Dave wraps up a sorry season.
From Clarets Mad, Dave Thornley brings a sad conclusion to what has been a seriously sorry season for the Clarets faithful. Thankfully, I missed the end of the season proceedings, choosing instead to sod off to the Canary Islands as the inevitable relegation would have kicked me in the crotch if I had seen us go down live.
It was with a sense of grimly inevitable irony that the last rites to Burnley’s horror show of a season be administered by Chris Wood, a striker from a time, not so long ago, when Burnley Football Club was a recurring presence in the Premier League.
Were Wood’s two goals for Nottingham Forest at his old Turf Moor stamping ground an act of mercy to finally put us out of our misery, or one last vicious kick to the solar-plexus of Burnley’s prone and battered body?
In over half a century following my home town club, this season must go on record as the worst I have witnessed; largely because it has sullied the memory of last season, which was one of the best. The swagger of a year ago when the Clarets swept through the Championship like a raging forest fire, has been replaced with a humbling exercise in inadequacy from the very top of the club downwards. It is as though last season never happened, and for me, that hurts deeply.
The errors, omissions and mistakes made throughout its course have been chronicled at length here and elsewhere: a calamitous recruitment window in which a slew of players arrived who were simply not good enough for this level of play; the dismantling of the Championship winning team with popular players either leaving or side-lined; a style of play to which the players were unsuited, leading to an almost weekly show-reel of unforced goal-conceding errors. Then there were the missed sitters; the confusing team selections and the general lack of the resilience and fortitude required of Premier League players.
In addition, there were the unhelpful factors which were beyond Burnley’s control; the front-loading of some of the most testing fixtures; poor officiating; long (very long in some cases) injury absences; and media coverage oscillating between patronising and snide.
Burnley will now pick themselves up and return to the Championship hopefully wiser and more determined. Personally, I cannot subscribe to the view popular in some circles that Burnley will cruise through next season in much the same way they did through the last.
First of all, this is a team bereft of any confidence, this season will have left its scars. Secondly, we don’t know which players will remain and which (save for Jack Cork and Johann Berg Gudmundsson) will depart.
The mass overhaul of the playing staff last season was, as previously alluded to, a mistake, and one wonders if there is a clear strategy regarding both the current squad and returning loan players, and which new players will be required to fill currently under-resourced positions.
Not only that, but frankly bizarre rumours are gathering pace and veracity linking Vincent Kompany with the Head Coach’s job at Bayern Munich. Kaiser Kompany indeed.
Then there are the opponents the Clarets will face; one of Southampton or Leeds will remain in the Championship, along with the other two relegated clubs who will also be nurturing ambitions of a speedy return. There are also the clubs who came close and will feel ready to take the next step, West Brom, Coventry, Middlesbrough, Norwich and Hull, plus local rivals with a chip on their shoulder and a point to prove.
Nothing can be assumed or taken for granted, and the hierarchy at Turf Moor need to display greater sureness of foot and clarity of mind if next season is to produce the revival all Clarets fans hope for.
Editor’s note: I have just seen the retained list and I believe a half decent manager could win League 1 with what we have coming back to the club from loan. An interesting 2024/25 season awaits that is for sure. UTC#
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