract which could see him paid off on the cheap may make the decision easier for the board.

Talk of a Europa League place if Fulham win the competition in a couple of weeks have also added to this bizarre campaign. Although I would be delighted to see Burnley venture into Europe once more deep down I do feel the place would be better offered to the likes of Everton or whoever manages to finishes highest. Despite this, I’ve still got my “Former Soviet States” holiday brochure on order ready to check on availability for potential destinations for the qualifiers in July.

In all seriousness, I want our only priority to be making ourselves a force in the Championship next season. If that is going to happen we must add to our squad, fight to keep our best players and most importantly learn to win again. There are pros and cons to Europe, it may help attract a better standard of player and help keep the ones we have but it could also go the other way and stunt performances on the pitch.

Whatever happens with that I the future is bright, I remain sure of that and with two games to go in our Premier League campaign I urge everyone who has an interest in the football club to go out on a high.

It has been a real roller coaster ride and one I have enjoyed immensely. Being given the platform on this site to speak about Burnley to a worldwide audience has been a joy. Everyone who has read my words over the season will know how much it has meant to see my team reach the Premier League against all odds. Words can not describe how proud I am of all Burnley Football Club has achieved over the last eighteen months; in fact just thinking about it now is bringing a genuine tear or two to my eyes.

Up the Clarets and remember, Burnley will be back.

Back in the race

Saturday was a day for firsts, AP McCoy romped home in the Grand National in his fifteenth attempt and Burnley earned their first ever away victory in the Premier League after previously drawing one and losing fifteen. It seemed like the Gods were smiling, except on me who didn’t back either.

After a turbulent week in the history of the club a positive performance and result was paramount for everybody involved with Burnley. After a humiliating defeat at the hands of Manchester City, stories of discontent within the ranks began to spiral out of control.

There was the incident involving Kevin McDonald, who left the ground at half time to spend the second half in a local working men’s club, rumours of bust ups between Brian Laws and Clarke Carlisle and Robbie Blake, as well as Joey Gudjonsson speaking to some website saying that the manager had lost the dressing room.

Chairman Barry Kilby must be thinking he should never leave, while on holiday in January the Owen Coyle saga began and this time he was to return after an embarrassing defeat and the alleged bedlam that was being reported around it.

With growing opposition to Brian Laws from some of the Clarets faithful prior to the trip to Hull the game was becoming as much of a career defining moment for him as it was season defining for the football club.

It was now time to show some spirit and prove to the world that Burnley would not be giving up their Premier League status without showing some fight. While in the car on Saturday flicking between various radio stations I was happy to hear that absolutely nobody gave us a chance. One pundit even predicted Hull could stick three or four past us; it was time to prove everybody wrong.

After a couple of minutes at the KC those hacks forecasts could’ve been proved correct as Kevin Kilbane was left free to put the home side one up. It was a true “here we go again” moment. Thankfully the players showed some fighting spirit and recovered to keep us from falling further behind. Then ten minutes before half time Martin Paterson did the business as he turned and fantastically put away a Tyrone Mears cross.

With the scores level at half time the game was there for the taking but in truth could’ve gone either way. Then suddenly the luck that has deserted us came flowing back as when Michael Duff went down in the box just past the hour mark the referee pointed to the spot and Graham Alexander coolly did the rest to give us the lead.

Six minutes later we got a second penalty, Nugent was felled by Mouyokolo only for Alexander to step up again and send Myhill the wrong way with the outside of his boot. And then as if the result wasn’t already good enough, Wade Elliot added a superb fourth as he struck a fantastic looping free kick over the hapless Hull keeper to mark his 200th appearance in Claret and Blue.

It was a tremendous result and one that now gives us a fighting chance of survival. Great credit must go to Brian laws and the players for coming back from all that’s happened recently. The manager in particular has come in for all sorts of stick and for me did well in asking the players to respond not for him, but for the fans and their own pride.

If we can now build on this result and get some momentum going then anything is possible. If we show the same passion and character as Saturday in our away games against Sunderland and Birmingham then we could take advantage of the fact that both sides have little to play for and get two positive results.

With Liverpool seemingly now concentrating all their hopes on winning the Europa League after yesterday’s goalless draw with Fulham I wouldn’t put it past us to get a surprise result against them either. Especially as Rafa is likely to field a weakened team as the game is sandwiched between their semi final clash with Athletico Madrid. That would leave a final blockbusting game against Tottenham at the Turf which may decide our fate.

Defeat against Hull at the weekend would’ve killed the season off but now we can look forward to next Saturday knowing another positive result would keep us within touching distance of safety. As our old boss Stan Ternent used to say “one swallow doesn’t make a summer” but it’s most definitely a start. Some may say this result has come too late to help us after our recent poor form but I disagree. “Half a loaf is better than no loaf at all” was another Ternent idiom; and as long as survival is still possible, I’ll keep on believing.

