6/10 With Watford pleading international commitment’s last night’s game was postponed. It was probably a relief. Both Steve Davis and Ian Moore said that they felt the players would benefit from the break. Perhaps we’ll be back to full strength by the time the fixture is re-arranged? At least England did the decent thing and qualified for the World Cup finals today, although it was desperately close, as NTG made clear. Still, it was nice to tantalise the Germans yet again. Beckham’s last minute equaliser snatched qualification away from them just as they were about to celebrate their unexpected reprieve. It was also good to hear that our Dimitri acquitted himself well in last night’s Under-21 contest at Ewood. Although England won, Dimitri scored Greece’s only goal from the spot. Our report from Ewood.
Brian Flynn is back at Turf Moor, too. Having resigned as Wrexham’s boss, Stan offered Brian the opportunity of joining the Clarets’ coaching sessions. Off the pitch, Barry Kilby appeared on BBC Five Live’s midweek radio debate, crossing swords with Gordon Taylor concerning the PFA’s threatened strike action. This dispute hinges on the PFA’s allocation of TV money for welfare purposes. With Stan and captain Steve Davis supporting the case for industrial action, Barry is clearly worried about the financial implications for the club.
At least the sale of John Mullin to Rotherham (£150,000) on Thursday 4th provided some temporary relief, although Barry has made it clear that the board are prepared to back Stan’s continuing attempts to strengthen the team. John’s move had been on the cards for some time but it was sad to see him go. We wish him well. Like Firmo, my fondest memory of John was in his youth team days when he performed heroically in Burnley’s 4-3 victory over Wimbledon at Plough Lane. Better news concerns the planned arrival of balti pies at Turf Moor. Firmo’s campaign was not in vain then. Harry Potts Way, balti pies. Is there no end to the London Clarets’ powers?
7/10 On a day when the air strikes began and Railtrack collapsed (this time it’s official), there is further press speculation about Glen Little. It is claimed that Man City are prepared to pay £4.5m for the winger. Apparently Keegan is willing to part with Tony Grant, Kevin Horlock or Terry Cooke as part of any deal. Again, Stan and Barry scotched the rumour quickly. It was also alleged today that a Tunisian former professional footballer was an Islamic terrorist. This amazed his ex team-mates, who considered him to be outgoing and extremely likeable. He was placed alongside a number of other suspects who defied the embattled, impoverished terrorist stereotype. Many of these suspects were well educated and appeared to have enjoyed a western lifestyle. Some were from prosperous backgrounds, as was bin Laden. So what drew them to extremism? What made them hold the world in which they worked and studied with such contempt? Presumably, political, economic, racial and religious oppression played a significant part. Personal issues such as guilt, shame, rejection or alienation might have been instrumental, too. But what on earth made them believe they had any prospect of enjoying paradise with 76 virgins? Surely God can’t be that sick?
10/10 It seems as if Sunday’s rumour concerning Glen Little had one grain of truth. Today, 26-year old midfielder Tony Grant signed for Burnley for £250,000, although his fee will increase to £400,000 should we achieve promotion. Grant has Premiership experience with both Everton and City and performed impressively in City’s 4-2 victory at Turf Moor in August. Also, 26-year old German trialist Thomas Sobotzik is reported to be training with the club. He is an attacking midfielder with Bundesliga experience, having played with both St Pauli and Eintracht Frankfurt. He was due to appear for the reserves in tonight’s game against Oldham, but international clearance was not achieved in time. As it turned out the reserves didn’t need him as they thrashed the Latics 5-0, with Bradley Maylett scoring twice and Dimitri, Shandran and Matt O’Neill rubbing home a huge advantage. Youth team players Joel Pilkington and Mark Rasmussen performed particularly well.
13/10 Anyone got a spare wheel? We’re still in second place but it seems as if a front tyre is shredded. Nottingham Forest were fortunate, though. Their 78th minute winning goal from Bart-Williams took a massive deflection. Having said that, neither side offered much up front, and although Tony Grant had a tidy debut, replacing the injured Gnohere, the continuing loss of our most creative players, Little (hamstring injury) and Alan Moore (hernia), is really holding us back. Dimitri had a go as well, his first in the League, but he had little opportunity to impress. Burnley: Michopoulos, West, Davis, Cox, Gnohere (Grant 27), Weller, Cook (Payton 77), Ball (Papadopoulos 75), Briscoe, Taylor, I Moore. Subs not used: Cennamo, McGregor. Stan said, "I thought that had a 0-0 draw all over it. When they scored against us, I thought we were in the ascendancy and we were doing nicely. We passed the ball around well and had a chance or few. The most appalling thing of all is that they scored from our corner and they broke out on us. We just didn't get a break today." Stan also spoke about the injury situation: "Arthur took a knock to his ankle. Alan Moore needs an operation on his hernia and he could be out for three weeks to a month at a guess. Glen may be close for next week's game, but we'll have to see about that. Branchy is coming back and there is a reserve match next week, so we'll play one or two there." Our match report.
