Injuries take gloss off Sunderland win

Although a third successive home win in the Premier League arrived on Saturday when two David Nugent goals sealed a 3-1 win over Sunderland, it’s not been a good week for Burnley FC.

First we learned that Chris McCann would miss three months of action after damaging knee ligaments during the game, then we crashed out of the Carling Cup at Oakwell, where we haven’t won in over 75 years, and Martin Paterson also tore his knee cartilage in the game and he too will miss three months of action. Out of a cup competition to lower league opposition and two crucial members of the first team out until Christmas. Great stuff. Fortunately goalkeeper Brian Jensen, stretchered off in the first half at Barnsley as Paterson was, looks like he’ll be fit for the next match.

There’s also rising discontent at the way the local police are handling the upcoming match with Blackburn Rovers. Burnley fans will only be allowed on to the game if they travel on official coaches from Turf Moor, meaning dozens of exiled Clarets will have to travel past Ewood, to get on an antiquated coach, sit inside Ewood for three hours before kick-off, be locked in for at least an hour after the game, sit on the coach for hours in traffic to get back to Burnley, to then drive back along the M65, past Blackburn, to get home. It’s an absolute farce.

7000 Burnley fans made their own way to Ewood the last time played them and there was no trouble. The police are over-reacting to the Cockney idiots that wrecked the West Ham-Millwall match a few weeks ago. Many Clarets, including myself, will be put off attending the match because of the draconian measures. It’s a lot of hassle to go to when you can watch the match in your own front room on telly, or go to the pub.

Some fans are even proposing walking to the match in protest, possibly raising money for Accrington Stanley in the process. It would be fantastic to see Burnley and Blackburn fans walking hand-in-hand (well, maybe not that far) to Ewood. It’d be a real two fingers up to the police who seem to think treating us all like criminals will ensure the event passes without trouble.

Hopefully we will pick up our first away goal and point at Spurs on Saturday, but it’ll be a big ask after their impressive start to the season. Their attack is pacy and that’s the type of play we generally struggle against. Chris McCann will be a huge miss for us. He’s been virtually ever-present for the last three seasons and has developed into a highly influential midfielder. Whoever takes his place has big shoes to fill.

But with Nugent likely to step into the side, we have a new talisman, and a fresh brightness and sharpness about our play when he gets involved.

This article was written for FansOnline Burnley.

Coyle must consider a reshuffle

Although there's no reason to panic after the wholly expected pair of away defeats to Liverpool and Chelsea, there are lessons we can learn about the way we set the team up away from home.

In the two home matches so far, 4-5-1 has worked a treat. Chris McCann and Wade Elliott have both got forward enough to support the lone striker Martin Paterson, and Robbie Blake and Steven Fletcher have seen plenty of the ball on the flanks. Graham Alexander, in the holding role, has had relatively quiet afternoons, allowing him to collect the ball from the back four and distribute it freely.

But away from home, the gap between midfield and attack is vast. On the rare occasions we've had possession in the last two matches we've wasted it; partly due to poor passing, but more because we've had a lack of options. Elliott has rarely managed to find a Claret shirt, McCann has had no room to run with the ball, and Graham Alexander has found himself overrun with a lack of protection from the other midfielders. Blake and Fletcher have been pushed deep inside their own half, acting as secondary full-backs instead of as attacking threats.

We shouldn't read too much in to the results - Chelsea and Liverpool will be two of the top three for certain come May - but we do need to amend our gameplan ever so slightly next time we play away from home.

It's clear that the wide men aren't getting involved enough up the pitch. And neither are they protecting the defenders behind them enough. Therefore, we require either a change of personnel to more mobile players such as Guerrero and Eagles, who will get up and down the flank better, or, if we are insisting on sticking to 4-5-1, play with the wingers pushed up, and with a striker that can win flick ons to them.

I'm a huge fan of Graham Alexander, but I can't see how we can keep building a team around him against much superior opposition. For two of Liverpool's goals he was tracking the runner, but was never going to have enough pace to get back and make a challenge. Reverting to 4-4-2 and dropping Alexander may leave the defence more exposed, but it would also give us much more support in attack when we do have the football.

There are also nagging concerns about Martin Paterson. He's still goalless in seven appearances for club and country this season, and on Saturday missed another decent chance, although he worked Pepe Reina with two long-range efforts later in the game. Unfortunately the ball does not stick when it goes up to Pato. He's not strong enough to hold off Premier League defenders or quick enough to turn them. And we saw last season how much more effective he is playing alongside a bigger striker.

Steven Thompson is an intriguing option. Although his presence in the eleven tends to encourage the long, hopeful ball forward, his close control is good, and he showed promising signs of a previously untapped reservoir of goals towards the end of last season. nBut the addition of Fletcher in the summer, and now Nugent, seems to have knocked him out of Owen Coyle's thinking.

Coyle's loyalty to the players who were central to our promotion last term is admirable, but you fear unless he considers a change of shape or personnel on the road, many more afternoons chasing shadows may well be on the cards.

This article was written for FansOnline Burnley.

