We're So Good
It's Unbelievable!
Well, here we are 12 games in
to the First Division, with 25 points on the board, and some of those who felt that we
would go straight back down again unless we bought bus loads of players looking somewhat
myopic. So far, the Clarets are undefeated at home, have one of the best defensive records
in the Division and have picked up almost as many points away as they have at home.
Without wishing to tempt fate too much it looks now as though the first objective, safety,
is well within our grasp. It would take a disastrous slump for the club to take less than
25 points from the remaining fixtures, but a run of injuries, especially to key players,
might create the circumstances where this might happen. However, Stan has got them all
bursting to play in the first team, to the extent that Brassy said he would walk back from
Halifax to play in the first XI and Weller has just signed a four year deal. If somebody
falls there is another behind to pick up the flag. From being a soft touch and a last easy
pay day before retirement, Turf Moor now houses a well oiled fighting machine, ready to do
battle with all comers.
Obviously I am delighted with our start in the
division, although I am not entirely surprised, given that the start is entirely in line
with my perception that things have changed for the better in nearly every aspect of the
club's performance and the change looks to be permanent. These days what happens out there
on the pitch is paramount, and one has to say that under the past regime, it wasn't always
obvious that this was the most important area. The previous board was more consumed about
re-building the ground, and then attempting to sort out the attendant mess, having failed
to deliver the financial means to effectively support the re-construction, whilst
simultaneously clinging desperately on to control. Consequently, at times the playing side
looked almost to be a side issue, and something that was delegated to a succession of
itinerant managers linked only by their varying degrees of ineptitude. Currently the
situation looks to be a vibrant partnership between Stan and the Board, where each side
appears to understand the other's requirements, a situation that didn't seem to prevail in
the past. With this foundation and Stan's firm grip on the tiller, the choppy seas of
football fortune are infinitely more navigable.
Out on the park the team carries that deceptive,
characteristic Ternent look. No big star names, no prima donnas, the football never really
looks particularly "entertaining", the "performances" don't always
look that great, however only two defeats, and one of those to the runaway leaders, tell
their own story. After a flying start, which could have been anticipated given the
momentum and surge effect of promotion, the Clarets have had to settle down to garnering
points from some of the less formidable sides in the Division. The opening phase of the
season is always difficult to assess as it is impossible to judge the strength of the
opposition. However subsequent results show that taking the four points from Bolton and
Wimbledon was a worthy achievement. Furthermore the points dropped to Portsmouth and
Gillingham at home don't look as bad as they did, given their present mid table berths.
Indeed all three promoted clubs look comfortable at this level, which indicates that the
strength of this division is greatly exaggerated.
After viewing the three fixtures with Wolves,
Gillingham and Palace, my view of the Division is that it is a division littered with
sides whose resources seem stretched financially and clubs being squeezed more and more in
to competing with the big boys lest they get "left behind". The tendency to
believe that a new manager and a few signings will sort everything out has produced a team
like Wolves with lots of big money signings like Ketsbaia and Fat Bob Taylor who are now
dropped and injured respectively, but no real strength in depth. Somehow the likes of
Wolves look like a collection of players rather than a team, whereas Burnley always look
greater than the sum of their parts. Players with big reputations and salaries appear to
be playing for themselves rather than the team; in other words, they look like England. On
the day at Molineux, Cooke and Gray looked more effective than the Wolves pairing, yet
neither were able to produce many clear cut chances on goal. What few on target chances
there were in the game fell to Wolves, apart from Payton's late header. The result was the
downside of Stan's cautious approach, in a situation were the points were there for the
taking, with Wolves players making countless unforced errors. However, Wolves scored
because their midfielder Sedgley got into the box to pick up the loose ball. By way of
contrast, BFC's pairing of Ball and Cook rarely got beyond the centre circle. The late
introduction of Payton immediately after the goal indicated to me that Stan was probably
content with a point from Wolves, who had recently lost at home to Oxford. However I
disagree that we "deserved" something out of this game, as despite
"shading" the first half we never really attacked with any great conviction
until it was too late, thus showing Wolves far too much respect. However, this approach
was understandable given Wolves' seventh place finish the previous season, this being only
our second away game and the ref was a real "homer".
The Gillingham match that followed is best forgotten,
suffice to say that it looked like a contest between two Second Division away sides in the
first half, and was only turned into a proper football game by the mass substitution of
Barry Fry proportions in the second half. However, even then Stan replaced like for like
instead of putting extra attackers on, and the side got punished for a rare and completely
uncharacteristic lapse by Mitchell, presenting Asaba with a point blank range chance.
Fortunately the Clarets had sufficient fuel in the tank to pull out an equaliser.
Personally, I was disappointed by the two results, as
well as the first half performance against Gillingham, and I was not expecting us to get
an awful lot out of the Palace match. I guess I should have learnt by now not to
underestimate the resilience and determination of the present side to succeed. The
continued non selection of Payton increased my ire further, however as the game unfolded I
felt that at last that the side were beginning to play closer to their full potential.
Defending stoutly and probing on the break, they looked more like a First Division side,
with Palace having the bulk of possession without looking really threatening, seemingly a
characteristic of this division. The removal of Davis at half time forced Stan to
re-shuffle into a 4-4-2 formation and at the same time go toe to toe for the points, which
made the match an exciting spectacle and provided the opportunity to clinch three points.
It was the first ground-breaking away win of the season and the goal itself was a gem,
fashioned by Payton and superbly executed by the previously much maligned Branch, a player
who, IMHO, has been one of Stan's most astute signings. Naturally there was much
jubilation in the four wheel drive trip back to Suffolk, and I must confess to being
somewhat perplexed by the post match media analysis, with even Stan stating that we were
somehow "lucky". The way I saw it, the Clarets converted one of their two clear
cut chances, a 50% success rate, whilst the opposition squandered the majority of theirs.
