Dave Thornley reflects on a result which may well have sealed Burnley’s fate, relegation now looks virtually inevitable.
Burnley’s third consecutive defeat in yesterday’s away fixture at Brentford feels like a tipping point has been reached in Burnley’s tough season.
The Clarets have failed on each of those last three occasions to extract themselves out of the bottom three and now lie idle for the rest of the month whilst their relegation rivals are offered the opportunity to pick up the points, they need to leave Burnley stranded in the relegation zone.
When Burnley do resume their season, on the second of April, they face the inescapability of defeat at the hands of Manchester City. The odds following the visit of Pep’s superstars must be that relegation will be almost confirmed for the Clarets.
In yesterday’s match at Brentford’s newly refurbished Community Stadium, Burnley’s play suggested a reliance on a familiar plan (if that is not too grandiose a description) of hanging on for as long as possible and hoping to nick a goal.
One or two opportunities did present themselves over the course of the game: a badly miscued header by Dwight McNeil; Maxwel Cornet muscled out of making firm enough contact when through on goal and a speculative long-range effort by Jay Rodriguez which was a mere crossbar’s width away from being a credible goal of the season contender.
But five minutes from time, it all began to go pear-shaped. Christian Eriksen’s curling left wing cross dropped perfectly onto the head of Ivan Toney to put Brentford a goal up. Shortly afterwards, Nathan Collins was, perhaps, a little hard done by to concede a penalty and receive Burnley’s first red card in years, with a challenge that was more clumsy than malicious and did seem to make at least initial contact with the ball. Toney converted emphatically from the spot.
The reason for Burnley’s struggles this season have been clear for all to see; lack of investment in successive transfer windows; an inflexible playing style; opponents who improved whilst Burnley stood still; injuries to key players at inopportune times and a media whose agenda seems to be focused on re-hashing negative stereotypes or simply ignoring Burnley altogether.
That last point may seem trivial, but it is my belief that this largely unflattering media narrative serves to actively discourage the type of players needed to compete effectively in the Premier League from considering Burnley as a potential employer.
Having put themselves in with a good chance of escaping the drop with a good run of form in February, Burnley are now floundering and potentially sinking. It is a sad scenario to contemplate for the legions of true Burnley fans, but perhaps the Clarets have defied gravity for long enough? The time may well have come for Dyche’s troopers to return to the calmer and less prosperous waters of the Championship.

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