Goals galore for goatless City

Well, where do you start? Burnley received a total thrashing by City at the weekend and for the first time in recent memory Shaun Goater was nowhere to be seen. The free scoring “Goat” once banged in back to back hat tricks at Turf Moor and often cited it as his favourite ground during interviews. I think after Saturday the likes of Adam Johnson, Emmanuel Abebayor and Carlos Tezev may be redrawing their lists of their most successful stomping grounds.

Six one at the final whistle tells one hell of a story, but the fact it was three nil in less than seven first half minutes gives you all you need to know. It’s disheartening enough when your team concedes one early goal but when three go in all you can do is choose whether to laugh or cry.

During the rest of the eighty three minutes where three more goals went in, I like those who chose to stay had to let my anger subside and enjoy one of those rare “we’re bad but we know it” atmospheres. The fans stayed in good voice and got behind the team and at times made fun of our plight. There was however a chorus of boos which rang out particularly at half time where the fans voiced their dissatisfaction.

I’m trying to remain philosophical about our season as the Premier League was always going to be tough for a club the size of ours. Of course like many, my expectations rose slightly with our early season home form and those victories over Manchester United and Everton. However I always knew our form would stumble and the season would get invariably harder.

It has for a long time now been a struggle which was made much worse by the departure of Owen Coyle. Whether Brian Laws will ever prove himself to be the right man to take Burnley forward remains to be seen but at the moment things are not working out for him.

The team’s regular lacklustre starts to games are adding to his detractors claims that he cannot motivate the players who many believe don’t want to play for him. While stories true or not supposedly coming out of the dress room don’t fill people with confidence either. Away from the confines of the dressing room Laws also receives criticism about his body language. At times he looks and speaks like he is already consigned to the fact we will be back in the Championship next season. That frustrates fans who look at the table and see us not getting vital points when West Ham and Hull continue to falter.

While I don’t agree with all of this anti Laws stuff, I do share some fears. My worry is that we have moved straight from an arm over the shoulder manager in what as a “successful” side to a polar opposite who is more likely to get his point across by throwing tea cups or in his case chicken wings. This in theory should not be a problem but it could be if the players don’t think the manager has a worthy track record to back up his voice.

I was also utterly bemused to hear Laws tell a reporter after the game that he learnt against City that we can’t play just two central midfielders against anyone in the Premier League. This was blatantly obvious games ago and something I wrote on here at the time. Had it not been for losing the midfield battle in our home defeats to Pompey and Wolves as well as our draw with Stoke we may now be sitting level if not above our relegation rivals.

Restoring both Blake and Eagles into the line-up was a very brave attacking move in a 442 formation and unfortunately it backfired massively for him. I still believe one if not both of these two hold the key for us getting a positive result or two before the end of the season. They just need to be played in the right system.

At five nil at half time things couldn’t get much worse. In the days of my undistinguished football career when we were on the end of an irretrievable first half spanking we were always taught to try and redeem some pride by going out and winning the second half. Burnley fought out a one all draw but did show much more of a fighting spirit.

The second half performance was a small positive though, it showed that one or two of our players do still have a bit of fire in their bellies as Nugent in particular tried to take the fight to City. Sub Jack Cork showed glimpses of the performance he put in away at Villa while Wade Elliot also looked better than in recent weeks.

As the rain poured and the crowd chanted for a hopeful postponement the game descended into chaos at times as the ball struggled to run freely. To call the game off at five nil would’ve been as harsh on City as it would’ve been embarrassing for us to have a result that never was hanging over our heads. Things got so bad out there that I thought Laws’ third substitution was going to see Rebecca Adlington enter the fray.

As the message boards descend into meltdown, a chorus of dissatisfaction about our current plight rings loud and clear. Some are calling for Laws to resign or be sacked but it is almost a certainty that he isn’t going anywhere. A win at away Hull at the weekend would give him a massive boost in what is going to be a season defining game at the KC.

Three points away from home in the Premier League would give the manager a platform to build on in his quest for acceptance in doing something that Coyle never did. Whether we now stay up or go down we need to get back to 4-5-1, get the balance of the team right and give it a good go.

Mistakes have most definitely been made along the way and whether Brain Laws is the right man for the job or not getting our arbitrary hammering from City at the Turf is much better happening in the Premier League than it was in the dark days of Division Two.

Bragging rights stay on the wrong side of East Lancashire

The fallout continues. Burnley’s one nil defeat to Blackburn at the weekend has once again raised more questions about our underperforming players. In short, we weren’t at the races on Sunday lunchtime as Rovers completed the double over us without ever really being pushed.

In the last few months there is no doubt Burnley have lost their way. Competing week in week out in the most physically demanding league in the world has caught up with us and has shattered our confidence.

The weekend’s defeat was the first time we’ve failed to score at Turf Moor this season, a stat that given our form at home may be surprising to some neutrals. However the fact we’ve lost perhaps our only decent record left intact in a one nil defeat to our fiercest rivals is hard to take.

The overall lack of creativity, competitiveness and desire to get a result was also difficult to swallow as barring the first fifteen minutes in the second half when we actually showed some fighting spirit there wasn’t enough on show throughout to warrant us deserving at least a point.

