The prodigal son returns!
Burnley 0 Warsaw 0, 2nd January 1999
Firmo
I put all my doom and gloom of the
previous Monday against Lincoln behind me. That seemed now like so much late night stuff,
misery borne of paranoia caused by bad health and an excess of food and drink. Sure, by
Saturday I felt in worse shape than ever before, breathless and bloated and buggered
beyond comparison, knackered beyond comprehension, force fed and watered ad nauseum,
reeling from a week’s exposure to zoofull of domestic pets my allergies normally make
me run to avoid. Some start to the New Year, eh? But what the hell, I had a spring in my
step all the same, and it wasn’t the prospect of heading home to air I could breath
and drinks I could say no to that added such perkiness to my stride. It was simple: Steve
Davis was back. And, however full I felt, I was happy enough to kill the fatted calf to
celebrate.
Steve Davis was back. Worth saying again. The
news had taken me completely by surprise, as although there’d been rumours of his
return almost from the minute he’d left, he’d always seemed a little beyond our
price range. He'd been playing so well at Luton, you'd have thought an upwards move was on
the cards (thank god for the demands of his private life, then). This was a bolt from the
blue, and for a change, a welcome one.
Suddenly I found myself looking forward to
Saturday’s game. Funny how one thing can change your whole perspective. I looked in
the notebook for my thoughts on the Lincoln match and didn’t recognise the writing.
Who was that, wallowing in angst? How could anyone be so pessimistic?
These feelings seemed common. While drinking the
Sparrowhawk's excellent beers before the game (and attempting to get to grips with the
fiendishly difficult Clarets charity quiz), I noticed everyone seemed jauntier than a few
days before. A dose of belief had shot through the hitherto beleaguered Clarets ranks. The
difference was that now we were hoping for the best rather than fearing the worse. With
that in mind, we set off a few minutes earlier than usual, to ensure we saw the prodigal
son return. As it happened, we didn't, but for all the best reasons; when we got to the
Beehole turnstiles, there was a long queue. Can't remember when I last saw one of those
outside a Burnley game. The attendance was a thousand up on the previous game. The Davis
effect was already helping pay off his fee.
It was great to see him back on the pitch
playing for us. At Luton earlier in the season, he'd been head and shoulders above anyone
else on either side. As usual, we'd given him a handsome reception and then sat in fear
about what damage he might do. Now he was back in the right coloured shirt. I would be
tempted to say it was like he'd never been gone, but this game confirmed the impression I
gained at Luton that he's actually become a better, more complete player in his absence.
The only question worth asking is how the hell he was allowed to drift off in the first
place.
Every so often, I had to suppress a sense of
disbelief. That was Steve Davis. And he was back, playing for us.
This is a player who, for people of my
generation, is easily the best we have ever seen in a Burnley shirt. He was an icon, his
departure a signal that the club had lost his way, his exploits the stuff of nostalgia. It
was consequently rather weird to watch him playing for us, strolling around the pitch,
looking once more like he owned the place, and realising we had no call for nostalgia any
more. I expect Luton fans feel a little sick.
He was imperious. Better than that, it seemed
that the whole team took their cue from his return. He has that hallmark of the great
defender of looking unhurried and composed, of making it look easy. Davis ran the defence,
kept things in order and ensured that the line held. It seemed to rub off on those around
him. All of a sudden this defence which had been so chaotic against Lincoln looked hard to
beat. Reid, in particular, benefited from having Davis beside him, producing his best game
for us and finally showing some of the class I wasn't always convinced was there. It was a
toss-up between Davis and Reid for man of the match: probably the first time this season
that could be said of two Burnley central defenders. Davis mostly stayed at the back,
where he had a job to do, but occasionally allowed himself one of those majestic runs
forward to join the attack. Wouldn't it be great to have a midfielder who could do that?
All Burnley fans love to see players running at the opposition. He almost scored to make
it a dream return early on, when their keeper was forced to save a strong header. We also
saw some of those trademark long passes, with one sublime diagonal ball across the breadth
of the pitch. More of this, please. How long before he is made captain, in place of the
lackadaisical Gordon Armstrong? He was already doing the job of handing out the orders.