Meanwhile, Wolves are steaming away. Their 3-0 win at Valley Parade put them five points clear with a game in hand. Behind us, Palace are closing fast, having thrashed their tenants 4-0. As for our youth team, they went down 2-4 to Preston, with Hindle and Chaplow netting consolation efforts.
17/10 The week’s headlines have been particularly grim. The anthrax threat has caused panic in the USA and UK. We’re told, apocalyptically, that smallpox and the Black Death may be just around the corner. But even in a medieval context, the plight of Afghan refugees would defy description. The assassination of Rehavam Ze’evi, Israel’s ultra right wing Minister of Tourism (he once stated, ‘Arabs are a cancer’) has torched the frail prospects of peace in the Middle East. In the war-ravaged Palestinian territories and Afghanistan, the craters are filling with radicalism, spreading the terrorist spores faster than anthrax. On a much brighter note NTG has won his second Nationwide ‘Save of the Month’ award, this time for brilliantly denying Mark Robins during the Rotherham game. Also, although BFC sustained a loss of £2m over last year, this was not as bad as it sounded. Chairman Barry Kilby explained, in his upbeat annual message to the shareholders, "Our club now stands in the top 30 clubs in the country… Once again great credit must go to our team Manager Stan Ternent and all his staff in improving the standard of our first team squad on what was an average budget for the division. We are now encountering many clubs with greater financial resources than ours, but the shrewd investment in players and team spirit created eliminated this disadvantage. On the commercial side the new initiatives instigated by our Chief Executive, Andrew Watson, started to bear fruit, with commercial income rising again by 38% to £3.4 million to help push our turnover up 28% to £7.2 million. We now have a superb team in place away from the playing side and this will help keep the club stable in good and bad times on the field of play. Our desire to maintain and improve our status in Division One led the Board to authorise a trading loss of £2 million as we consolidated players’ contracts and brought in additions to our playing squad. In our view, this is imperative for the long term progress of this Club. In the future all major revenue streams will depend on keeping our Division One status, and it is an investment that has to be taken and can be taken with strict management of our cash flows." Certainly, the club’s capacity to pull together has never been stronger. Burnley’s reserves demonstrated this in an unobtrusive way at Barnsley tonight, forcing a creditable 1-1 draw after Arthur Gnohere had been dismissed for two bookable offences midway through the game. Hardly ideal recuperation Arthur! Maylett was lively and Cennamo was sound, but Branchy had a quiet return. He was substituted at half time along with Armstrong. Dimitri went close and Shandran went even closer when his late lob hit the top of the bar, but Burnley had to absorb a lot of pressure after Arthur’s dismissal, so a point was probably a fair return. As for Thomas Sobotzik, he seems to have blown his chance of a contract after he failed to sort out his registration papers in time to play. Our ethnic minorities officer Dino Maamria is on the ball, though. His ‘Golden Goal’ for Leigh RMI dismissed Scarborough from the LDV Vans Trophy.
