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Four
Barnsley 1 Burnley 0, Tuesday 26
December 2000
Report by Firmo
Anyone who got their hopes up ahead of this one
doesn't know the sorry story of Burnley's Boxing Days. As we've said before, the good days
are when the game gets called off. That was our best hope on the way up from London. As we
hit Barnsley in search of beer, we remarked on the frost, and noted the cold between car
and pub door.
It wasn't to be. But this defeat, the fourth in
a series, was at least different to the three before. In the two of those I saw, we'd lost
to a better side. In two of the three, we'd lost to sides you'd expect to be challenging
for promotion at the end of the season. Not so here. We lost to a side having an
indifferent season, short of a manager, and with no real hopes of anything. And, for a
change, we lost to a side we were better than. I've never been able to work out whether
defeat is more or less palatable when it's undeserved.
Ah well, an estimated 5,500 Clarets in good
voice turned up to see a tactically changed Burnley side. We played a 4-3-3 cum 4-5-1
system, with Thomas at right back, Smith on the left, Johnrose, Mellon and Ball making a
midfield three and Moore often alone up front with Weller and Branch in support. Little
was on the bench, as was Payton at one of his old clubs, prompting an idle conversation as
to how many Christmas games Andy Payton has actually started. Discuss.
The game went off at a fairly frantic pace, but
we were more or less on top. They were nervous, surely there for the taking. I thought we
were keen. That was the word that sprung to mind. Keen. It was one of those games which
weren't full of clear chances, but where there was controlled aggression and
determination. In other words, it was a decent sort of Boxing Day game, with enough
passion to keep people going as the light faded and the temperature fell. Plus we enjoyed
the hilarious presence of Stuart Ripley, a recent Barnsley acquisition, who took all the
corners for them and was duly and loudly reminded who he used to play for. All good fun.
One good chance early on came when their goalie
didn't clear from the edge of his box. Weller's looped header towards the empty goal was
an astute piece of fast thinking, but a defender got back just in time to clear.
Our best chance of the match came in the second
half, and there honestly wasn't much to report in between. If fell to Johnrose, who
snapped in a shot from a rebound. It wasn't quite an empty goalmouth, as there was a
defender stood on the line, and with remarkable skill Johnrose managed to find him.
Anywhere else, and it was a goal.
Barnsley offered little, with Michopoulos saving
with ease the chances they had. He produced one excellent save to tip over what we thought
was their best hope in the second half.
Some players impressed me. I made the point
recently that Weller couldn't defend, and didn’t grab headlines early in the season
for that; he's an attacking player. It was, therefore, heartening to see him restored to
an attacking role here, supporting Moore, and doing well at it, scurrying, foraging,
coming wide and crossing. It compensated in some way for a hit and miss Branch day, with
Branch's attempts at finishing in particular proving poor, but it also highlighted the
deficiencies of this novel formation. Weller looks good somewhere between midfield and
attack, but Moore can't play up front alone. Ternent must know this. His blueprint for
striking success has always been to pair a nippy little bastard with a big lad up front.
With Cooke properly dispensed with and Payton a fading star, it's notable that he tried to
sign two strikers, Moore and Adebola, only to frustrated in his plans by the unique fact
that Adebola is (a) on the transfer list and (b) not for sale. That's left us with Moore
in the quick and skilful role, but he needs someone to play off. Perhaps the idea was that
Branch would win the ball in the air, but he didn't. When he drifted wide, as he often
did, Moore was stranded. When Moore came wide there was no one in the box. Too often,
particularly in the second half, good work by Weller or Moore produced nothing, because
there was no one in the box to put a chance away. It's agonising when good balls go wasted
across a goalmouth.
That said, I wish Moore would stay on his feet.
He goes down too easily. You won't score many by hitting the deck.
Smith did well at left back, I felt, adopting
the fairly conventional approach of tackling and trying to play the won ball
constructively. Some of his crossfield passes to Branch were a delight. The defence played
well as individuals rather than a unit. Cox and Davis had the beating of their men, and
Nick the Greek was having one of his better days, apart from one episode of juggling which
amused those around but terrified me. The midfield were adequate, with Ball being the
pick. Johnrose did good things sometimes, but Mellon refused to take men on. There was one
episode where what could have been a quick counter attack ended the moment Mellon played a
safe neutral ball instead of trying to beat his man. Sums him up, really. There are times
when playing safe is a coward's act.
The problem with the midfield as a whole was
that they didn't support the attack. Hence those gaping holes at crosses. Who was making
runs into the box?