Burnley: flying start is totally unexpected

Our excellent home form might have been the main reason we were promoted last season, but never in our wildest dreams would we have expected to beat Manchester United and then Everton in our first two matches at Turf Moor.

It was another deserved victory. We started brilliantly and could have led 2-0 ten minutes in, but Everton got back into it and when Elliott put us ahead with a finish reminiscent of his Wembley winner, it was against the run of play.

But as we did against United, we defended resolutely and in truth Everton never looked like carving out a golden opportunity. They did of course win a penalty after Hibbert conned Dowd into giving a spot kick by diving over Chris McCann’s leg, but justice was done as Saha missed it and Jensen looked to have it covered anyway.

There’s been some odd talk around BFC forums about goals being an issue. We may have only scored two goals in our first three games but the trio of attackers Martin Paterson, Robbie Blake and £3m man Steven Fletcher have all looked bright and capable. And if one goal is enough to beat United and Everton, surely it will be enough to beat lesser teams when they come to Burnley.

But on the road will be a different proposition. Up next we have trips to Chelsea and Liverpool to round off our horror opening five matches. Chances are we’ll lose them both and six points won’t look like such a glorious start. But it’s six points more than many of us were expecting and we’ve already won one more Premier League game this season than Derby did in their infamous record-breaking campaign.

Even if we don’t win on the road all season we might stay up. We’ve won our last eight at Turf Moor, not conceding at home since March. We’ve looked comfortable, against teams with players twice as expensive than our entire squad. And these two opening wins fire a warning shot to the league: Turf Moor will not be an easy place to come to. Points will not be surrendered easily.

We had to make Turf Moor a fortress if we were to stay up. We’ve made a cracking start.

Meanwhile, we kick off our Carling Cup campaign with a trip to Hartlepool on Tuesday night. Having got heart-breakingly close to the final last season we know the boost a cup run can give everyone, and the competition is a vital way to keep confidence high. And although it’s a long way away, it is a route into Europe, something we could only dream of a few months ago.

Owen Coyle will probably pick a strong side but I expect him to rest some vital players and give starts to players that haven’t got game time yet this season. We could see a first start for Ecuadorian winger Fernando Guerrero, although whether Coyle thinks a night in Hartlepool is ideal for a debut remains to be seen, and I expect the likes of Chris Eagles and Kevin McDonald to be given a chance to shine.

This article was written for the Fanzone section of the Times' website.

Burnley 1-0 Manchester United match report

Burnley had waited 33 years for a return to the top flight, but it was worth every second after Robbie Blake’s stunning strike gave them victory against the league Champions, Manchester United, in the first game of the new season at Turf Moor.

The hosts were grateful to Brian Jensen for a heroic goalkeeping display in which he pulled off a string of smart stops, smothered a handful of one-on-one chances, dominated in the air, and even saved a penalty late in the first half.

Burnley richly deserved their victory against a below-par United. They hassled and harried and used the ball intelligently. Despite United mustering many efforts on goal, in truth the Clarets were always relatively comfortable.

United’s injury crisis meant that Wes Brown partnered an unexpectedly passed fit Jonny Evans with John O’Shea moving across to right-back. In midfield Anderson was preferred to Valencia and Giggs to Fletcher. Sir Alex Ferguson also handed a first start to Michael Owen, who failed to impress in front of the watching England manager Fabio Capello.

Burnley lined up with the same fluid 4-5-1 shape they played with at Stoke, with Andre Bikey slotting straight into the defence in place of Christian Kalvenes just 36 hours after completing his move to Turf Moor from Reading.

The visitors had a couple of early sniffs of chances, with Owen’s movement causing problems but the striker’s finishing not quite up to standard. Burnley scored with their first patch of pressure of the game. United were pinned in their own penalty box and struggled to clear, with Patrice Evra eventually half-clearing a header from Stephen Jordan’s cross, under pressure from Martin Paterson, straight to the onrushing Robbie Blake, who rifled a crisp first-time volley into the top corner, leaving Ben Foster grasping at thin air.

Turf Moor erupted and the boost in the already blood-pumping atmosphere helped the team stiffen their resolve and cling on to a victory that will have the world’s media baffled.

A subdued Wayne Rooney had several efforts at goal but they were rarely on target, Bikey and the equally totemic Clarke Carlisle in the Burnley defence giving the attacker no room to manoeuvre.

United’s neatest passage of play gave them their best chance of the half, just moments before the break. Owen slotted a deliciously weighted ball in to Evra, who turned quickly into the box tumbled over Blake, who had foolishly slid in on his backside and clearly missed the ball.

Michael Carrick surprisingly stepped up despite a handful of likelier candidates and Jensen dived firmly to his right to save comfortably, Tyrone Mears tidying up the rebound for a corner. That let off reassured the hosts that they could win and they were rejuvenated for the second period, never giving their illustrious opponents an inch of room.

The massive gulf between the two football clubs was made clear by the substitutes the two managers turned to. Ferguson threw on a combined £50m of talent in Valencia and Dimitar Berbatov as well as the vastly experienced Gary Neville; Burnley’s Owen Coyle - who last season masterminded victories over Arsenal, Spurs, Fulham, West Brom and Chelsea on penalties - brought on United reject Chris Eagles, journeyman midfielder Joey Gudjonsson and free signing Steven Thompson.