20/10 It’s ‘Kick Racism Out’ day. BFC’s actions are spelt out in the match magazine. They include a school-based programme of activities and awareness raising plus vigilant stewarding in and outside the ground. As for the football, a 3-3 home draw with lowly Barnsley was the disappointing but undoubtedly fair conclusion to this game. Burnley appeared well in control for most of the first half. Weller’s penetrative run and cross forced a 23rd minute own goal from Chris Morgan and then Lee Briscoe’s terrific strike doubled the lead fourteen minutes later. Burnley’s defence seemed largely untroubled, except by Lumsdon’s free-kicks. Grant and Cook were dominant and inventive in midfield and Ian Moore ran the Barnsley defenders ragged. However, the Tykes’ manager Nigel Spackman then brought on Bruce Dyer for Mitch Ward, adopting a matching 4-4-2 formation. This shrewd move changed the course of the game. With Dyer making angled runs across the defence, Gallen had some real support. For the rest of the game Davis and Cox had their hands full. But it was a unnecessary clumsy challenge from Kevin Ball one minute from half-time which gave Barnsley hope. Chris Lumsdon smashed home the resulting penalty. After the break, Barnsley dominated. Whereas Burnley’s four-man midfield had triumphed over Barnsley’s five, the reverse happened after Ward was substituted. Almost inevitably, Barnsley equalised after 52 minutes. Chris Morgan atoned for his earlier error by exploiting the Clarets’ poor marking and heading home a corner. Thanks to NTG and some shoddy finishing we just managed to stay on terms. However, let’s credit Stan. He still went for the win, bringing on Payton and Maylett (who did very well as a left wingback) and changing to 3-4-3. It looked as if his speculation would be rewarded, too, when, in the 85th minute, Davis was pushed in the Barnsley box (strongly disputed by Spackman). Substitute Andy Payton cracked home the spot kick (his 200th League goal) and we thought we would snatch the points. Wrong! A dubious free-kick awarded against Armstrong, who’d just come on to help shore up the midfield, proved fatal. Free-kick specialist Lee Barnard lashed it into the net and 14,000 plus were left to swallow their immense frustration. It was like Crewe in reverse. However, Stan refused to be too disheartened, despite blaming NTG for failing to organise the wall properly in defence of Barnard’s free-kick. He said, "We conceded three goals to set plays and that’s not good enough. This was not one of our better days but we will put it right. It’s a sticky time for us at the moment but we scored three goals and we haven't lost." Nigel Spackman was less sanguine. He said, "We could have won with the rub of the green. We showed a lot of desire after going two down and I don’t know what we did wrong for their penalty." Burnley: Michopoulos, West (Payton 67), Davis, Cox, Briscoe, Weller, Ball, Grant, Cook (Maylett 55), I Moore (Armstrong 84), Taylor Subs not used: Cennamo, Papadopoulos. Our match report.
Better news of the youth team, though. A fighting display at Blackpool saw them recover twice to snatch the game 3-2. Pilkington (with a brave header), O’Neil and Barrett did the honours. Also Andrew Watson told us that BFC now have 3,825 junior season ticket holders, over 2,000 more than ManU!
21/10 Although Preston did us a favour by beating Man City, Coventry defeated Crewe to go above us. We’re now down to fifth following Norwich’s victory over West Brom on Friday.
23/10 Phew! Paul Cook's superb 17th minute lob earned us our first victory in six league games, taking us back up to third. It also denied table-topping Palace a club record of eight consecutive league wins. Burnley were up for this game in a big way, and although it was often a scrappy affair with few clear cut chances, there was no stinting in commitment from either side. Palace's Julian Gray had the first chance of the game in the 11th minute when his rasping drive from 25 yards clipped the crossbar. But just six minutes later Cook gave the Clarets the lead. The goal resulted from Briscoe's deep cross, which was flicked on by Taylor and found its way to Cook beyond the far post. Cook’s lob from a tight angle was executed with total precision. Burnley were the stronger side in the first half, with Grant and Cook prominent. However after the interval, the Clarets were content to frustrate the visitors, but the return of Glen Little restored the sparkle. He started by roasting two Palace defenders and never looked back. Although Burnley defended immaculately, utilising a 3-5-2 formation to perfection, Palace came close to grabbing a late equaliser. However, Gnohere's great last ditch tackle denied the petulant Morrison and substitute Steve Thomson fired across goal without troubling NTG. Stan said, "We changed our system and went man for man to match them. We were more solid with three at the back and that stopped them from having a lot of chances. The players responded fantastically well to the disappointment of Saturday because that game was a big disappointment. We did not do to badly considering we were playing against 12 men with the referee [who had a shocker by all accounts]. It was nice to get a clean sheet and the three points after our recent sticky patch." Burnley: Michopoulos, Gnohere, Cox, Davis, Weller, Ball, Cook (Armstrong 74), Grant, Briscoe, Moore (Payton 89), Taylor (Little 83). Subs not used: Cennamo, West. Our match report.
It is rumoured that Stan is set to speak to disgraced Toffee Danny Cadamarteri with a view to a loan move after the striker impressed for Everton's reserves last night. He would cost a packet, though. If he does join us, I hope Barry won’t say anything to him about ‘punching his weight’.
28/10 A ritual defeat at Wolves. This time it was 0-3 on a perversely beautiful autumn afternoon. We were played off the park in the first half by a rampant Wolves side and conceded three goals as we reeled under their far greater strength, speed and movement. We just didn’t compete. Although the second period was much better, with Little and West prominent on the right flank, it was too little too late. Despite Moore, Taylor and Ball all going close, we deserved what we got. Sod all. Stan said, "It was a good second half performance. In the first half, we weren't at the races and I don't know why. Wolves were much better than us in the first and they are a very good side, very experienced, with good legs, and they will be up there at the end of the season. But in the second half, we played a lot better and our ball retention was better too." Poor Gareth Taylor had another wretched afternoon. I was tempted to offer him my seat and a fag while I leapt around ineptly in the box hoping the ball wouldn’t follow me. Regrettably, we have sustained further injuries with Cox, Grant and Cook all doubtful for Gillingham on Tuesday. This doesn’t bode well. At least the Youth Team got a good result, winning 3-1 at Oldham with defender Andy Leeson grabbing a brace. Burnley: Michopoulos, Cox (Little 24), Davis, Gnohere, Weller, Grant (Armstrong 74), Cook (West 46), Ball, Briscoe, Taylor, I Moore. Subs not used: Cennamo, Payton. Our match report.