If we had started the game with that same high tempo that we started the second forty five then things may have been different as for fifteen minutes or so we genuinely looked like we were starting to make life uncomfortable for our neighbours. But instead of carrying on that fight, once Rovers showed they were more than capable to standing up to us we stopped getting in their faces and went back into our shell.

It’s blatantly obvious to say the belief has gone, we’ve stood up to bigger and better teams than Blackburn in the past and won but sadly we don’t look to have it in us anymore. Those who blame Laws entirely for this fall from grace are being unfair. Yes he has made mistakes during his short tenure and maybe out of his depth at this level but the fact is we were never built for Premier League football.

We lack the pace, power, experience and physicality that the division demands. Two of Blackburn’s last three managers in Mark Hughes and Sam Allardyce have recognised this and cut their cloth accordingly. Just look at the two sets of team sheets on Sunday, Rovers have plenty of players with a mix of these attributes, Burnley don’t.

Even a player we brought in to add some power to our side has been badly misused over the course of the season. Playing Andre Bikey in the middle of the park has always been a mistake and now we find ourselves with perhaps our only centre half with all the raw attributes to be a Premier League defender completely out of the side.

This use of Bikey points to a lack of strength in depth in the midfield area in the first place. In fact, we must go down as the only Premier League club in history to have one fit recognised central midfielder for much of the campaign. In this I’m not counting Alexander, a converted defender and Elliot a converted winger, but after Chris McCann’s injury having Kevin McDonald as the only natural one left was bemusing. There is no doubt losing McCann, our best player, has been the major disappointment of our season as with him we would still have some of the drive and competitiveness that we are so dearly lacking.

Up there with losing McCann is the timing of Coyle’s departure when this squad imbalance could have been rectified. The months of planning by Coyle were taken in one foul swoop across Lancashire to the Reebok. Looking at his signings of Holden, Weiss and Wilshire two out of those three can play centrally. Holden could have been the combative influence we missed with McCann being out, while Wilshire could’ve added to the options in the role that Elliot plays in being the one of the three that can attack and link up with the wingers and forwards.

Instead, when it looked like McCann may return in late January Laws spent over two and half million pounds on a left back and centre back. With Duff, Edgar, Carlisle, Bikey, Caldwell, Long, Jordan and Kalvanes in these two areas in and around the squad you have to look at the necessity of adding both Cort and Fox with the midfield being so threadbare all season. Laws did make some acknowledgement of the lack of depth by bringing in Jack Cork, but after a promising start he has been used sparingly.

What I’m getting at is that last season Coyle did fantastically well in getting the best out of Alexander and Elliot by switching them from their natural positions but then after winning promotion to a league where nearly ever side has a combative midfield neither him or his successor saw fit to add to what we already had in that department. Unfortunately, once the momentum went we were never equipped to scrap it out in a relegation battle against teams that have the basis of a strong spine to their sides. Even the likes of West Ham have struggled with Green, Upson, Parker and Cole making up the backbone of their team.

Maybe Coyle thought his money was better spent elsewhere and in the event of injuries he could ride it out until January and then beg borrow and steal to add to weakening areas. While Laws on the other hand tried to combat the problem by changing system and going 442 until the last couple of weeks. This underlying problem in midfield has been there for far too long and due to the unforseen change in management has left a gaping hole meaning we can barely get a foothold in games.

I can’t believe I’ve gone well beyond the one thousand word point without even mentioning Sunday’s contentious issue. This morning the FA announced there would be no charge for the diving Martin Olson and his admission that he deliberately targeted a penalty hungry referee for the games one and only goal.

With Allardyce’s version of Mike Dean’s thought process it’s hard to see why he gave the penalty in the first place but it was extremely sad that this ended up being the game’s defining moment. Not only because a player’s deliberate cheating has decided the fixture but mainly because Burnley couldn’t find a response.

Without it, Rovers with Olson playing a starring role would’ve probably gone on to win the game anyway but the decision truly took the wind out of our already deflating sails. The game certainly had other moments where the referee’s decisions could’ve turned it back in our favour but it wasn’t to be, the Rovers lot began their much promised Burnley relegation party early in the Cricket Field while the majority of Clarets slumped off home in deep depression.

Dunn who stuck away the penalty didn’t get his wish of “pumping” us ten nil but despite securing the bragging rights offered humility in his post match interview. While his wish to keep these derby games alive looks like an ever decreasing possibility, maybe his advice of playing at least one of Blake or Eagles will be heeded by Brain Laws. Having workhorses like Nugent and Paterson playing wide just didn’t work against a side much more physical than ours. While we needed some of this on one flank, on the other a bit of Eagles pace or preferably Robbie’s skill and guile wouldn’t have gone amiss.

I’m hoping like we all are for a change in performance on Saturday against Manchester City and for the four final games that follow. I still believe a surprise result is in the offing and if we can get it when City come to town it would set up an almighty dogfight at Hull the following weekend.