Rafts of photographers packed the end United attacked in the second half but they were not to get their picture of an equaliser. Rooney twice played neat one-twos to free a fellow attacker into the box, but both times Jensen was equal to the ensuing effort, and the giant goalkeeper denied Rooney himself after the striker sprung the offside trap, diving in feet first to put the ball out for a throw.

Despite Burnley’s imperious home form last season – they won their last six games at Turf Moor - the result will still come as a huge surprise to most. The Clarets had fallen to defeat at Stoke on the opening day. This couldn’t have been a bigger turnaround, and if they turn in performances this spirited regularly they will have every chance of survival.

In contrast, United looked shaky in all areas, with their millionaire midfield hustled by the Clarets, and their trio of striker all looking ineffective. It’s easy to point to the lack of Cristiano Ronaldo, but the fact is United look to be missing him badly, and their need another figurehead for their attack, and soon, if they are to match the success of the last few seasons.

Burnley: we fancy our chances now

So the Clarets pulled off the unthinkable and beat the league champions, the world champions, the biggest football club on the planet – Manchester United.

A packed Turf Moor was rocking as Robbie Blake’s stunning volley and Brian Jensen’s goalkeeping heroics secured the points for the Clarets on their home return to the top flight.

A town and club as small as Burnley getting promotion was special enough. Last year’s monumental campaign will live long in the memory but the team seems insistent on writing new chapters in the history of the club.

There’s a magic around the place at the moment. We felt it in the lead up to the game as the local press used any excuse to get football on the front and back cover of their newspapers. We felt it in the build up to the game. We felt it as we matched United in the early stages of the game. And by God did we feel it when Blake hit his wonder goal. You can write off goal of the season for us already. Nothing will come close to that effort.

And the old ‘No one likes us’ chant is in danger of becoming obsolete. Without wanting to sound like a deluded Newcastle fan braying about the ‘Geordie nation’ it really feels as if the country is rooting for us to succeed. Except for the lot down the road, obviously.

As poor as United were, as superb Burnley were in contrast. Chris McCann bossed the midfield, Martin Paterson harried United’s makeshift back line without tiring all night, and Clarke Carlisle and Andre Bikey – on his Clarets debut after signing just the day before the game – were totemic together at the heart of the Burnley defence.

Clarets fans will have spent the day basking in the heady delights that a win over United brings, but the possibilities opened up by last night’s events are just as exciting. Beating United will instil a belief in the players that will last all season. Even if we lose ten on the spin, Owen Coyle will be able to tell his men: “You can do it – you beat Manchester United.” It will last all season.

Burnley will fancy their chances against anyone at Turf Moor now. We had to make the famous old ground a fortress if we were to have any chance of staying up and last night’s win lays the foundations for a home record similar to Stoke’s last season.

Next up are Everton, fresh from a battering at the hands of a rampant Arsenal team on the opening day. They also have well documented problems with Joleon Lescott demanding a transfer to Manchester City, and with Phil Jagielka still injured they are as light in defence as United were last night. Only a fool would bet against Coyle’s men making it back-to-back wins.

This article was written for Fanzone.

Welcome to Turf Moor, Andre Bikey

Defeat at Stoke on the opening day was disappointing but expected. We matched them in open play but you have to defend set pieces well at the Britannia Stadium and we didn't. Two sloppy moments cost us the chance of a result. We'll have to be more streetwise than that if we're to survive this season.

Owen Coyle was already looking to bolster his back line and today he's made Andre Bikey, of Reading, his latest signing. Bikey will be well known to Clarets fans after his hilarious antics in the first leg of the play-off semi-final back in May.

First he conceded the penalty from which we scored the only goal by pulling back Steven Thompson, and then he was sent off for stamping on Robbie Blake. Bikey then wrestled his shirt off, hurled it to the ground and threw the mother of all tantrums before leaving the pitch. Reading missed him badly in the second leg, which we won comfortably 2-0, and he's not played competitively for them since due to the extended suspension he received for his antics.

Despite his questionable temperament, Bikey is exactly the kind of player we need. He's big, much bigger than any of our other defenders, very strong and also quick. He'll go straight into our back line for the Manchester United match tomorrow night as captain Steven Caldwell is still out injured. He'll be a tremendous addition and gives us a much better chance of survival.

It's always good to play United early. They famously start slowly and this season they have major defensive injury problems. Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Gary Neville and Jonny Evans are all doubts, so we'll have a great chance to cause a shock result on our home Premier League debut.

That said, Wayne Rooney looks like he's set for a huge season ahead of the World Cup and he's obviously the man we have to stop. I'm not sure Dimitar Berbatov will fancy it with 20,000 screaming locals baying for his blood, and Michael Owen looked rusty when he came on at Old Trafford on Sunday. But even with two of United's biggest playmakers in Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez leaving the club this summer, they're a phenomenal force and most people will be expecting us to get a pasting.

But I'm quietly confident that we can get a result. Bikey's signing will give us a lift and the atmosphere promises to be very special indeed.

This article was written for Fanzone on TimesOnline.