Disappointed Dave Dishes the Dirt.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Dave Thornley gets down into the dirt and goes all controversial.
He starts off with a BIG question: “Is Pep Guardiola ruining football as a spectacle, as a source of entertainment?”

The style of play he has cultivated from his time at Barcelona through to his current tenure at Manchester City, is undoubtedly seductive. The problem is that among those seduced by its elegant geometry; the crisp precision of the passing and the matador-like toying with the opposition, are less gifted coaches who attempt to graft the same style of play onto less gifted players.

This has trickled down from the top of the Premier League into the Championship, reducing what we had come to acknowledge as a vibrant, white-knuckle ride of a league, where the upwardly mobile came into direct contact with the down-at-heel, into a kind of cut-and-paste stagnation, where the only discernible difference from one team to the next is the colour of the shirts.

When Burnley were relegated last season, many Clarets fans such as me were consoled at the thought that the Championship would offer a counterpoint to the misery of last season. Instead, we seem to have swapped misery for tedium.

Burnley’s insistence on building their attacks with such studied deliberation is destined to crash against the rocks of a deep and heavily numbered defence such as the one applied by second-bottom Queens Park Rangers at Turf Moor yesterday afternoon, resulting in the kind of stagnation I previously alluded to.

If this were a one-off, it would be frustrating, but acceptable, it has, however, become a recurring theme throughout this season, where Burnley’s inability to prize open such defences has offered opponents a reasonable chance of emerging unscathed from a fixture against one of the widely acknowledged favourites to occupy one of the promotion places come May.

For Burnley to make good on that forecast, they simply must locate a set of keys to unlock a massed defence and that means developing a style of play with more – much more- variety and much more penetration.

They need to raise their supporters to their feet, they need to offer something more purposeful, they need to make supporting this Burnley team seem worth our time and investment.

Despite yesterday’s goalless draw, preceded by another drawn game at Hull last Wednesday, Burnley remain second in the table. Whilst this remains the case, Scott Parker and the Board will probably be satisfied, but after the indignities heaped upon us last season, we fans are hoping – no expecting – to witness something a bit more thrilling.

Editor’s note: The goals will come, and we are not conceding. Patience please? (TEC.)

[ballcock]

What concerns me, is that we have only scored 1 goal in our last 3 home games against bottom half opposition

[army88]

What concerns me, is that we have only scored 1 goal in our last 3 home games against bottom half opposition

Correct - and it needs addressing but we don’t have the luxury of a different centre forward - a Tella with pace and eye for goal or a wood with physical
Presence or a Ings with tricky little runs - we are solely reliant on the midfield for goals tbh which is a bit sad really.

Foster needs a partner and hopefully it’s Fleming as foster struggles alone - Fleming doesn’t have the pace or man up top skill set - but together they might just make a decent partnership.

I have a feeling though Parker will be in the market for a front man come January and you may get your wish of ditching Foster eventually- though personally I think it could be a mistake if we can get him going with some proper service

[ballcock]

I said the other week that we won't see much of Foster, he will always be on the pyshios couch, and I stand by that.

Parker was dealt a bad hand to be fair, he had half the squad sold from under his feet late in the window and has had to throw a side together, that is surprisingly 2nd in the table

Striker top priority in the January window, that is if there is anyone decent out there available

[kritichris]

there's lots of strikers out there but do they want to come to Burnley and/or can we afford them. Tella and Weghorst spring to mind, better the devil you know.

[army88]

I said the other week that we won't see much of Foster, he will always be on the pyshios couch, and I stand by that.

Parker was dealt a bad hand to be fair, he had half the squad sold from under his feet late in the window and has had to throw a side together, that is surprisingly 2nd in the table

Striker top priority in the January window, that is if there is anyone decent out there available

As I said above ballcock I think you may get your wish but I’ve thought about it and we really don’t seem to have an identity to integrate a forward to , by this I mean how will we play - no point buying a mobile quick forward if we play to a target man and vice versa.

I don’t think Parker has sorted out our best form of attack just yet , we don’t concede many but it’s adverse to
Our forward play - so buying a forward maybe trickier than or not quite as simple as we think.