Did anyone really believe that Matt Jansen would join Burnley on loan? Go on, think about it. The idea of the Blackburn striker picking up his boots and travelling to Turf Moor was always pie in the sky.
It never ceases to amaze me just how naïve some people can be. I’m sure a few people got a little excited by the chance of a proven Premiership player joining us, but did they really think it was likely?
The truth of the matter is simple: Matt Jansen, Blackburn Rovers and Graeme Souness never had any intention of making a deal with Burnley. They quite simply used Burnley’s interest to not only find him a club that offered them a chance to get the player fit again, but to ensure that he would remain a crowd favourite at his club. If anything, this saga will have increased his popularity at Ewood Park.
Look at it logically. Blackburn manager Souness tells the press that Burnley are negotiating to take his player on loan; Clarets manager Ternent admits that we have enquired about the striker. Now, Souness is no mug - by informing the press of our intentions he alerts other clubs that they could lose out on Jansen. Souness knows full well that Jansen will not be signing for Burnley - what he has done is give Jansen the opportunity of taking his pick from any number of clubs whilst making him ever more popular as the Rovers player who turned down Burnley.
There are two scenarios that Souness may well have foreseen. Number one is that which has Jansen scoring 15 goals and shooting the Clarets into the Premiership, and, in one fell swoop, ensuring that he will never be accepted at Ewood again. Number two has Jansen missing a couple of chances and being accused of not trying by the ‘patient’ Burnley crowd, ending with him being the subject of torrents of abuse and returning down the M65 with his confidence wrecked. As it is, Jansen has signed for a club where he is under absolutely no pressure to perform - and if he scores the goals that take Coventry into the Premiership it will see him a hero at Highfield Road and ever popular at Ewood.
What people have to realise is that this was never a football decision, and to be frank even if it had been we were always likely to be last on his list, especially with the likes of Derby and Wolves interested. Location has nothing to do with this move, and regardless of his agent's tittle tattle, this move has been made because it suits not only Jansen but also his manager and club much more than a move to Turf Moor. One only has to look at the similarities of this deal with the one where we were supposedly about to sign Alan Mahon. It was never on: it was purely an exercise in putting their man in the marketplace whilst ensuring that by turning down their deadly rivals he would maintain his place in their fans' affections.
If anyone has been left with egg on their face over this matter, it is Stan Ternent. You see, Stan obviously lives in a world where rivalry doesn’t exist - he believes that Burnley fans would take to a player from down the road as though they were one of our own. In a perfect world, this may well happen, and the large majority of decent Burnley fans would be delighted to have a player of Jansen’s calibre in the squad. But in modern football it is simply not going to happen. Yes, the majority of fans would accept a Blackburn player as long as he was doing his job; but as always there will be a very vocal minority, mostly wearing items made by Burberry, who quite simply would not.
Sadly, it is a sign of our society today that these bigots and yobs would prevail against the silent masses. It is not just at Turf Moor where this happens; it would be the same country-wide. Imagine if Andy Payton went on loan to Blackburn. Do we really think that they would accept him? Again, a majority might, but the minority wouldn’t. It would be the same in reverse: the majority of our support would not have a problem, but Mr and Mrs Burberry would. These are the idiots from both sides that made the two fixtures between our clubs so unpleasant two seasons ago, you remember? (How could you forget.)
It is sad but true that football in this country, and many others around the world, is polluted by the idiots. They quite simply have free reign to get away with murder, and there is very little that the authorities can do to stop it. This is in my opinion why something like a transfer between our clubs cannot happen (maybe I should rephrase that - is unlikely to happen). Players have the right to ply their trade without the undue pressure that a transfer of this sort would bring.
Don’t blame Jansen, don’t blame Graeme Souness - he played a very good tactical game here, getting the best for his club and player. We are left on the outside looking in: we never had the faintest chance of signing Jansen; it was always plain to see.
Burnley are once again embroiled in a game that is oh so familiar to the supporters. We are interested in player after player, some of them even decent players, but the signing never works out. We are always pipped at the post. We’ve heard it all before. We all know that we desperately need a quality midfielder, but will we get one? Doubtful. The one thing that you can be sure of, though, is that if we do it won’t be from Blackburn.