While they're at it, why not give him his old number four shirt back? It looked odd seeing
him wearing five, which was always reserved for the less cultured defender.
To be fair, Davis wasn't the only new signing on
display. I felt a little sorry for Graham Branch, whose free transfer capture from
non-rivals Stockport was understandably overshadowed. I couldn't tell from this
performance whether he is what we need. Apparently he hasn't played for a bit, so he could
be excused for looking rusty. He had plenty of the ball, but didn't always use it well. He
had chances to score a couple of times, but didn't make the most of them. He showed
undoubted skill and good close control - there was one lovely moment in the second half
when the ball dropped down from on high and he killed it absolutely stone dead - but
couldn't get the ball to our players. Time will tell, but he’s clearly able to get
into the box, which is a start, and he could make it a tasty attacking line-up with Little
on the other side.
Little will be back soon, and he should find his
job easier with Pickering behind him. Now, our Albert is not the best fullback in the
world. He can tackle, but he can't pass. He wins the ball well but distributes it badly.
He is therefore better than 99% of the clowns who have masqueraded as fullbacks in those
troubled positions these last few years. Solid would be a fair description. Some way
better than our left back, it would also be fair to say.
As for the game, we had lots of chances to get
the win. We had so many, it's hard to keep track. Walsall were fairly unambitious, but
when they countered had shots which Crichton did well to save. It would have been a
travesty for them to win. Their keeper was much the busier. Alongside that, our two centre
forwards did not have their best games. Payton was a little below his best having come
back from his injury, and twice missed the sort of chances he normally buries. Cooke's
recent loss of form has been well documented, although I thought he showed an improvement
in this game. While still not showing the sort of ability of which we know he is capable,
he worked hard, kept going and can be considered unlucky not to have scored.
Our best chance of the goal came in the second
half, when Payton got into the box, was fouled and dived. The ref stopped play, we steeled
ourselves for the penalty, then realised it was a free kick to them and a booking for
Payton for diving. He had been genuinely fouled, but stayed up, then realised he'd lost
the ball before crashing to the ground. A penalty was his best option. Sometimes it works,
sometimes it doesn't. Shame the referee wasn't fooled.
Both sides got the ball in the net once. Walsall
damn near broke our hearts by scoring from a header, only for it to be ruled out with an
earlier offside (several sources originally reported that the goal stood, which caused a
fair amount of confusion), and Payton finished a chance which had come from a corner.
Unfortunately, the cross had swung out of play first.
We launched a late onslaught, but the bloody
thing just wouldn’t go in. Peter Swan came on for the tired Branch and went straight
up front. He nearly made the difference. Walsall just couldn’t get to grips with him.
He won everything and was a real handful. There was also one particularly agonising moment
when a rebound came to Payton with the route to goal clear, but it was moving too fast and
bounced off out of play. Walsall’s goalkeeper then had to pull off a double save from
Swan and Payton, and a minute or so after that, it took a goal line clearance to keep it
out. Walsall, who had been wasting time for much of the second half (and it reflects well
on us that that is what they decided to do), were mightily relieved when the final whistle
came.
This was the proverbial good 0-0 draw, and all
in all, a much better performance. We were unfortunate not to have got the win, and on
another day we'd have grabbed a couple. This is pretty splendid when you consider that
Walsall could have gone top if they’d won. Over the two games this season, Walsall
can consider themselves extremely fortunate to have taken four points. On the strength of
this game, the team is becoming more coherent, with decent new signings, injuries clearing
up and most players allowed to play in position. The only way our failure to score will
become disappointing is if we fail to build on this improved performance. As the first
game of 1999, this held the promise of a better year than the awful twelve months of 1998.
Let’s forget about those, and get it going now. Oh, and did I mention that Steve
Davis was back, by the way?
Team: Crichton, Pickering, Morgan,
Ford, Davis, Reid, Robertson, Armstrong, Cooke, Payton, Branch (Swan 80). SNU: Brass,
Henderson.
The away game
