One shouldn’t, of course, get too worked up about these meaningless end of season games. We’re not used to them, and it hasn’t been terribly easy to adjust after years when Easter has been crucial, but we need to approach these dog days of an inconsistent season with a phlegmatic air. It doesn’t do to get carried away - particularly taking into account who we were playing, and the tragic event that preceded our game against them earlier in the season. Yes, definitely best not to get too het up about this match.
Not that it was a meaningless game for both sides. Only our season has finished, and it’s in the way of things that since our season ended we’ve had several away games against sides who very much need the points. The current version of Burnley tends to be quite hospitable in such circumstances. If we’re playing a side that really needs the points, chances are they’ll get them from us. Thus, although not without a struggle, we obliged Portsmouth the other night and let them get what they were looking for. And on Easter Monday we allowed Forest, even though they never looked much good, to grab three points which will surely keep them in the play-offs.
At least, as at Portsmouth, we turned up, and again, we gave a fairly good account of ourselves. For much of the game, a draw looked a real possibility. Given our simply ghastly record on this ground - even the venerable Benyon has never seen a Burnley win there - that would have been excellent.
And then our clown of a goalkeeper chucked one in. Again.
As I say, it doesn’t do to get too worked up. This is the end of the season, none of this matters, and regardless of what we do for the rest of April we’re in Division One again next year - and we all know that it is the business we do in the summer rather than the football we play in the remaining games that will tell us what sort of season the next one will be. But even a meaningless match costs money to get into - £19 here - and to get to. You expect effort. It should be said that from most of them, we got that. It must be as discouraging for those players who tried so hard here - brilliant Branch, determined Gnohere and young, keen Chaplow - as it is disheartening for the fans when your goalie can't keep his mind on the game and ends up handing the match to the opposition.
I wasn't terribly impressed with Forest, mind. They seemed plodding in midfield. It's up front where it comes together for them, though; they have two fast lads and always look to have a chance of scoring. Fortunately, we have excellent defenders these days, none more so than the man now known as Branchenbauer. Yep, the former fop is fully reborn. Chalk this up as another one in favour of Uncle Stan and another own goal by crap self-appointed pundits such as your current writer. As football mutates into a branch of athletics, speed becomes as important as physicality at the back. Branch has that in abundance; he's quick and at the moment he's sharp. He must be sorry the season is ending. One brilliant challenge in the second half summed him up right now. The player was away from him but he found extra pace, caught up, and just got enough on it to push it out for a corner.
He looked solid with Diallo, until Driss had to go off again, worryingly,
with an injury, at which point TLC King Arthur moved from left back to centre
and played like he'd never been gone. (TLCKA, by the way, is now known by the
London Clarets cognoscenti as David O'Hairy, following the Portsmouth programme,
which rather cutely put national flags alongside the players' names but
conspired to get most of them wrong. There we were thinking Arthur was French
of Cote d'Ivoire extraction, when it turns out he's really been Irish all along.)
The weak link in the defence happened to be Mark McGregor, which was disappointing. I've long advocated his selection in place of the uncertain West, but he looked all too beatable here.
Anyhow, we probably had the better of the chances in the first half, including a good opportunity that Ian Moore somehow managed to put over the bar. One long throw from O’Neill, on for the uninspiring Papadopoulos, nearly put Taylor in. Chaplow also made a great chance when he put himself through from a lovely turn. It would have been nice if he’d finished it, but I’m not going to criticise.
It was refreshing to see a young, home-grown player in the team, and starting
a game at the heart of the side rather than spending a few minutes as a peripheral
sub. One must always be careful not to lavish too much praise. It’s early
days, and we’ve been here before. Remember the early promise of Paul
Smith or John Mullin? Hype does them no favours. But I’ve liked what
I’ve seen of Chaplow in particular, in this game and the one at Norwich.
He seems to find some space for himself and has a nice touch on the ball -
plus he seems to have the habit of passing to Burnley players. As I say, early
days yet, but he looks to have promise.
There’s been a season-long debate about the merits of bringing youth
in. As we know, this has never really been Stan’s way. He did it a bit
in his first days when we had a truly rotten squad and his options were minimal,
but they were replaced as soon as older, more experienced players could be
acquired. Since then, that’s largely been the Stan method: to bring in,
often cheaply, players who have experience of playing in the top half of the
game. Earlier this season he said he ‘wasn’t scared’ of introducing
youngsters as a response to poor performances by the first team, but he never
followed up that threat. Then when injuries struck and the kids made the bench,
you could be sure it would be the only time that Stan didn’t use three
subs. So why this sudden change? Well, it isn’t often that we have end
of season games to coast through, so the opportunity to blood some cubs in
an unpressured environment doesn’t often arise. But does it point to
a change in heart? Is this a hint that we are going to manage with fewer senior
players next season after the great summer contract shakedown? Are the youngsters
simply going to have to play? Time will tell.
The debate-long season has been about whether the kids are good enough.
I’m
not in a position to judge, because I don’t see enough of them. The
geographical accident of the location of my office has meant that I’ve
seen no more than a couple of reserve and youth games in the past decade.
I know people
who watch a lot at this level and some say they don’t see anyone capable
of playing in the first division, while others argue that you’ll never
know unless you give them a chance. I guess at least now that chance is being
offered, so if we carry on then one way or another we’re going to know.
Back to the match. NTG’s blunder effectively sealed it. Dawson hit a
shot from a long way out which had no particular pace, power or swerve. The
basic rule is, of course, to get your body behind it. NTG instead opted lazily
to stretch out his hands, and somehow allowed himself to touch the ball without
stopping it from going in. It would be kind to call it a lapse in concentration.
We see rather too many of these. I tend to regard it rather as a lack of professionalism.
How galling for Branchenbauer and O’Hairy when we looked to have weathered
the storm and when frustration was creeping into Forest’s play.
For much of the season another debate seems to have been: Marlon or Nik? I’ve
increasingly come to feel the answer is neither. Both have shown talent at
times, but both have revealed serious weaknesses in their play. Both are out
of contract this summer, and with lots of other players bound to become available,
there’s simply got to be a more consistent keeper out there somewhere.
I don’t think there’s much to say about NTG - he has let us down
too many times now - but there’s more of an argument about Beresford.
A friend was telling me he was doing great until he fell apart. We can’t
afford the falling apart.
But how quickly fortunes can change at this time of year - although we knew
that already, didn’t we? At 0-0 and with Ipswich winning 1-0, it was
all going wrong for Forest. A quarter of an hour later they’d virtually
sealed their place in the play-offs - and Ipswich had gone a long way to giving
me another chance of missing ticking off their ground next season.
Such were the idle thoughts as we sauntered towards the final whistle. Chaplow
had obviously tired by the end, and we never really looked like making an equaliser.
A further youngster came on in the shape of the tiny Mark Rasmussen, although
he never got into the game.
Just when I was congratulating myself on going for a 1-0 defeat in the ‘Beat
the Manager’ game on the Clarets Mad website, Michopoulos cocked it up
again. (And that's really bad, because I’ve been top of that contest
for a lot of this season, but now I know I’m just going to get caught
right at the end. Those extra points for a correct score might have just been
enough.) NTG came out to hit a clearance. Fortunately he got to it, but unfortunately
he hit it straight to David Johnson, who having hitherto proved that he’ll
always be a Claret really couldn’t miss this one into an unguarded net.
2-0, and that was the end of not just the game, but my away season, as we
took the opportunity to leave a minute or so early to get clear of the ground
before the final whistle. In summary, 2-0 flattered Forest, and it wasn't a
bad performance by the team - most of the team.
Greeks bearing gifts