Promotion and our first Premier League season were only meant to be the start of the journey to try and establish ourselves as a Premier League club. Sides like Bolton, Wolves and Birmingham have all tasted success and comeback stronger in subsequent seasons. But in Burnley, the majority of the town seems to be engulfed in the belief that relegation in just over a month’s time will be the end.

The frustrating part is that even with a bad side we could still survive as others like West Ham and Hull aren’t showing themselves to be that much better. But bigger teams have gone down with bigger and better squads and budgets than ours so there is no shame in going back to the Championship. I know the new fear is that with relegation our slump will continue into next season. Whether it will or not is almost an impossible one to call right now but at this moment in time I’m willing to give Brian Laws the chance to prove himself by building his squad in the summer. Others may not agree; while Brain Laws himself or the board may not if results continue to be bad.

For me too many have gotten immersed in high expectations and the extra deflation subsequent failure brings. The manager, team and club are punching well above their weight in this division and although extremely disappointed with how things are turning out I’m still immensely proud of all Burnley Football Club has achieved over the last two years. My feeling is that although we earned our place in the Premier League last summer we are not looking anywhere near like a Premier League team and if I’m honest I don’t think we were ever equipped to be over thirty eight games.

F is for Frustration

I think it’s fair to say that Mick McCarthy isn’t one for smiling. However that wry grin he tried to hide during Saturday’s post match press conference told the story of what was another frustrating afternoon for the Clarets.

Big Mick looked a top hat and cane away from breaking out into a song and dance musical number as at the end of an up and down ninety minutes at Turf Moor we had handed his Wolves team three vital survival points.

In truth, neither side looked like the ones who were promoted from the Championship last term. Both have had their confidence shaken by the harsh realities of football at this level. However Wolves still have shades of the highly organised unit that took the title, where Burnley occasionally showed glimpses of the hard working attacking side that snatched promotion via the playoffs.


Unfortunately in a relegation battle it’s often those who have the tightest defences that will pick up important results against those around them and so it proved again at the weekend as for the second time in four days the Clarets failed to take three points from their remaining “winnable” games.

Against Stoke on Wednesday night we succumbed to the Rory Delap long throw despite the best efforts of the advertising hoardings around the Turf Moor pitch. After a poor first half the team rallied in the second and produced a display that showed heart and spirit and was played at a tempo that at times the Potters could not cope with.

David Nugent’s headed finish from Martin Paterson’s superb cross ensured a point in what could’ve been three by the end. You’d have thought that the performance in the second forty five would have been the perfect tonic to take into the game against Wolves.

However after a bright start we quickly lost our way. Our defensive frailties looked a moment away from resurfacing and when Brian Jensen rushed out from his goal to take out the oncoming Kevin Doyle with a diving head butt alarm bells began to ring. The incident would’ve been more at home in an Attenborough documentary as the Beast leapt at the Irishman like an attacking Rhinoceros.

Minutes later we were punished. An innocuous ball over the top was met by the limp head of Tyrone Mears as our normally ultra dependable full back decided it was his turn to throw one in. Matt Jarvis took full advantage of the error to make it one nil to the visitors.

Before the start of the day Wolves had scored the fewest in the Premier League this season so to give them a goal head start in such a vital game was unthinkable. The football for the rest of the half was scrappy as we couldn’t get the ball into the right areas.

The game was crying out for us to switch from the 4-4-2 formation we had started the game with and match the visitors 4-5-1 formation. It could’ve been easily done by moving Pato out to the right and Elliot inside one into central midfield but sadly it never game with both players starved of possession in the first forty five minutes.

Another second period like Wednesday night was called for if we were to get something from this mustn’t lose game. But as the half kicked off disaster struck, within minutes Wolves were two up thanks to a cruel deflection off Clark Carlisle’s heal to give Brian Jensen no chance.
With a mountain to climb action was now definitely needed. After Stephen Jordan had replaced the injured Danny Fox in the first half the gaffer decided that his final two substitutions would see Steven Thompson and Robbie Blake enter the fray.

The board went up and it was Andre Bikey and Chris Eagles who were to be withdrawn. In my opinion it was the right decision but not for the majority of Clarets who roundly booed the withdrawal of Eagles.

I hate those that chose to boo and jeer a manager’s choice even when I think what they are criticising is right. But Laws’ decisions here was straightforward; Bikey had to come off as he was woeful and showed again he cannot play in a midfield two, Elliot was the only one who had the ability to move inside and join Alexander so that left a choice of Eagles or Paterson to come off.

Despite playing well against Stoke, Eagles was flattering to deceive out wide and often choose the wrong decisions in striking from distance instead of building the attacks and trying to feed the front two. And while not being a natural wide man Paterson has been our best performer from the right in recent weeks, creating and scoring goals as well as offering more protection defensively.

For me Laws was proved correct as Thompson got his first Premier League goal in what was almost a fantastic comeback. Robbie Blake was his dazzling best from the left hand side creating more in his cameo role than Eagles has in recent weeks. His opportunist strike that hit the post would’ve been a great reward for what was a superb performance. However we had left it too late and time ran out with the score at 2-1 leaving the home support trudging off in yet more disappointment.

