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.

**************

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.

Brian Laws is the fairest of them all.

So there was a late twist in the tale after all. Perhaps we should’ve known that if the press were reporting O’Driscoll had got the job, then it would actually be Brian Laws who would be crowned the winner of “Barry Kilby’s Beauty Parade”. I know the announcement originally under whelmed a lot of fans and I hope like me, the majority have now all come round to the idea.

The mantra from a lot of people seems to be “he wasn’t my first choice” which I think is natural given the list of names that were touted as Owen Coyle’s successor. The fact Law’s was only sacked by Sheffield Wednesday a month ago hasn’t helped many either but if you look beyond these two factors then it looks like the board have made a very sound appointment.

First and foremost Brain Laws is a Claret. He started his career at Turf Moor and played almost two hundred games for the club. He is a man who won’t jump ship when a slightly better job comes around and will fight for our cause. If anyone doubts this then just look at his press conference yesterday, he spoke with passion and commitment. If that’s not enough to convince you, he even smiled after being made to wear one of those horrible club ties.

Of course, if passion and commitment was enough then we’d all have applied for the job but Law’s CV doesn’t scream of failure. His promotions with Scunthorpe speak for themselves, while keeping Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship in a period of financial and political turmoil off the field for the club shouldn’t be overlooked.

Many though have complained at the fact he has a lack of top flight experience as a manager but then offer up alternatives like Lee Clarke or O’Driscoll, who have both never managed in the top division either. We need to remember that although we are a Premier League Club in terms of league position, in terms of infrastructure and budgets we are not yet at that level. We are hardly likely to go for a “Curbishley” when we wouldn’t stretch our budget to keep Owen Coyle.

Some fans need to stop believing the hype, take look at the budgets, the squad and recent results and remember who we are and where we’ve come from. Burnley Football Club is a work in progress and let’s be honest it’s not stay up or bust for our beloved side. The Premier League is where we all want to be but we’ve planned to go down and will still be debt free if we do.

Brain Laws is a man who can work well to a budget, as shown by certain “surveys” which put him at the top of a list of managers who’ve had success compared to their budget. He also is a man that likes to play good football, not only as we witnessed in his team taking six points while scoring eight goals against us last season but also in the many other times he has brought one of his teams to Turf Moor.

Laws may have run out of ideas after three years at Wednesday but that can happen to any manager when results destroy confidence. Just look at Steve Cotterill, a man who assembled a good side at Burnley that lost its way, only to be picked up, strengthened and tweaked slightly and taken to promotion the following year by Owen Coyle.

In Laws we also have a man who has obviously kept a close interest in what’s been going on at Turf Moor. Reading between the lines it seems that it was him that suggested Graham Alexander should become part of the backroom staff during his first interview, a move that has not only pleased lots of the Burnley public, but could also prove a masterstroke in instantly bridging the gap between the new gaffer and the dressing room who may too be slightly disillusioned by his appointment.

It seems as though all the Coyle compensation is going towards the current budget, as I imagine is the difference between Laws and Coyle’s wages. Some may accuse the board of “penny pinching” with this appointment, but I’m sure they’ll all change their tune with a couple of new signings to bolster the ranks.

It’s already been reported Matt Kilgallon has turned us down after a fee of around one and a half million was agreed, while today’s papers have linked with a move for Sheffield Wednesday’s keeper and former Burnley loanee Lee Grant. It also seems that the club are trying to do all they can to extend David Nugent’s loan deal until the end of the season. There’s no doubt a couple of timely signings would certainly help sooth some of the resentment towards our new manager.

Laws is also a fighter. He has an impressive history of inspiring his teams to winning derby’s, becoming the first manager to do the double over Sheffield United in 95 years. How we’d love him to have the same success against Bolton or Blackburn in the next few weeks? Also think how we’d love him to show the determination in keeping Tudgay when we courted him earlier this season when Coyle returns for one of our players in the summer?

The press too can condemn this appointment all they want. Sarcastic headlines and snidey pieces about tight arse Lancastrians stroking their whippets have been written too many times for me to care. I trust our Chairman Barry Kilby to make the right appointment for Burnley Football Club, not for the media. Although what better story could there be than Brain Laws keeping in the Premier League and making all those know it all hacks and pundits eat their words. I for one would love it.

What they fail to understand is Burnley is about doing things right, we aren’t going to blow our budget and end up like in the doldrums like so many illustrious clubs before us. Now lets all get behind our new manager and continue our fight to stay in the Premier League starting with the long awaited trip to Old Trafford on Saturday. Now just how long have we waited to say that? All hail Brain Laws, our new Mr Burnley.

