No Pride at the Park
Derby County 2 Burnley 0
Report by Dave Parker
The last time I remember doing a match report for the London Clarets was many years ago, when as the then newsletter editor, I covered a pre-season friendly away to Worcester City. The Clarets lost 2-0 with a very poor performance indeed, and some fans were heard to start shouting "Casper Out". Many years on, the Clarets lost 2-0 to Derby County with a very poor performance indeed, and some fans were heard to start shouting "Ternent Out". This is not the forum for debating whether Stan should stay or go as Burnley manager, but it was the first time that I had heard serious discontent with what was happening on the pitch.
I'm worried about the situation. Stan has done (and probably still is doing) a magnificent job. One thing seemed certain: the team would always give 100% effort and commitment, and invariably perform well as a team. You would look at the teamsheet and not expect too much, but Stan's team always gave more than the sum of their individual parts. But at Pride Park on Saturday, it all seemed very different. Read the teamsheet - it is full of creative players who have worked well together, though there are still worries about the midfield, defence and goalie; but hey, with this amount of creativity available, surely we can extend our great record at Derby's smart new home? It was not to be, and, for not the first time this season, Stan's team gave considerably less than the sum of its parts. It seemed to be uncaring, uncommitted, uncommunicative, and suddenly fearful of failure. I will always allow players off days, occasional lapses, etc, but the number of poor challenges and bad passes, and the lack of basic ball control that was exhibited, cannot go down as just 'one of those days'.
Hell, that's negative, but that's the way just about everybody seemed to feel at half time, let alone full time. Half the number of Burnley fans at Pride Park compared with last season, and about a quarter of the noise - it can't just be me who is getting concerned. But let's try and turn this around. Don't stop going, everyone: it is at exactly times like these that the Club needs good, passionate support from us all. We know our financial situation, the size of the squad, etc. We have to make what we can of it, and full-on criticism isn't going to help.
So, what of the game? Differing views all round!! Most people (including Derby fans) thought we were very poor and Derby little better, but that Derby deserved to win. We probably had more possession, but didn't really create too much at all, despite forcing the Derby keeper into three good saves. Some thought Mr "I love the spotlight" Uriah Rennie to be the villain of the show, but there is no way that anything he did affected the result of the game. It may not have been a penalty (difficult to call even on the TV replays), King Arthur may not have deserved to be sent off (with the benefit of TV, he was definitely not the last man and it was hardly a foul anyway!), but then Derby would just have won 1-0 instead.
On the positive side (sorry, this will have to be a short paragraph), Richard Chaplow had another good game in midfield, and was on the end of a couple of our best charges. If everyone else chased, harried and tackled with half the enthusiasm of Chappy, then we would be a much more effective team. Glen flitted in and out of the game, seeming to have a free role, but did put some excellent balls into the box - only to find that we sold Gareth Taylor some months ago. Perhaps two months at the Reebok has dulled the memory banks? David May certainly strengthened things at the back for large parts of the game, but didn't seem to be fully fit. He could be faulted with Derby's first goal. He pushed up to catch Morris offside; others didn't, and Morris scored. May blamed West, Stan seemed to blame May - perhaps we ought to sort out whether we are playing an offside trap or not before the start of the game? And if we are, then please keep a straight line, rather than the zigzag version displayed on Saturday. Whoops, gone negative again. Back to the positives... erm, er... I guess that's it.