At that point in the game Laws substitutions were right but unfortunately where he got it badly wrong was in the way we set up for the game at the start. I do feel sorry for him in that both Jack Cork and Kevin McDonald fell foul of injury but it has been shown time and time again that the Andre Bikey experiment in midfield hasn’t worked. He can just about do a job when we play three in there but as a two it leaves us open to be dominated.

Under Coyle we played 4-5-1 for the whole of the Championship season and this year in the Premier League too so it’s not as if after twenty minutes when it’s blatantly obvious we are losing the game in midfield that we couldn’t easily switch it to match them up. Looking back at the home games we’ve had against Portsmouth, Stoke and Wolves I believe if we’d have packed the midfield we’d be sitting here with a minimum of six points.

But they’ve gone now and we must concentrate on the remaining eight games that still could save our Premier League status. The road to the end of the season is hard but we’ve yet to face an easy game all season and are still in a position to survive.

What I do like about Laws though is that he has yet to bemoan the injuries that have blighted his short reign as manager. Others in the Premier League would’ve kicked up a fuss if their star striker picked up an injury while on International duty but Laws has admirably got on with the job in hand after losing Steven Fletcher for the last few games. The same too can be said of Chris McCann’s slow progress in his comeback from injury and last week’s knocks to Jack Cork and Kevin McDonald.

After Saturday pretty much every media outlet I’ve heard have already condemned us to the drop with Portsmouth despite remaining 18th in the table. Hull may have a game in hand below us but who knows how their decision to sack Phil Browny-Orange will turn out. Let’s hope it’ll have a negative effect.

As for the rest, Wolves will continue to drop points as will the likes of Wigan, West Ham and Bolton. The last two should have enough to get themselves away from the drop zone before the end but I still feel it’ll go right to the wire. Our run in is hard but a positive result at Wigan at the DW at the weekend could be that catalyst we are looking for.

The pressure is well and truly off us now, we’ve not got the results from our “winnable” games and now to the rest of the watching world we are already down. I have a belief that we will pick up an away win before the end of the season and that we will get a surprise positive result or two when Champions League chasers Liverpool, Manchester City and Tottenham come to the Turf. Then there’s that wild card fixture when Blackburn Rovers come to town.

It’s going to be one hell of a run in and one I’m going to try and enjoy whatever happens. It’s going to be tough to stay up but as I’ve said before there is no shame in us dropping back down to the Championship. All I know is that if we begin to start games like we have been ending them in the last couple of matches then a shock result or two will come.

Keep the faith and get behind the lads.

Up the Clarets.

Blacklaw & co’s champion’s spirit required to beat the drop

It felt like the day the dare to dreamers really stopped believing. Burnley’s 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth at the weekend saw many disappointed faces leaving Turf Moor struggling to stay positive about the rest of our Premier League campaign.

Sadly it was another story of the season game with missed chances at important stages then seeing us punished for them at the other end. What was different about this one though was that it was at Turf Moor, where on only two other occasions we have been beaten this season.


While at times we looked disjointed and far too laid back it was still a game we could’ve won. After going one nil down we fought back to be level at half time thanks to a fantastic looping finish from Martin Paterson, his second Premier League goal in two games.

The stage was set for us to go and win it in the second half but like so many other times this season we failed to convert golden chances when we were on top. Steven Fletcher’s missed header from five yards out was a particular turning point. We all know that the longer we go without finishing teams off the more chance there is of those all too familiar individual errors coming back to haunt us.

And they did, this time from current skipper and recent Countdown champion Clark Carlisle. I’ve resisted using one of the many terrible puns I’ve heard about Clark and the letters and numbers T.V show since the weekend, however I must admit when speaking to a friend on the phone on Saturday night his opening line of “I’ve got a four letter word for Carlisle” did lighten my mood.

Normally quite a consistent figure in the Burnley back line the clarets number five made two shocking errors of judgement in giving away two penalties, the first a needless schoolboy foul when there was little danger and the second, a horrendous moment after he failed to realise how many Pompey players were around him when in possession.

While Brian Jensen saved the first, you can’t expect to give two penalties away in a game and not be punished. Despite a late flurry, we let most of the game following that second spot kick peter out as we struggled to carve open the Pompey defence.

There is no getting away from the fact that it was a poor overall performance. For the majority of the game we let Portsmouth and in particular the impressive Jamie O’Hara run the show. While he popped up all over the pitch our midfield pairing looked lethargic in comparison.

In my view it was a mistake not sticking with three central midfielders. As soon as I saw Bikey and McDonald were going to be deployed there I was worried, especially as we have struggled to win the battle in the midfield with an extra body in there this season.

I do sympathise with Brian Laws though because to change one area of our side you have to dilute another and while Paterson had a very good game up front his introduction into the line-up definitely weakened the team in an area where we can’t afford it to get any weaker.

For me it would’ve been much more beneficial to keep Cork in the side and deploy Pato or Eagles from an attacking role on the right. We missed the young Chelsea loanee’s mobility to get up and down and his ability to keep hold of the ball. His presence could’ve also helped to keep O’Hara quiet and give him more to think about defensively.

