21/7 A bright breezy day. The main news story is that a protester
has been shot dead at the riot-ravaged G8 Summit. Also, Monty’s brief hold on the
Open is beginning to slip. It’s our AGM, kindly attended by club chief executive,
Andrew Watson. Andrew gave an upbeat account of the progress made on the commercial front
but tempered this with the blunt truth that we’re still not breaking even. He then
demonstrated that he has a broader bat than any of our beleaguered cricketers, dealing
creditably with difficult questions concerning Turf Moor racism and inconvenient fixture
changes, a downside of increased TV coverage. Andrew acknowledged the inconvenience often
caused to traveling supporters by TV coverage but explained that Burnley received a £1.1m
advance from ITV Digital in 2000/01, and will receive £2.7m in 2001/02 plus £50k for a
home game and £10k for an away game. In comparison, the club received £50,000 of TV
income in 1998/99.
On the playing side, Stan is reportedly intent on strengthening the team
with younger players. Having missed out on the ‘next Niall Quinn’,
6’5’’ Peter Crouch, Stan stifled any ageist slurs by taking 36 year-young
striker, Tony Ellis (formerly with Rochdale) on trial, offering him the possibility of a
three-month contract. Clearly Stan is missing Jeppo. Ellis has netted over 170 league
goals in the lower divisions and was one of four trialists taken on by Ternent ahead of
the pre-season trip to the Isle of Man. The other three trialists are midfielders Dimitri
de Conde (ex-Charleroi and former Belgian Under-21 international), Paul Hughes
(ex-Southampton and Chelsea) and winger Alan Moore (ex-Middlesbrough). Moore was once
dubbed the ‘new Ryan Giggs’. It seems as if he has been dogged as much by
excessive expectation as persistent injury. So Burnley should be just up his street.
Meanwhile, it is rumoured that £1m rated and current Greek Under-21
international striker Dimitrios Papadopoulos is about to sign. If so, he will join
21-year-old keeper Luigi Cennamo (former Olympiakos reserve keeper), who has agreed an
initial six-month deal, replacing the departed Crichton. Be prepared for ‘Burnley
ouzos class’ and a deluge of similarly dire puns. The Isle of Man party also includes
Bosman signing, 24-year-old full back, Mark McGregor, formerly with Wrexham. He endeared
himself to Burnley fans by blasting Gillingham off course on May 6th 2000 with
his 30-yard screamer.
As for other summer transfer chatter, at various times we were said to be
linked with John Aloisi (again), Eddie Howe (yawn), Nicky Daws (bigger yawn), Darren
Caskey (‘a fat git’ according to a Reading friend), Graham Kavanagh, Robbie
Blake and Stuart McCall (both of Bradford), Chris Lucketti, Shaun Goater and several
others far too boring to recount. Perhaps they were all deterred by the local riots? It is
still difficult to avoid the subject. Our President, MP Peter Pike, expressed the view
that these disturbances were caused more by poverty, and in particular, derelict housing,
than by escalating racial tensions. There again, poverty and racial tension are often
closely related. Apparently, the housing market has totally collapsed in some parts of
Burnley, with properties fetching £1,000 or less. Peter told us that currently he was
trying hard to persuade four major employers to remain in the town. He believed that the
BNP had successfully exploited the local economic and community malaise, managing to woo a
large contingent of disaffected Labour voters. Whilst maintaining that the club could not
play a leading role in community reconciliation, Andrew Watson said that they were still
trying to encourage more young people from minority ethnic backgrounds to attend Turf
Moor. He said that the club’s new Ethic Minority Development Officer had done much to
increase enthusiasm for the game among the local black children but that this hadn’t
yet been translated into better attendance figures. Will balti pies provide a better
incentive? Robin Cook might think so.
22/7 Burnley beat Wrexham 2-0 in the opening IOM jolly. Little
excelled, setting up Gareth Taylor’s headed opener in the 23rd minute.
Steve Davis’ header from Lee Briscoe’s corner sealed the game after 82 minutes,
but this was no cakewalk. By all accounts the score-line did scant justice to
Wrexham’s efforts. Only some last ditch saves from West and NTG denied Wrexham a
share of the spoils. Hughes and De Conde did well, apparently, but Alan Moore was fairly
anonymous. Mark McGregor was not selected to face his former team mates.
24/7 Today Stan completed the signing of Papadopoulos from
Akratitos for £500,000. Although international clearance has yet to be obtained this is
not expected to be problematic. It is hoped that Dimitri will make his debut in the home
friendly with Everton next week. Stan is convinced that he has secured a quality striker
at a bargain price. Let’s hope so. Meanwhile Andy Payton rose to the challenge by
heading in Alan Moore’s 25th minute corner, helping the Clarets see off
the Manx titans 1-0. Cennamo had nothing to do as Burnley strolled to an easy victory.
Ellis stayed on throughout, earning himself the three-month contract, which had been
mooted last weekend. Stan said, "Tony is a very fit lad and he has looked after
himself well." Stan is apparently still looking to bring in a couple more signings.
These could be two of the current trialists as he stated, "Both Hughsie and Moore
have impressed me very much and we will have to see what happens when we get back."
25/7 Burnley lost 5-6 on penalties to Oldham after dominating most
of the game. Gareth Taylor gave us a 32nd minute lead when he evaded Garnett’s
challenge and fired past Gary Kelly. However, Danny Boshell equalised with only 10 minutes
remaining when he lashed a 25-yarder past NTG. Ball spoilt an impressive display by
missing the crucial spot kick. It didn’t help the Latics because Wrexham subsequently
thrashed the Manxmen 5-0 and thus earned the right to face Burnley in Saturday’s
showpiece final. Stan was generally pleased with the week’s efforts. He said, "I
think we have defended very well and have passed the ball around quite well although it
has been difficult as the surface is uneven." However, he emphasised that the
tournament was important mainly for raising fitness levels and bonding.
28/7 It’s scorching hot. Street fights flare up in Belfast.
Foot and mouth flares up in the Brecon Beacons and Mike Tyson is in hot water again. But
for Burnley it’s cold turkey. They lost the prestigious final of the Isle of Man
Football Festival today, beaten 1-0 by Wrexham, thanks to a last minute goal from Craig
Faulconbridge. It was a mercy. Both sides struggled in the sapping heat. Extra-time was an
avoidable cruelty.
31/7 A Gascoigne-less Everton beat Burnley 1-0 in front of 8,020 at
Turf Moor, thanks to a classy 20th minute strike by Alexandersson. Our match report. It was a game of two halves with an entirely
different team representing Burnley after the break. As for the quality, well, that was
reputedly dire apart from the inspired debut in central defence of trialist, Arthur
Gnohere from the Ivory Coast. Papadopoulos made his bow but got little change out of
Stubbs et al. Only Little really threatened the Toffees, although Gareth Taylor was denied
by a brilliant point blank save from Simonsen. It’s all about fitness, though.
That’s the pre-season mantra.