Our superb defence limited them to very few opportunities in any case, and on the rare
occasion our last line was breached, Crichton was equal to anything thrown at him. Even
the referee tried to help them score by giving a bizarre free kick in injury time for
Crichton carrying the ball, when he carried it for no longer than any other time in the
afternoon.
Another two away wins consequently followed as Stan's
formula proved more successful on away soil than at Turf Moor, but that confidence now
seems to have carried itself through to the home games. Furthermore, I note that managers
like Aldridge are beginning to talk the Clarets up prior to the game to soften the blow
and deflect criticism for the potential failure to beat Burnley or, as in Tranny's case,
to fall victim to a defeat. Another description was Wednesday Paul Jewell's post match
assessment that it was the proverbial "men against boys". All these back handed
compliments and inadvertent accolades are further evidence of the current strength of the
club. Another bonus is that we are currently well above the Rubber Dinghy Boys for the
first time in literally decades.
Nevertheless, as usual, Stan is not getting the least
bit carried away and is still talking about avoiding relegation. This might be too
negative for some supporters, but looking ahead, the games are now going to get
increasingly tougher as the points in the bag have been accrued from some of the lesser
lights in the Division. Whilst the trip to QPR hardly looks to the equivalent to scaling
Everest, they are still undefeated at home and Forest will one day convert their excellent
away form into more effective displays at home. The programme from November onwards to the
New Year looks very daunting, and I believe we will be doing well to come through this
patch averaging a point a game. Therefore the points the side has harvested in Autumn
might come in very useful in the potentially lean winter months.
Conversely the side may well find another gear or
alternatively soup up the options a bit by finding some new models. However the higher you
go the higher the risk of wasting your money on a well chamfered addition to your fleet
which looks nice, but has hidden defects not always apparent to the untrained eye. Stan
and the Board are right to be cautious when dealing with some of the sharks and piranhas
that abound in the world of football. The Moore negotiations were sensibly terminated when
the Stockport Board wanted to go Dutch and Stan has sensibly decided to have a close look
at Robinson before splashing out the kind of money Wimbledon did without taking the
product on a test drive. Having followed Bobby Robson's career for many years, I would be
very cautious about investing in anyone he has discarded, as there haven't been too many
who have proven him wrong over the years. The last thing we need is to be railroaded into
making signings for the sake of it when nearly every week we read that our opponents have
huge financial debts (Wednesday, QPR, Forest) or have to sell to survive like Stockport,
Crewe and Tranmere. Simply by staying financially solvent, watching and waiting whilst the
managerial roundabout sees the latest incumbent going to his respective board for another
bucket full of money to replace the purchases of the previous manager, the Clarets will
relatively strengthen their position.
Apart from some of the minor gripes mentioned above, I
think Stan has done a first class job.
True to his word he has given the promotion winning
players their chance, although he must have known that they had the capability to succeed.
His new signings on the whole have been as astute as his previous excursions into the
football bargain basement, with no fewer than ten of the current squad acquired via free
transfers. The only misfit appears to be Gray, who has committed the unforgivable error of
mouthing off about his plight whilst on international duty. It's doubtful now whether we
will see "Tippy" back in the first eleven, as rule number one at Turf Moor is
not to make a chimp out of Stan. Indeed, Stan emulates Fergy in keeping all his dirty
linen private and never uses the media to control his players, unlike some previous
managers. Instead Stan used his position when he rounded firmly on the Cook boo boy
brigade, and rightly so, as if there is to be one player identified as being responsible
for sparking the sudden turn round in fortunes eighteen months ago, it is Paul Cook.
Personally I find the behaviour of these idiots
somewhat perplexing. To me it is blindingly obvious that there isn't anybody in the crowd
who knows more about football than our manager. It's equally quite possible that he knows
more than the whole crowd put together about how to get the best out of the current squad
and how to improve it. In fact I would go further than this, and I would like Barry to
start thinking dynastic and offer Stan a contract that would keep him here more or less
indefinitely in some capacity, or even a seat on the Board.
Rovers return
I guess by the time the next issue comes out it
will be the New Year, and most significantly on 17.12.2000 we will have participated in
what will be the Mother of all Battles on every front. For those of you not old enough to
remember what a Rovers vs Burnley match is like: it will be a venomous, hate filled
experience, not to mention physically dangerous for spectators and players. Given the
nature of the Blackburn manager, I can't imagine this one being any different, so if you
are going, please look after yourself on the day. I am hoping for an emphatic win, with a
Payton hat trick, however it will be a tough dour game that could go either way. Don't be
lulled by the current respective league positions as I believe both are slightly false,
however for this game the form book will definitely go out the window, among with many
other things like mutual respect and neighbourly love.
Finally, we have to be really satisfied with the way
things have gone so far. I hope I am not ejaculating prematurely when I state that its
unlikely that we will need to worry about visiting the likes of Rotherham, Luton,
Colchester and other similar collections of football's museum pieces for some considerable
time. Places like Molineux, Ewood, the Hawthorns etc. are our traditional venues
stretching back over three centuries and the phenomenal home gates indicate that we are
not out of place in this company by any means.
The easy part is over now. The hard part is sustaining
the surge and dealing with the inevitable setbacks along the way. If supporters, players,
and club management stand firm together and maintain the upward momentum, the nightmare of
those dark journeys through the undergrowth of the football jungle over the last twenty
years will gradually dwindle.
No need to dream about sunlit uplands any more, we are
there.
UTC.
Igor Wowk
November 2000