With so much quality in this division many games are won and lost in the central midfield area and that is where we now need to tighten to help take the pressure off the back four. To a certain extent the gaffer’s hands are tied until Alexander and then McCann return to the squad. Looking at Saturday’s performance we are crying out for Grezza’s leadership and composure and McCann’s drive from midfield.

The other worrying thing for me about Saturday was the crowd. Normally in good voice and behind the team from the start we struggled to get going. The concern from my point of view is that without the twelfth man factor we won’t be able to keep Turf Moor such an intimidating place to visit. Away teams will come in the knowledge that if they can get off to a good start the nervous energy from the crowd will further stunt the player’s ability to perform.

It feels to me like people have stopped buying into the adventure that was created by last season’s run in and cup magic. The spark that was carried into this season was built on daring to dream. And we had, for most of this season Turf Moor has been a noisy and uncomfortable place for visiting teams to play their football. Sadly, I didn’t feel that on Saturday.

As we move into March the realisation for me is that we may only have two months of Premier League football left. At the start of the season the majority made the commitment that whatever happened we’d enjoy the ride; we all hoped it wasn’t going to just be a once a lifetime thing but deep inside we knew it probably was.

So no matter what people think about the way we’ve been playing or the new manager or whatever else they are being negative about they should save it for the pub, Claretsmad or just bother the missus with it when corries on. But for every ninety minutes at Turf Moor we need to be loud, proud and keep on fighting to inspire the team.

More importantly the players must also step up to the plate. As the club mourns the death of legendary goalkeeper Adam Blacklaw they must now show the same commitment, passion and determination to succeed as the Scot and the rest of the 59/60 championship winning squad. Having heard the stories about Adam from his peers and various fans over the last twenty four hours it’s clear to see how good a player he was, the impact he had and how much he will be missed.

It’s heartbreaking to see that with only two months until the whole of that 59/60 team will be honoured as part of the fiftieth anniversary of our glorious triumph that another member of the squad won’t be able to be there to witness it. However I’m sure that Adam and all his fellow team-mates and staff who have sadly passed away will be just as much in our hearts on this wonderful occasion.

Survival this season would be a fitting tribute to those Championship winning players of fifty years ago. With eleven games now left it is still possible. There are thirty three points to play for and still a long way to go. But for that to happen there is no doubt that performances must get better and the spine of the team must get stronger.

I’m still buying into what at the moment feels like the almost impossible dream and won’t give up until survival becomes unachievable. I hope all fellow Clarets will join me and help inspire the team to beat the drop for Adam Blacklaw and the rest of the our historic first division winning squad.

The year of the cup final continues

If there is anyone out there that still doubts the fact that football can be a cruel, cruel game then will somebody please show them a DVD of our trip to Villa Park on Sunday. In fact, just show them the twelve second half minutes where we suffered a horrific collapse even an England batting order would struggle to emulate.

From one nil up to five two down at the finish, the story of our away season continued with great aplomb as once again what seemed to be looking like a competent performance was shattered when put under pressure.

The most frustrating thing about the games we’ve had that have been similar to Sunday (to varying extents at Portsmouth, Manchester United, Everton and Chelsea) is that in each and every one of them we were well in the game until we switched off.

Goals one to five all combined an all too familiar disastrous formula. First comes the simple lack of concentration which quickly manifests into a major loss of confidence, sadly when the two combine at this level you will be punished each and every single time.

The question that has posed two managers this season is how do we stop it from happening?

Certainly Coyle seemed to believe our gung-ho approach would eventually pay off while Laws is busy trying to mend the psychological damage of the formers approach. Sadly the gaffer can do all the work he wants during the week but he can do nothing to stop the self belief draining once Downing’s first was quickly followed up by a second deflected effort to make it three one.

If survival hinges on picking up at least one away win from the six that remain then I’d suggest that the one at Wigan remains our best chance of picking up three points on our travels. Barring that, with continued good results at home a point at both the DW and at Sunderland may be enough to help push our heads back above the parapet.

The fitness of Graham Alexander and Chris McCann may be the key to our survival hopes. I’d love to see a midfield trip of Grezza, McCann and Jack Cork who was by far our best player at Villa. It was nice to have a fully mobile midfielder in the young Chelsea loanee, who looks a very tidy player and a good acquisition. Unfortunately the anticipated return of McCann seems to hang in the balance with his up and down recovery seemingly one setback away from surgery. It was also fantastic to see Martin Paterson come off the bench to score his first Premier League goal after being out for much of the campaign.

I wish Aston Villa luck with their trip to Wembley to face Manchester United in the Carling Cup showpiece this weekend. However before the other Claret and Blue’s run out on the hallowed turf of the national stadium there is a more important cup final for us to worry about. Saturday’s visit of Portsmouth is perhaps the biggest of all our final twelve games and is one I’m already nervous about. Three points are essential in what could be a potential banana skin.

