Here we go again!
Burnley 1 Everton 0
THJ
A beautiful warm, sunny, summer evening. Pitch
immaculate. A good crowd (6-7k) in good spirits, many sporting the new home and away kit.
Paid for me AND Tim at the turnstiles and sat where we wanted. Why can't we do this every
week instead of having to book or queue at the ticket office?
The programme has now gone up to £2.00 but has
had a facelift, has more pages and is better quality all round.
Pre match music was a bit better - and included
a mysterious Brass Band piece (played several times before and after the match) consisting
of a few bars of Cwm Rhonnda ('you're not singing anymore... anymore… you're
not singing anymore') followed by a slightly garbled version of the chorus of Wild
Rover. Is this the shape of things to come? Orchestrated choir practices to
Brass band Karaoke?
The teams ran out to Tubthumping and got
a wildish reception from the Longside. They look good in their new home kit, there's
something right-looking about C&B with white shirts.
Starting line-up was the 5-3-2 of last season
with Crichton, West, Armstrong, Davis, Thomas, Cowan at the back, Johnrose, Cook and
Mellon in Midfield and Cooke and Payton up front. Everton fielded six of their probable
first team and five subs / fringe players.
Burnley had nine (?) subs, which required two
extra wooden benches outside the dugout. When they warmed up, it was a bit like the start
of the London Marathon. All the subs except Mawson and Robertson got a go eventually. Sam
Ellis wore a Claret top and shouted at the players. Stan kept well back dressed in a dark
blue zip jacket and everyday trousers and shoes. He tried to conceal his fags, but had one
lit most of the match. He seems to be getting more Alf Ramseyish in his relationship with
the squad, cool, aloof, controlled, magisterial.
From the start, Burnley looked confident and
solid, if lacking some sparkle and penetration in midfield and upfront, and their
distribution was not too good at times. It was the defensive formation that was so
successful at the end of last season.
Mitchell Thomas is class - good in the air,
confident on the ball, calm, constructive, intelligent. He stayed on for the whole game
and looked to have plenty of breath left at the end. Davis and Thomas will be a good
pairing if they can stay fit and uninjured. Mellon and Cook played well, but Johnrose
still looks out of touch and, as the more attacking midfielder, provided very little for
the front men to use. Cowan was his usual self, West will be fine, good positioning and
tackling but didn't pass too well. Payton and Cooke didn't feature - except Cookie fell
down a lot. Crichton looked reasonable, although his kicking is still C- and he waits for
ages to clear a back pass with the strikers bearing down on him. However, he is forgiven
because of the great double save in the first half and some spectacular dives to miss
balls going well wide.
After that, the team and formation got a bit
complex. Branch and Lee came on for Cooke and Payton in the first half and I lost track
after that.
Lee scored a poacher's goal just before half
time after a free kick and some good work by Mellon, and was embarrassingly mobbed by his
new team-mates.
The second half started as 4-4-2 with just Davis
and Thomas in the middle and a much subbed midfield. Glen Little had some good
opportunities down the right although he muffed an easy chance with acres of space and
only the keeper to beat. John Mullin will be a first team regular, no doubt - attacking LH
midfield or just behind the strikers. (Sorry, Lenny.) He worked, passed, ran into space,
distributed well and looked the part. A wonderful run / dribble down to the touchline,
scrambled the ball for a nice centre which was just put wide by Lee.
Everton, to be fair, didn't have much sense of
urgency and their tackles and marking were pretty gentle. Midway through the second half,
the five resting first team members came on (Jeffers, Barmby, Watson, Campbell, Short?)
and the pace of play stepped up a couple of gears as if they wanted to salvage some pride.
Burnley still controlled the midfield, partly because of Ronnie Jepson's spoiling role and
partly because of Mullin's energy and perception. Jeffers is quick! He did a couple of
amazing runs which totally bamboozled the Clarets defensive system but, fortunately, the
ball in to him was poor. Lee fought for the high balls up front and the sort of laybacks
we never saw last season were starting to happen. Then, the mysterious Mr Grant appeared.
He is a quick-footed nippy lad, who will hustle and worry defences. And he hit the bar
late on after a nice move. Branch is a frustrating player! Brilliant skill alternates with
hopeless ineptitude.
All in all, a good solid, no-nonsense display by
Burnley, despite the artificial atmosphere and patterns of play. Stan is building from
defence and the lads who were out there last nigh will take some breaking down. A good
squad is shaping up and Stan has plenty of talent to go at. For the first time since 94-95
there is optimism, stability and progress.
Andy C may be more willing to accept personal
terms somewhere after seeing the competition.
Team: Crichton, West
(Grant), Armstrong (Little), Davis, Thomas, Cowan (Smith), Johnrose (Jepson), Cook
(Mullin), Mellon, Cooke (Branch), Payton (Lee).
London Clarets Man of the Match:
Mellon
