Dave's take on another early Cup exit...

Dave Thornley resumes his analysis for Clarets Mad of the current malaise sweeping through Burnley Football Club.
The last few weeks have been one of those periods which has caused one to seriously re-evaluate one’s choices of sporting affiliations. As if the abject surrender of England’s cricketers (I use the term in its broadest possible sense) wasn’t bad enough, any solace to be sought from Burnley’s performances during the festive period has been swept away by three consecutive defeats, each one more depressing than the last.
The 3-1 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford, although disappointing, was at least palatable as the team performed, particularly in the first half, with a degree of vigour, highlighted by a performance from Aaron Lennon which rolled back the years to his Tottenham days when he was a genuine and consistent menace to Premier League defences.
The following Sunday however saw Burnley turn in a performance of hopeless ineptitude at the home of fellow strugglers Leeds United, who weren’t even required to play all that well to see the Clarets off by three goals to one.
Unforced errors and wasteful possession infected the team like a Covid variant, offering Wayne Hennessy in the Clarets’ goal no protection, whilst the midfield meekly surrendered just about every challenge. When they did occasionally obtain custody of the ball, they would offer it back to Leeds within about three passes.
The one bright spark came with a Maxwel Cornet free kick which drew Burnley level early in the second half, a goal which was celebrated (perhaps unwisely) within hand-propelled missile range of the more mentally challenged elements of Leeds United’s fan base.
Rather than using Cornet’s brilliant strike as a launching pad to take the game by the scruff of the neck and push for what would have been a massively uplifting three points, Burnley did what Burnley too often and too depressingly do; they sat back and tried to contain, a flawed strategy when so much discipline and cohesion was lacking. It came as no surprise therefore when Leeds scored two further goals.
And so, to the conclusion of this gruesome trilogy; the now traditional New Year cup exit at the hands of a club from a lower division. This time it was Huddersfield Town who overcame a first half Jay Rodriguez goal to expose the Clarets’ soft underbelly and condemn them to a 2-1 defeat with a positive and committed second half performance in front of a depressingly sparse home crowd once again.
In addition to addressing this alarming slump in performances, Burnley face the additional challenges of the Omicron variant sweeping through the club infecting Sean Dyche as well as players and coaches; a backlog of fixtures to somehow squeeze in with a depleted squad; Maxwel Cornet’s departure to play in the Africa Cup of Nations and the club’s usual reticence to embrace the transfer window. The sight of Clarets old boy and fan favourite Kieran Trippier joining fellow relegation battlers Newcastle has been hard to stomach.
It is often tough being a Burnley fan, but these few weeks have been tougher than most, a fact exacerbated by the sight of “them up t’road” sweeping all before them in the Championship.
It is an alarming and increasingly realistic prospect that Burnley could be relegated, and Blackburn promoted, thereby surrendering the bragging rights Burnley fans have enjoyed for the last decade and creating a wormhole in the universe in which the natural order of things is reversed.
Sean Dyche can’t allow that to happen, can he?

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