The financially stricken club look almost certain to be in administration come the weekend with a nine point deduction to boot. Despite their position Pompey have some good players and have been unlucky at times this season. Too add to that I’m always wary of the wounded animal with the club’s relegation all but sealed if nine points are removed.

Although I have little sympathy with their plight it would be a disaster to see any football club go bust. We’ve struggled to avoid administration over recent years due to a lack of money so forgive me for not feeling sorry for a club that have squandered Premier League riches and massive transfer fees. I don’t want to see their fans lose their team but I hope we can add further punishment in what promises to be a miserable week for their club.

They have to take heart from the fact that with administration the club can go on and start to rebuild. That is the main thing for any club that is facing or will face financial difficulties in the next few weeks, months or years; but as long as we can still see our beloved clubs run out and play football on a Saturday afternoon then all will be well.

In the not too distant future a football club will go bust with probably a few others following suit. But until that tragic day where we will all mourn together we must all concentrate on our own battles. At the moment a survival of a different kind is what Burnley Football Club will be focusing on until May.

Whatever happens after that, whether its Premier League football or Championship, I know that as a result of this magical season that my club needn’t worry about football’s grim reaper loitering around the Bob Lord anytime soon. A failure to win this weekend though and there may be a few more unwanted relegation vultures starting to circle Turf Moor.

Laws time is now

A rather turbulent month in the history of Burnley Football Club on and off the pitch has finally come to an end and thankfully it’s finished on a positive note. Despite the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, the Clarets showed enough substance to suggest that avoiding relegation remains a strong possibility.

The league leaders were given a real game at Turf Moor; it was certainly a harder ride than what John terry has allegedly been getting from Wayne Bridge’s missus. Or not, it depends how he likes it I suppose. The Blues skipper eventually won the game for his team with a powerful header however prior to that Burnley were more than in the game.

Pundit’s predictions of a “cricket” score were well wide of the mark as we looked much stronger and competitive than in recent weeks. The spine of the team looked sterner; Brian Jensen claimed his crosses, Leon Cort made a comfortable debut alongside the outstanding Clark Carlisle, Steven Fletcher led the line well, while the returning Andre Bikey came back from Africa finally looking like he’d made the transition from centre half into a top midfield player.

Our robust Cameroon international brushed the likes of Lampard, Cole and Ballack aside when shielding the back four, while often gave the simple ball instead of trying to do too much with it in what was a man of the match performance. Elsewhere David Edgar shone when he was brought on for the injured Christian Kalvanes in stamping out the threat from the Chelsea right.

Many would’ve thought that once Nicolas Anelka had put Chelsea one up in the first half that Burnley would’ve crumbled and faced the same fate as Sunderland last week. But that wasn’t to be the case and when Steven Fletcher managed to get himself past Brazilian lump Alex to equalise, a well deserved point looked on the cards until captain infidelity spoilt the party.

The only slight criticism in what was an outstanding display is that we were too stand offish at times, but faced with such quality it sometimes it is hard not to be. But contrast Saturday’s performance to last Tuesdays defeat at Bolton and things couldn’t have been more different.

In what was an uncomfortable atmosphere against our former boss “Moses” Coyle’s new team, early injuries to Alexander and McCann stunted our flow in what became a severely disjointed performance. The mood in the camp at the final whistle certainly wasn’t pleasant, especially when “Moses” took it upon himself to hug each and every one of our players in front of the away following. Although I personally feel the “Judas” tag is harsh after all Coyle has done for the club, I don’t see why he couldn’t have just taken the stick he was getting without having to rile the fans further.

Coyle has got his move so should have been prepared to take a bit of flack. He says he has kept a dignified silence but in my book actions speak louder than words and the way he lathered our boys with affection was more akin to our Wembley triumph than the actions of a recently departed manager. If he was as dignified as he likes to make out then he should’ve shaken the player’s hands and said his goodbyes in the tunnel or at least the half way line.

Coyle’s biblical dig was quite amusing too, as he commented on how quickly he has turned from God to Judas, before then comparing himself to Moses. I know since then Piers Morgan has thrown King Herrod into the ring as an alternative suggestion; and maybe Noah too for the way he led Steve Davis and the rest of the coaching staff two by two to the arcs above the Reebok. Coyle was right though, that place really does have Premier League infrastructure, there’s a Subway, McDonalds, Pizza Hut and even a KFC on that big old heartless industrial estate.

Thankfully, Coyle’s name wasn’t mentioned at all by anyone in my vicinity at the Turf on Saturday. Hopefully the majority of fans can now begin to move on and help us achieve our goal of staying in the Premier League. For me, Brain Laws will be judged purely on results from now on; the transfer window is shut, we have our new signings and more importantly a run of winnable fixtures on the horizon.

This starts with West Ham at home on Saturday, with games against the likes of Portsmouth, Stoke, Wolves and Blackburn all at the Turf before the end of March. It is vital we take as many points as possible from these fixtures and then try and break our away duck in the matches against Fulham, Villa, Arsenal and Wigan that are sandwiched in between our home games.