30/10 Tragically, Sam Ellis’s son was killed in a road accident yesterday. Quite understandably, everyone at the club is terribly upset. Glen Little said, "We haven't coped well, as you can imagine we were stunned, and we didn't really want to play. We could have felt sorry for ourselves, but Sam wouldn't have wanted that. He wanted us to come and play with a lot of spirit and character and that's what we've done." Indeed they did, for on a blustery Medway evening, Burnley displayed their best combative qualities. They needed them, for after fifteen minutes we were two down and seemingly out. In the 8th minute NTG failed to hold Nayron Nosworthy’s cross, allowing Simon Osborn to slot home and then seven minutes later, Osborn turned provider when his low corner gave David Perpetuini the chance to drive the ball into the box. Guy Ipoua's deflection left our keeper helpless. Just minutes later Ipoua spurned the opportunity to double his tally after getting the better of Davis, but he fired wide with NTG exposed. However, Burnley refused to wilt. Prompted again by Little and West they began to threaten the Gills goal, and after 32 minutes West picked out Gareth Taylor, who headed home at the far post. Burnley’s luck appeared to be changing. This was confirmed in the 53rd minute when we were awarded a controversial penalty. Incensed Gills' coach Wayne Jones was sent from the dug-out and Iffy Onuora was booked for protesting. Their huffing and puffing made no impact upon Glen Little, who coolly beat Bartram from the spot. Ipoua had further chances to seize the points, but his waywardness and NTG’s smart keeping denied him. It brought our string of four away defeats to an end, but we slipped to fifth after Norwich’s victory at Grimsby. After the game a very emotional Stan said, "I am delighted with the lads tonight and I thought they were magnificent. But our thoughts and prayers are with the Ellis family right now. At the this time I don't wish to say anything else." Burnley: Michopoulos, West, Davis, Cox, Briscoe, Little, Cook (Ball 85), Grant (Johnrose 90), Weller, Taylor, I Moore (Payton 77). Subs not used: Cennamo, Maylett. Our match report.
31/10 We’re down to sixth position after Man City thrashed Barnsley at Oakwell. The good news is that Branchy is back. Tonight he helped the reserves defeat an experienced Birmingham side 2-1, with Maylett and Shandran on target. He is hoping to feature in Sunday’s game against Sheffield United. Also, it is reported that Burnley have begun talks with MLS chiefs over bringing Miami's US international defender Pablo Mastroeni to Turf Moor. Apparently Burnley have held long-term interest in the Argentine-born 25-year-old defender for a number of months, and were set to make an official approach for his services at the end of the MLS season. It is claimed that the Clarets have asked to bring Mastroeni, who qualifies for a UK work permit through his Italian passport, on loan, with a view to a permanent switch. There’s nothing about this on the Club website though. More rumours? Meanwhile, a more improbable rumour is circulating about Chris Waddle. It is reported that he is line to return to League management with Oldham, having honed his act with Worksop Town. Whatever next? Could it be that Glen Roeder is about to land a plum Premiership job? Don’t be preposterous! On the discipline front, we now have five players on four cards - Davis, Weller, Briscoe, Taylor and West - while Ball faces a suspension on Sunday.
So ends a momentous two months. I cannot recall a period so unsettling since the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. Then, I buried myself in books and football. So what’s new? As for the glum message that can be drawn from all of this, who says that violence doesn’t pay? The Islamic fundamentalist terrorists have turned the world upside down, forcing us, in the west, to re-assess who are our friends (take our reconciliation with Russia and Pakistan, for instance) and who are our foes (is that what Israel is becoming?). Certainly, al-Q’aida has done more to undermine US support of Israel than years of brokered negotiations. While the anti–terrorist coalition features some strange bedfellows, particularly when it comes to upholding human rights, I guess something has to be done. It’s just that this ‘something’ is so bloody awful. Is this really the price that has to be paid for averting a nuclear or bubonic threat in London or New York? I wish too that the war against terrorism sounded more convincing. To me, it sounds suspiciously like the Salvation Army’s old battle cry, ‘We’re fighting a war against sin’.
Is it really as nebulous and useless as that? So what hope for the future? Well, I guess we would settle for a few more
points.
