Can’t seem to get off the ground today
Naardge
2 Burnley 0
Report by Firmo
It’s
in the lot of the occasional match reporter
that every so often one gets handed a game
like this: a match in which not much happened,
where Burnley were second best and the better
team on the day won. This was one of those
quickly forgotten defeats. None of which
makes for a very good match report.
Another
factor was that your match reporter watched
the game not from the away end but from the
unusual perspective of the posh hospitality
seats. A few of us decided to forsake the
away bench – a curious straggle of
seats along the touchline, behind which what
looks to be a decent-sized new stand is thankfully
taking shape – in favour of comfort
and a superior view. It’s not something
I’d make a habit of doing but it was
an interesting one-off treat. It has to be
said that the Norwich hospitality experience
was excellent and the food as first rate
as you’d expect with Delia at the helm.
There was a downside. Our fellow spectators
were not the most passionate or best informed,
and a thick pane of glass came between the
game and me. This effectively insulated us
from much of the crowd noise, the PA announcements
and even the referee’s whistle. It’s
amazing what a difference it makes when you
can’t hear the ref blow. Plus, I’d
probably better add, I watched the match
through a warm, thick haze of alcohol. To
accompany the fine food a river of red wine
freely flowed. (Merlot rather than Claret,
come to think of it – how did that
happen?) A nice nap in a comfy bed was probably
a more sensible bet than trying to keep track
of a football match. It all meant my concentration
on the spectacle was not at its most pinpoint.
Thus – and I’ll have to
admit this because I’m not going to
get away with it – in the second half
I found myself calling for Ian Moore’s
introduction only for it to be gently pointed
out that he’d been on the pitch for
the last ten minutes. (In fairness, it should
be said he hadn’t done anything to
make me notice him.)
In
truth, booze had played a more significant
part in the weekend than the match. Not for
the first time, an advanced London Clarets
squad decided to make absolutely sure we
didn’t miss the kick off by arriving
in town on Friday evening. A jolly fine time
was had in some of the many excellent pubs
of this most welcoming of towns. I do like
Norwich. It was a beautifully sunny day and
we were all set for the cracking game of
football that we never got. Come to think
of it, I was glad I’d had a decent
drink at least, as the match didn’t
supply much excitement. This was a return
to the old days of a fine time out spoiled
only by the game.
If
we really must talk about the match, we lined
up unchanged from the fine win at Stoke,
with the returning Roche being the only adjustment
on the bench (for O’Neill). It quickly
became apparent, however, that we were not
to play with the same swagger as in Stoke.
It has to be said that Norwich are a rather
different proposition to Stoke, in that they
are actually any good. Nigel Worthington
has built a decent side and although their
start to the season has been indifferent,
they’re the sort of team that will
be looking to reach the play-offs. Plus of
course the law of sod that always operates
in relation to Burnley decreed that their
three new loan signings would arrive when
we were due to play there.
Peter
Crouch has already become a stalwart of that
great list of Players Who Always Score Against
Us. We look set to have an interesting relationship
with Crouch over the course of his career.
I predict we’ll attempt to sign him
another six or seven times before he retires,
but he’ll keep moving elsewhere and
scoring against us. He’s a funny looking
bloke but he’s no Kevin Francis, and
he has a decent touch. Alongside him was
Huckerby, a player who has led a curiously
rootless existence given his early promise,
but one who’ll always prosper at this
level. The match therefore shaped up to be
a contest between our newly acquired central
defence and Norwich’s two on-loan strikers.
As
it happens, Maysy and Toddy did mostly alright.
These are difficult opponents to handle.
Crouch did win a number of headers, but then,
you’d expect that, and his problem
seemed to be that, being so tall, he couldn’t
keep the ball down. It was further forward
that we struggled. Our key creative players,
Blake and Chadwick, were subdued, and never
got fully into the game. The other three
midfielders were quiet, and up front Facey
had another disappointing game. He works
hard, but so far he hasn’t looked like
a striker. He doesn’t look a central
player, and he doesn’t look like he’s
going to solve our scoring problems. It’s
hard to believe he’s going to score
when he gets the ball, and he missed what
was probably our best chance shortly before
half time when he put well over the bar from
a good position.
By
then, Norwich had had a few flashes but nothing
terribly clear cut, with The Beast proving
equal to the task. We also had a shout for
a penalty from a foul on Chadwick. Ternent
was adamant about this afterwards, but from
my view at the other end, it was impossible
to tell.
So
a half short on incident drew to a close,
causing little excitement to stir the soporific
occupants of the posh seats. As at Stoke,
there’d been plenty of decent passing – this
time on both sides – but matched with
a conspicuous lack of creativity. We hadn’t
found the final ball, and Norwich had clearly
had the better half. For us, without a goal-getter
on show, this was clearly going to be 0-0
or nothing. Thus the interval score was met
with relief by the small Clarets contingent
behind the glass and disappointment by everyone
else. Looking on the bright side, we had
a bit more wine that we hadn’t finished
before kick-off put by.
The
second half saw us substitute the apparently
injured West for the evidently not fit Roche.
This was hardly going to supply the inspiration
we needed. Norwich came out the brighter
and we needed The Beast to keep us in it.
Then Todd, otherwise having a good game,
cocked up a sloppy defensive clearance and
the ball bounced to Crouch. He had only Jensen
to beat and proved he’s more than a
big lad by placing an accurate shot into
the bottom corner.
Game
over, as we failed to respond by creating
a single clear cut chance. I don’t
recall Robert Green in the Norwich goal exactly
having a save to make at any point. Ian Moore
was apparently introduced around this time
and joined in the team’s subdued mood.
Remember his good form of pre-season?
We
were pushing forward and trying to get an
equaliser – without quite looking like
we were going to do it – when Norwich
scored the clinching second on the break.
While we were in pursuit of the perfect chance,
rather than getting a shot in, the ball broke
to Huckerby, who charged down the other end.
It had been most unlike substitute Iwan Roberts
not to score against us, so he promptly put
that right, burying Huckerby’s precise
cross in virtually the last move of the match.
Final whistle, and straight out of the hospitality
section before we made it any more obvious
we weren’t celebrating the result.
So
what conclusions can we draw? (Other than
don’t let Dermot order the wine in
future.) Where we are now is probably about
where we deserve to be. I suspect we’re
a mid-table side at the moment. We’re
better than Gillingham and Stoke, but not
as good as West Brom and Norwich. Come May,
of course, mid table would be mission accomplished.
After a poor start to the season, we’ve
taken steps to sort the defence out, and
we give fewer soft goals away, so that’s
one thing. The passing has improved, and
is now often of a high standard, so that’s
another thing in our favour. From a low starting
point, some progress has been made.
The
problem at the moment is in turning possession
into chances and in getting shots on target.
If Facey doesn’t work out soon then
we’ll need to come up with something
else. We need someone bursting into the box,
someone to cross to. As a side we seem shot-shy
and we need to start getting in more shots
and making the opposition keeper work harder.
It seems to take us a lot of possession to
generate a chance.
It
would have been nice to have had to worry
a bit more in that hospitality section about
what we would do if Burnley scored a goal.
As it was, we were given scant opportunity
to rise from our comfy, expensive seats.
Team: Jensen,
West (Roche, 45), Todd, May, Camara, Chadwick,
Farrelly, Grant, Blake, Branch (Ian Moore,
64), Facey.
Subs
not used: Weller, Alan Moore, Chaplow.
Scorers: Crouch
58, Roberts 90.
Referee: Clive
Penton (Woodindean).
Attendance: 16,407.
Firmo's
man of the match: The Beast.
"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."