With the news that Nugent is staying until the end of the season and that Jack Cork has come to enhance our midfield options from Chelsea, I feel that there is real competition for places and a good balance within the squad. Laws has done well in the transfer market, now all he needs to do is to turn good performances against the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea into results against the teams around us in the league. If he can do that then I have no doubt we will stay up and then just maybe the old Burnley bible will come out again to christen Brian Laws as Burnley’s second coming.

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Check out the latest Vblog below; not sure why when put online its transformed into a badly dubbed film but nevermind. Enjoy!

You can also check more recent ones out at tv.espn.co.uk/talkoftheterrace

Clarets move forward together.

After all the action that's taken place off the field over the last couple weeks it was a relief to finally watch a game of football. A trip to Old Trafford was undoubtedly one of the highlights in terms of must see away clashes this season but nobody could've expected to go there in the circumstances in which we did.

Our first game in the post Coyle era couldn't have been harder. It was certainly a baptism of fire for our new manager Brian Laws but to be honest I think it made it all the more special. The match ended three nil, however the result was never important. This was a day to show that Burnley Football Club was together and can never be ground down.

It was certainly a special atmosphere amongst the fans that’d made their way to the Theatre of Dreams to follow the mighty Clarets. The air was filled with pride and passion as we welcomed in a new dawn but at the same it was also tinged with hurt following the unsavoury managerial departure we had endured.

This was evident as the players made their way onto the pitch; “BRIAN LAWS CLARET AND BLUE ARMY” was the unwavering chant from the corner of the East Stand. As Brian made his way down the touchline towards the fans it felt like we could go on forever, each round not only gave our new boss our seal of approval but also provided us with some much needed therapy to help heal our emotional scars.

After singing out a few frustrations and giving our new man the thumbs up, all that was needed now was a performance. And the players didn’t disappoint. We were more than a match for Manchester United for the majority of the game. It took them sixty four minutes to break us down before Berbatov and the superb Rooney gave them a two nil cushion within minutes. But before that it could so easily have been Burnley who were in front.

Fletcher and Nugent in particular had chances in the first half but poor finishing and decision making saw us fail to take our chances. Then in the second, Nugent again wasted a golden chance as he toed the ball wide after being brilliantly played through by the excellent Chris Eagles. That’s not to say United didn’t have their chances, they enjoyed much of the possession in the first half, but like us picked the wrong options and rarely troubled Brian Jensen when they chose right. They most troubling thing at the break was Steve Fletcher’s injury, after he limped off with an ankle injury.

Valencia was seeing much of the ball on the right flank with United making the most of the cross field ball. Eagles was failing to support Jordan at left back but the centre half pairing of Duff and Edgar rarely put a foot wrong in dealing with balls in the box. Special praise must go out to these two; Duff, who started his career in non league football, has played out of skin ever since getting his place in the side, while Edgar made a superb debut after not being anywhere near the first team after signing from Newcastle in the summer. After being ignored by Coyle, his emergence could prove to be another positive from the change in regime.

While Eagles didn’t help much defensively he more than made up for it going the other way. The way he runs at defenders is frightening at the moment, not many have been able to cope with his pace, skill and balance. At times there is a lack of end product, but he certainly looked more dangerous than the likes of Valencia and Nani on the day.

Despite going two nil down it was great to see the players continue to take the fight to United. We continued to press and push for what would have been a well deserved goal. Unfortunately the impressive Steve Thompson’s header hit the post and we were denied a cast iron penalty as Wade Elliot’s cross was handled by Gary Neville after Tyrone Mears free kick was saved. Then cruelly, United got a third after sub Diouf headed over Brian Jensen after latching onto a through ball from Valencia. It was to finish there, three nil, a more than flattering score line for the champions.

But like I said earlier this was about more than the result. The day showed the solidarity amongst Burnley fans who not only vocally showed their backing for our new manager but also for our chairman when the chant of “there’s only one Barry Kilby” broke out. In what must have been a hard couple of weeks for him, it was only right we show our appreciation for the man who has transformed Burnley Football Club from a finically stricken league one side to debt free Premier League upstarts.

In contrast, on the rare occasions the almost mute Manchester United fans broke their silence was to vent their anger at the Glaziers and the clubs spiralling 700 million pound debt. They were fully mocked for it by the Clarets faithful with chants of “where’s your money gone”, “USA” and “we’ve got more cash than you”. Sadly my self-penned “we’re gonna buy your ground on ebay” didn’t get off the ground, but I encourage fans of any other clubs to give it a whirl.

The fact is Burnley fan can be proud to boast about the state of their finances to most clubs in the Premier League. Money may have been a key issue in Coyle’s departure and even in Brian Laws appointment but I wouldn’t change a thing. Burnley may be an unfashionable club, but with people like the Glaziers around the way we are doing things may soon have to become the latest “in” trend in the Premier League. And if Brain Laws can inspire us to more spirited performances like the one we saw at Old Trafford then I have no doubt that that is where we’ll stay; and continue to be a small town club breaking the mould in the big league.