And so to the downside: an evident lack of passion from most on the pitch. Do the players really care? I think so; they looked very downcast at the end, and there wasn't even a token gesture to acknowledge the fans - I guess they were just too embarrassed. Had Derby really exploited the space on the wings available to them, then West and Camara could have had very difficult afternoons indeed. Farrelly and Grant popped up now and again in midfield, but never got a grip on the game at all. Farrelly did manage a couple of good passes in the first half, but then faded and was substituted. But the biggest disappointment was probably Robbie Blake, who had one of those afternoons when all his trickery and skill ends up with him surrounded by three defenders, losing the ball and then going to ground. Not diving, I add quickly - a low centre of gravity is one thing, but Robbie seems to get so low that he has no option but to go to ground! Ian Moore hardly seemed to be in the game. I'm not sure that being the lone striker is his best role, and if you don't get any service from the midfield, you end up looking pretty forlorn - which indeed he did! Which just leaves Arthur and the Beast. Arthur was reasonably solid against the flailing arms, legs and torso of the giant Dichio - until the last minute. They both went for the ball, both missed it and turned round together. Dichio fell down, and Mr Rennie brandished red. Again, with the benefit of Sky TV, it looks as if Dichio is as surprised by the red card as Arthur was. Scope for an appeal, methinks! Brian Jensen had little to do really - he had no chance with the first goal, an excellent finish by Morris once he had beaten the aforementioned 'offside trap'. He did make a couple of good saves in the first half, one of which only came about as a result of his failing to collect a routine ball in the first place. And he may even have made a great save in the fourth minute of added time at the end of the game, by tipping the ball away from the Derby striker's foot - but Mr Rennie wanted to have the final say, and pointed to the spot. But no card for the Beast, thankfully - strange, given Mr Rennie's reputation!
Story of the game: Derby started better; Dichio missed an open goal after 9 minutes. Grant, the Derby keeper, made a good save from a David May header after a quarter of an hour; then, after 20 minutes, Derby scored (as mentioned far too many times already). On 25 minutes, Robbie Blake shot wide; and 8 minutes later, Grant again saved well at the feet of Ian Moore. Michael Johnson was cautioned for a foul on Blake, and in a flurry of excitement(?) just before half time, Blake wasted a good free kick opportunity, Tony Grant failed to get in a shot when it seemed to be the only thing possible for him to do, and perhaps then a defining moment of the game: Derby midfielder Costa (on loan from Porto - hang on, I thought they were as broke as us!!) got through two or three tackles, each of which was a 60-40 ball in Burnley's favour. Half time, and much muttering of discontent in the loo and coffee queues.
Second half starts well, and, almost immediately, Richard Chaplow gets on the end of a good ball from Glen Little and forces Grant into another save. Ten minutes later, and Chaplow again has a chance - but this time, his header is wide. On the hour mark, Mr Rennie incensed the home fans by blowing up to give Derby a free kick as Blake had been offside - Derby had clear possession in our half when he blew. It was a bad decision, but one we perhaps should be grateful for!! Glen Little was cautioned after 63 minutes for dissent as he launched a verbal attack on the assistant referee - at least it showed some commitment to the cause. Five minutes later, Ian Moore headed over the bar; and ten minutes after that, he shot over from 19 yards with the goal at his mercy. No doubt that was our best chance of the game. Ten minutes to go, time for the comeback... sorry, Derby (in the guise of Costa) hit the bar from a free kick, and Jensen was forced into two saves. Just time then for Arthur to be dismissed, and for Derby captain Ian Taylor to score the second goal from the penalty spot. Full time - let's go home!
A few other words about the day: an incredible police presence, and nearly one steward per fan (or so it seemed in the away end). They finally managed to eject someone from the away end - a young lad who looked about nine! Apparently his language had been terrible, but wouldn't it have been better for the people around him to tell him to shut up, rather than drawing the attention of the stewards to it? Otherwise, a splendid day out with the Derby County London Branch - some excellent ales in good pubs, with good company.
Special thanks to Tina, who reminded me at three o'clock that I had agreed to do this match report!!
Burnley: Jensen, West (Roche, 75), May, Gnohere (sent off, 90), Camara, Little, Chaplow, Grant, Farrelly (Branch, 57), Ian Moore, Blake.
Subs not used: McGregor, O'Neill, Pilkington.
Scorers: (Derby) Morris 20, Taylor 90 (pen).
Referee: U D Rennie (Sheffield).
Attendance: 21,960.
Dave's Man of the Match: Richard Chaplow.
As with all articles on the site, the views expressed in the match reports section are those of the individual contributor, and do not necessarily reflect the view of the Burnley FC London Supporters' Club.