Ternent got stuck into his players after the
game. It's been a long time since we've heard that particular party piece, and as far as I
can recall, not since he got 'his team' rather than someone else's. He generally supports
them, even after a defeat. He faulted their commitment. I'm not so sure. I thought we were
committed. I agree with him that the midfield should have joined the attacks, but if he
thought this lot were going to do that, on what basis? They haven't so far. This is a
defensive midfield, and it might be too late in the day to expect these particular
leopards to change their spots. If you want an attacking midfield, you need to go and sign
an attacking midfielder.
And I'm afraid Ternent, who we rightly hand the
credit to for a string of good results this season, has to take some of the blame for
getting it wrong here. I could understand us being cautious after three defeats, but as
the game went on and it became clear that we were on top, we should have gone for it. If
there's no one getting into the box, why not get another player up front? Payton and
Mullin were on the bench. I believe that, with another attacking player to get on the end
of our good approach work, we'd have got the points and brought to an end what has become
a worrying run. We didn't take the initiative of seizing a game that was going our way.
What's worrying is that this game was part of a
pattern. In the last few games it's become difficult to see how Burnley are going to
score, even when we're on top. Here, while we had most of the game, we didn't have enough
clear chances. Goals win games, of course, and points aren't awarded on the basis of
balance of play. If we can't stick the sodding thing away, how can we say we didn't
deserve to get beat?
I wanted to see Little come on and run at them,
and eventually I got half of my wish. Little came on. He didn't run at them. He didn't do
anything actually. Still injured? If he isn't fit to come on, he shouldn't be on the
bench. I love to see him play, but it's no fun if he's out of sorts.
Perhaps Payton would provide the required
additional up front presence? But he replaced Moore, leaving us no better off. This is
where I would criticise Ternent. There's no knowing whether Moore was fit for the whole
game after being injured before Christmas, but given that we had Mullin, who had been
considered good enough to start the match against Bolton in attack, a straight striker for
striker swap wasn't the only tactical option.
Worse was to come. With the scoreboard counting
the minutes down, and another Burnley free kick about to fizzle out, the final
substitution saw Little taken off, and Jepson come on. If Little wasn't fit he shouldn't
have been on the pitch, so someone made a mistake. As for Jepson, he just shouldn't be on
the pitch, under any circumstances. That joke isn't funny any more. He was once a cult,
but now that looks like a spelling mistake. There should be no place for his fat,
chronically unfit and wholly ineffectual presence in the first division. If he's great in
the dressing room, keep him there. He isn't funny; he's embarrassing. What must John
Mullin think when this fat arsed lard bucket gets on before him? Did he even touch the
bloody ball? Needless to say, his substantial presence contributed nothing to the attack.
A 0-0 draw then? That would have been quite good
for Boxing Day, but we know that didn't happen. Last season a large part of our success
came from scoring late goals, but recently we've started conceding them. Another worry,
this. The pattern was a familiar one. NTG and Johnrose combined to make a mistake and the
defence froze. Why not? It's hardly the first time. Nik came out for one, Johnrose went
for it too, and as they got in each other's way everyone else stopped. It bounced away
from them, and all it took was a tap into an empty net to ruin Christmas. Soft goal,
again. For the first time the Barnsley support made some noise, and our excellent and
previously vocal following sat deflated. Even the ref booking their scorer for some
shirt-removing nonsense didn't cheer us. The game finished a couple of minutes later.
It's a long time since I've heard Ternent and
the team getting stick, but they got some here, with boos mingling with applause.
Ternent's reaction was typically robust, and we can only hope that his verbally lashed
team responds. ASAP. What we need is a point from somewhere, to stop an unwelcome run and
get us off 38 points. When we went down last time, a wretched run from January to March
saw us lose game after game. That's not going to happen now, but we need to rediscover
good habits, restore morale and start playing like a team again. If we do that, we'll
stake our place in mid table. Assuming we do, we might even have cause to thank this
miserable December spell for providing the required reality check. This never was about
promotion or play-offs, and there can't be much argument about that now.
According to the statistical oracle (we call him
Tony), the last time we won on Boxing Day was on 26 December 1989, when we beat Carlisle.
I wish I'd realised that day when I rolled happily from Turf Moor what a rare experience
it was. Happy Christmas? No, not usually.
Team:
Michopoulos, Thomas, Cox, Davis, Smith, Mellon, Ball, Johnrose, Weller, Branch (Little 65,
Jepson 86), Moore (Payton 78). Subs not used: Crichton and Mullin.
Scorer: Morgan
(89).
Crowd: 18,725.
Referee: R
Warren.
Firmo's Man of the
Match: Paul Weller.
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Paul Weller.
The home game