O'Driscoll to pip Miss World to Clarets job?

Well our Chairman Barry Kilby’s self proclaimed “beauty parade” looks like drawing to a close in the next day or so (what a great idea for a new TV show by the way- ‘Barry Kilby’s Beauty Parade’). In a radio interview last night our leader said he hoped the new man would be in place before the weekend’s trip to Manchester United.

It’s been a turbulent week for the club as after losing Owen Coyle and his backroom staff, we’ve been left looking for a new manager in the middle of a transfer window with a run of games coming up against Manchester United, Bolton and Chelsea. By the time caretaker manager Steve Davis and goalkeeping coach Phil Hughes left on Sunday it was anyone’s guess who’d be taking charge of training for the next week. In the end it was decided Martin Dobson and Terry Pashley would step in, only just pipping Chris Eagles hairdresser and Clarke Carlise’s former AA councillor to take over first team duties.


It still feels strange to be looking for a new manager after having our old one “poached” by another club. Apart from the possible exclusion of Adrian Heath resigning to take up a position on Everton’s coaching staff, the rest have either been sacked, jumped before they were pushed or just stepped down; citing retirement, the pressure of the job or in the case of the now sadly passed Tommy Cavanagh, a dodgy hip.

Given this I think Coyle may have done us a favour. After his gloriously successful era on the pitch in terms of getting results, many have said they would have happily seen him walk away in the summer and applauded and sung his name on every return. Looking at the history books, this could’ve easily seen our next appointment in the post Coyle era almost certainly end in disaster, with no man able to fill his god-like boots.

The fact he has left under a cloud means things are now different as everybody is likely to get fully behind our new manager whether they like him or not in order to try and out do Coyle. This shift in attitude could be key in the new man succeeding, especially if the club go for another young and hungry manager from the lower leagues, which is looking increasingly likely.

Today it’s being widely reported that Sean O’Driscoll has been offered the job at Turf Moor. I must admit O’Driscoll’s name was one that hadn’t immediately sprung to mind but by the time he was mentioned to me on Sunday I began to remember what a fantastic job he’d done at Doncaster. His team pretty much outplayed us on both occasions last year getting four points from a possible six, they were well organised, kept the ball on the floor and played and beat us at our own game.

There’s not too much else I really know about him, apparently known as “noisy” he is a quiet man, who keeps himself to himself and lets his results do the talking. I’d certainly be quite happy with his appointment if the Burnley board were to announce he’d got the job.

Whether this is just more press talk who knows, the favourites have certainly changed quite a lot over the past week. Out of work managers like Alan Curbishley, Paul Jewell, Brian Laws and Steve Coppell have been mentioned, as well as some up and coming bosses like O’Driscoll, Paul Lambert, Simon Grayson and Lee Clark, while not forgetting some rather interesting, farfetched outsiders like Slaven Bilic, Sven Goran Erikson, Gary Neville, Tony Blair, Simon Cowell and even the reigning Miss World (it is a beauty parade after all). Unfortunately, I still can’t see the lovely Kaiane Aldorino swapping her Miss World crown to become the Premier League’s first “Gibraltarian” manager.

Over the last couple of days it seemed like Clark, O’Drsicoll and Laws were the remaining candidates. Clark looks to have drifted now, possibly making it a two horse race. Despite being an ex claret, the mere sight of Brain Laws surging to the top of the bookies list was enough to make some fans shudder. He seems an unpopular choice and given the fact he was recently sacked by Sheffield Wednesday, a team at the bottom end of the Championship. Surely he would become the luckiest ever man in football to land a Premier League job just over a month after getting the boot from a side a league below?

Once likened to Brain Clough in his management style, some will see Laws’ reign at Sheffield Wednesday a success, keeping a once illustrious club in the Championship despite financial difficulties while the likes of Leeds United, Southampton, Norwich and Charlton all went down. Others will say it wasn’t, as often clubs with huge debts live far beyond their means in the red.

He does have one good thing in his favour though and that is his tenacity. After we won promotion, Coyle tried to sign striker Marcus Tudgay from Wednesday and Law’s bitterly fought tooth and nail to keep his star man; a quality we may need if our former manager comes sniffing round our players in the summer?

I’m sure it’s been a difficult task for Laws at Hillsborough, but then looking at O’Driscoll he’s done all that and more on a smaller budget at a less glamorous club. But whether or not the press and the bookies are to be believed or not is another matter, for all we know the likes of Sky Sports News are just trying to keep the story alive until a decision is made.

