To be brutally honest, this was a complete non-event; a real stinker; a complete waste of money.
Burnley went into the game without the injured trio of Gareth Taylor, Paul Weller and playmaker Glen Little. Into the side came Graham Branch and Paul Cook, as the Clarets attempted to saturate the midfield. Ian Moore was left to plough a lonely furrow on his own up front. Stan’s 4-5-1 formation showed as little ambition on the pitch as Burnley have been showing off the pitch recently. A point was the target and that is exactly what we got.
Neither side was able to boss the midfield. We continuously gave away possession, despite having the extra man, and Wombledon, in turn, were unable to produce anything of real note. The game fast became bogged down in the Selhurst mud. On the odd occasion Wombledon threatened, they found Michopoulos in outstanding form. Both sets of strikers received no service and were made to run about aimlessly as their midfield failed to pass the ball. Connolly and the inept Shipperley scurried around gamely, but were left to feed off scraps as both sides cancelled each other out.
Shipperley did have a shot early in the first half, but that was easily dealt with by the Clarets keeper. Gnohere had an opportunity at the other end, but could only put Kevin Ball’s cross over the bar. Former Stockport winger Cooper had a chance, and again he was foiled by Michopoulos, as the game continued to splutter.
Burnley just couldn’t get any sort of movement going. The ball was continuously ping-ponging around the centre of the pitch, and without Little we were unable to get the ball under control and go forward. It is particularly frustrating that Alan Moore, whom we know has talent and can run at defenders, seems to be playing in a withdrawn role. I can’t see what the point of this is in a team that is lacking the spark that Little provides.
Possibly the most frustrating thing about this afternoon is that, although we were poor, it was plain to see that
Wombledon were terrible. They lacked imagination and skill. They were absolutely awful, and yet we couldn’t beat them.
We did, admittedly have men out, but the real problem lies in the depth of the squad. We quite simply have the squad of
a lower league team. We appear to want to sign players on the cheap, and are obviously not willing to invest in the squad
in an attempt to fire us to promotion. It is embarrassing and down right ridiculous that we should be losing out on players
to Sheffield Wednesday, millions in debt and third bottom of the league. Regardless of your views on Kuqi’s ability we appear unable or unwilling to spend any money. We are attempting to win promotion on the cheap, and it won’t happen. Luton boss Joe Kinnear has described our offer for their promising midfielder Matthew Spring as dismal; surely if we rate the player we should be willing to pay for him. I’m not advocating the acquisition of players at any cost, but we simply have to start to compete to a certain extent if we want to be taken seriously and make the step up. We all realise that we are not in the same financial boat as KKMC and DJWW,
who appear willing to spend millions if they fail to score on a Saturday afternoon, but we do have one factor in our
favour over most other clubs: our league position. Players would surely be keen to join a promotion-seeking club, indeed that has always been one of Stan’s mantras. It will be no surprise to me to see Kuqi on the scoresheet for his new club next Saturday at Turf Moor, and it will underline our staggering lack of ambition. Do the board feel we have gone as far as we can I wonder?
Returning to the game, Ternent made a change at half time. Cook was replaced by Papadopoulos, and for a moment, it looked as though we would try to win the game. No such luck. Dimi tried hard and ran gamely, but we just didn’t provide the service. He had one half chance, which he put into the stand, before he himself was substituted. Surely the sight of Tony Ellis coming onto the pitch signalled our intention to out-bore Wombledon? This we succeeded in doing without too many problems.
Apparently some bloke called Wild Thing appeared as a substitute for Wombledon, but he was about as wild as a hamster in a coma and he quickly settled into the general way of things. Kevin Ball managed to gain his customary booking for a rash challenge, but by this time most people couldn’t care less. Indeed, the brothers Heagin left with 20 minutes left, muttering unpleasantly at the quality of football on offer.
The crowd was a disappointing 7,675, and that included a hefty 1,700 from the North West. Do Wombledon really deserve to stay in their own area, or does Koppel have a point? They are mighty vocal in the press, but where are they when their team is playing? Selhurst Park is a mere couple of miles from Wombledon, yet their average attendance is a dismal 6,736, and don’t forget that this includes travelling supporters. It’s not as though they travel in their hordes to away fixtures either; their first away game of this season, usually a popular game with supporters, was at Turf Moor, where they brought a magnificent 307 fans. Can they really have any complaints that Mr Koppel wants to re-locate?
Looks like snow