A lot of wind
Stockport 0 Burnley 0, Tuesday 6 March 2001
Report by Becko
The Clarets edged nearer to the promised land
of fifty points in a poor game at Stockport. In fairness to both sides, the winner was the
weather. A blustery, swirling first half wind made passing football difficult. At one
point all four corner flags were blowing in different directions! At half time, the wind
curtailed, to be replaced by torrential rain. You couldn’t fault either team’s
effort over ninety minutes, but given the conditions I’m not surprised it remained
goalless.
We lined up 4-4-2. Stan’s team selections
and formations are never predictable, so Branch played at left back and Briscoe left side
of midfield. Weller looked our most dangerous player in the first half, particularly as he
raided effectively on the right wing. All too often, though, he ran out of space, with no
one running into space for him.
I felt that the football that was played, and
there was precious little, was played by Burnley. Indeed, it was Burnley who had the best
chances. Cox found himself a fish out of water on the penalty spot after County had failed
to clear a corner. He turned as the ball was played back in and the home defence pushed
out, but hit his shot high over the bar. Taylor also blasted high and wide from the six
yard line when another corner in the second half was bouncing around the area. The sight
of our goal shy loan forward with his head in his hands summed it up. Terrible miss.
Steve Davis (man of the match again) hit a 35
yard free kick not too far off target, with the keeper struggling. Lee Briscoe, who it was
good to see play a full ninety minutes, hit two shots off target, and that was about it.
It was a pity – something of an
understatement – that Andy Dibble in the County goal wasn’t tested. He flapped
at a couple of corners, and we really needed to pressure him.
Nik the Greek at the other end was also rarely
tested, but he did look competent, and handled more than efficiently throughout.
It’s up front we have problems. It’s
difficult to see why Ian Moore was bought. We all know Andy Cooke would run all day. John
Mullin is also capable of that. So Moore doesn’t add anything there. All three also
have the fact that they don’t score many goals in common. Andy Cooke: 14 starts, 5
goals this season. Ian Moore: 16 starts, 3 goals. Andy Payton, top scorer with 14 goals,
sat on the bench, coming on for the last three minutes. I suppose if you pay £1million
for a player then he plays, but return on investment looks poor at the moment.
So we are safe. We will be playing in Division
One next season, and that’s what we set out to do. On the plus side, we’re
higher than any of us thought we’d be, and we’re on the way to becoming
established in Division One. Stan’s started to off-load players, such as Heywood,
Lee, Mawson, Cooke and Mellon, who he didn’t think was good enough. Mellon’s a
strange one. We paid £350,000 just over two years ago. In truth, he hasn’t delivered
what we expected from him, but we’ve got nothing back. It’s also strange to
release him now for nothing when Lenny Johnrose will be out for at least six weeks. Why
not wait until summer? What if Kevin Ball gets injured? Then Stan says that the squad is
down to the bare bones. Whose fault is that?
On the minus side, unless we sign three or
four – at least – players in the summer, we will struggle next season.
Traditionally teams do better in the first half of the season after promotion – then
the struggle starts.
This summer will be both testing and
interesting, but let’s stick with Stan – for the moment.
Team:
Michopoulos, Thomas, Davis, Cox, Briscoe, Ball, Cook, Weller, Branch, Taylor (Mullin 89),
Moore (Payton 87). Subs not used: Crichton, Maylett, West.
Crowd: 7,087.
Referee: R J
Beeby.
Becko's Man of the
Match: Steve Davis.
London Clarets Man
of the Match: Steve Davis.
The home game
