Anything
on this part of the website is Firmo's
personal view and, naturally, does not
represent the opinion of the London Clarets,
its members or its committee. When putting
this site together, Firmo couldn't resist
giving himself a bit of space in which
to sound off. During the course of the
season we hope he will get on
here reasonably regularly to let off some steam,
raise an issue, or even give praise when
due. If you want to put your point across,
please email
us.
Life after Golden Bonce
My
first Burnley hero was the original Steve Davis.
The blond one. I was distraught when he left, sold
to Barnsley for £180,000 in the summer of
1991. Barnsley's offer had just been too much for
us to turn down. It was the first disappointment
of my fledgling Burnley career.
Since
then, it's a fact that all the players I've loved
have left. John Deary, the second Steve Davis,
Ted McMinn, Gerry Harrison - they all went, often
in disappointing circumstances, usually cheaply,
and generally before we had the chance to say goodbye.
Naturally as they left I stayed, because that's
what supporters do. After a while, you realise
that what permanence there is in football comes
from us, the supporters. Players and managers are
hired staff. They pass through. They get a better
offer, or the people who run the club decide it's
a good time to get rid. The people who run the
club pass through, eventually, too. Good and bad,
they all go in the end. It's our job to remain.
So when my favourite players left, I carried on
- because it wasn't them I supported, it was Burnley,
and they were only really interesting because they
were representing Burnley.
Now
Golden Bonce has left and I find myself far less
disappointed than I expected to feel. Barry Kilby
has set out the reasons for the sale, and to me
they are compelling. A fee for a player who was
four months away from being able to sign a pre-contract
Bosman agreement is not bad business. Half a million
or thereabouts is a good return on a free transfer.
Of course it's disappointing to lose a good player,
but we now have to trust Stan and Barry to unearth
a replacement.
Naturally
the internet reaction to the sale was rather less
reasonable. Computers are really easy to use these
days - even thick people can work the internet.
Many Burnley supporters - Taylor fans, perhaps
I should call them - accused the club of betrayal,
and expressed the view that Barry Kilby had let
them down.
I'd
imagined it was widely known that the club is hard
up. Don't people complain the club does nothing
but plead poverty? I'd thought it was established
last season that we would not be in a position
to turn down a decent fee for any of our players,
however important they were. Why then act horrified
when precisely this happened?
This
is not to do down Taylor. He was a good player,
and one I liked. He was an excellent header of
the ball, and useful in defence as well as attack.
He improved a lot under Stan's coaching, and he
always showed commitment, which marked him out
as the end of last season trailed off so badly.
He was the deserved winner of the London Clarets'
player of the year award, along with many other
supporters' clubs awards. It's also fair to say
that for most of his time at the club he wasn't
particularly well liked. I'm proud that this website
espoused the virtues of Taylor long before it became
fashionable. It amuses me to think that many of
those who were outraged by Taylor's departure were
rather late converts. Only in the second half of
last season did Taylor become a crowd favourite.
As late as December, a bloke in front of me booed
when his name was announced. That same man is probably
slating the club for 'lack of ambition' now.
It's
worth noting that in my time very few players have
left because they were wanted by a club in a stronger
position and we were made an offer we couldn't
refuse. Most have drifted away when past their
best. We haven't had many anyone wanted. Has there
been anyone sold from the first team since Marlon
the first time round? Burnley supporters of 60s/70s
vintage would know all about selling players to
balance the books. Perhaps 80s/90s Clarets just
aren't particularly used to the idea that, like
just about every club in the world, when it comes
down to it we're a selling club. Most players have
their price. Even the team down the road proved
that this summer. As it happens, given that we're
strapped for cash, we got a good price.
The
latest financial gap was at least partly down to
the drop in season ticket sales. When he spoke
at the London Clarets AGM this summer, Barry Kilby
said there was about a half million shortfall on
projected season ticket sales that was going to
have to be filled from somewhere. Perhaps it's
now been filled. I know there are lots of individual
reasons for non-renewal - and one of them came
in very handy as it allowed me to buy a decent
seat - but the trend is bad. I'm bound to say there'd
be more money for team-building if season ticket
sales had held up. I find it odd that we made record
sales in the summer of 2000 on the basis that first
division football was on offer, and three years
later, when that same level of football is still
on offer, several thousand people haven't renewed.
Have people so quickly got fed up with playing
at a level that a few seasons ago we could only
aspire to?
The
loss of season ticket sales left another hole in
the club's finances that has to be plugged somehow.
If some of the Taylor cash has to fill that hole,
how could this have been avoided? Perhaps you could
say that Nottingham Forest's season ticket holders
have filled a gap that we left.
Obviously
there's also a gap on the field, although after
two wins and two clean sheets things don't look
as bad as they did. Stan will have to find another
bargain to replace Taylor. The squad as a whole
needs to be strengthened to maintain our place
in the division, and a chunk of the transfer fee
and another saved wage should help us to do that.
Fingers crossed whoever comes in is successful.
Every
transfer is a risk. We did well on Taylor. Most
of the risk on this deal is on Forest's and Taylor's
side. At Burnley he had won the crowd over and
was settled, and now has to do it again. The style
of play may not suit him, and Forest's bigger squad
may limit his chances. Against that he'll be earning
more money and has the security of a contract to
take him towards the end of his career that he
couldn't get at Burnley.
We
can expect more of this. It's a fact that, as contracts
come up for renewal, nobody will be offered the
same money they were on last time, when things
were looking rosy and you-know-which TV company
was promising the earth. With lower wages on offer
players may well decide to take their chances elsewhere,
and the club may well decide that a transfer fee
now is better than nothing in the summer. Football
is a sentimental game, and its sentimentality is
part of its appeal, but we need to be sensible
about this. When I said all my favourites have
left I missed out one who still remains, but if
we got an offer for Little that took him off our
wage bill, I'd live with it, and I'd try to be
at the next game to show that my support was not
conditional on my favourites remaining.
So
there goes Taylor. He's someone who was paid by
the club for a couple of years, performed well
and gave good service. He goes with our good wishes.
He's an ex-Claret who is due applause when our
paths cross and worth a look in the Sunday papers.
But we move on. A current Claret is always better
than an ex-Claret.
Life
goes on after Taylor. Barry Kilby, of course, is
a Claret, and one who's tried to do his best in
difficult times and has refused to duck difficult
decisions. He, and of course and above all the
club, deserve your continued support.
Firmo
31 August 2003
As
with all articles on the site, the views expressed
in the comments section are those of the individual
contributor, and do
not necessarily reflect the view of the Burnley
FC London Supporters Club.