After the last couple of weeks, nobody could possibly rule out a late twist in the tale but I for one can’t wait to get back to the football with whoever is chosen to take us forward. But as this beauty parade moves into its final swimwear round, it looks as if the 33rd manager in the history of Burnley Football Club is under 48 hours away from being named. Incidentally, can anyone tell me the odds on the new man being made to wear a crown and a sash during his opening press conference?

Coyle leaves; a good day for atheists

Well that's it, he's off. Some have likened it to their wife running off with another man and I'm pretty sure plenty would've probably preferred to see their wife go instead, but Owen Coyle is no longer the manager of Burnley Football Club.

Now making snowmen on gardening leave, once compensation is agreed the Scot will exit Turf Moor for his former club Bolton with the promise of bigger and better budgets, stadia and infrastructure to compete in the top flight. I've been left like many feeling a strange mixture of disappointment, frustration, anger and total bemusement at his decision, but also of huge appreciation for all he's done during his time at the club.


Yes, leaving us midseason is extremely low and for that I can never forgive him, but at the same time he's ditched us as a Premier League club with a great chance of survival. I look around and see Preston sacking Alan Irvine, who joined them at the same time Coyle moved to
Burnley and am thankful we're not in their position. If we're going to be done the dirty on then I'd rather it be while we're in the position to attract a manager with the ability to keep us up.

For many, it was inevitable that Coyle would leave but what hurts most is the timing and the club he leaves us for. I for one will never be able to understand why he hasn't chosen to finish off the job he started by taking us for better or worse through to the finish line, but it's his choice and just hope he's proved wrong come May. Financially he will be better off if he keeps Bolton up, but if he takes them down then I suspect even a relegated Burnley would be a more viable, debt free option.

As for where he moves to, I said in my last piece it was dangerous to dismiss the lure of Bolton for Coyle. Although he spent only two and a half years at the club, he only played for two other teams longer and during that time earned promotion to the top flight as a semi regular starter in a side with a similar footballing philosophy to the one he's built at Burnley. What leaves me baffled and gutted is why his achievements here don't seem to rank anywhere near what he did as a player during his Burden Park days.

The danger is now that our over achieving team will combust and go into freefall without their deserting leader. The great thing about Coyle was his ability to bring a unique togetherness amongst his players and inspire the fans. Now it is us that must bridge the gap and get behind our team even more than we already do. Coyle has gone and staying in this division is far too important to dwell on his departure. We must put all our faith in Steve Davis to continue his 100% record as Burnley manager when he takes charge against Stoke on Saturday and then continue to support whoever takes on the role.

The uphill task just got much harder and although Coyle may have turned his back on us it doesn't mean we should fear relegation anymore than when he was with us. This act of treachery should act as a catalyst to every player inside the dressing room and to everybody
with an interest in supporting our great team to prove this man was wrong to leave us.

Whatever he did or did not say over the last week, it soon became blatantly obvious his desire was to see what was on the table at Bolton once Saturday’s win over the MK Dons was out of the way. Sadly, that press conference dodging victory was to be his last and it was perhaps fitting that the game was a both a cup and an away win, combining two of the contrasting features of his Turf Moor reign. Let’s just hope our form away from the Turf has a sudden improvement in three weeks time when we visit our old manager in his new love nest at the Reebok.

In the few days in between the FA Cup game and stating his desire to leave, a last ditch attempt to keep him was made by Chairman Barry Kilby. The pair met on Monday night to discuss the future over a vintage bottle of Irn Bru but sadly it seems the teetotaller was already drunk on Gartside’s promises of extra money. A night was taken to sleep on it, which in the end it only served to prolong the inevitable. The club text came through the next day confirming he was on his way.

Although hurting, I do not wish to resort to words of hatred towards Coyle. The last two years has been without doubt one of the best times to be a Claret as we've watched as our great club rise from the shadows to earn what we never thought possible, a place in the Premier League. I will always look back at his era with great fondness despite the crass way he has chosen to end it.

Tuesday’s news that Coyle was on his way was a great day for atheists everywhere, once again reaffirming the belief that God never actually existed. It was however, not only an extremely sad day for Burnley Football Club but also for the sport in general. In a game now filled with greed, a lust for instant success and a lack of morals we thought we had found a rare gem who built our trust with tales of honesty, integrity and family values; but in the end he perhaps summed up best of all what is so very wrong with modern day football.