The season has made me more angry than i have ever been!

[oswyclaret]

I am 59 this month, so i reckon I've spent more time watching us lose than wining in the 53 years i have attended Turf Moor.

Ive seen plenty of relegations and i have seen a lot of sub standard football.

Previous relegations from the Premier League haven't brought the same emotions. Perhaps in the steady descent into the 4th division i always felt the club needed me, my money was important. The steady recovery i felt part of.

After what was an incredibly emotional season last year (how many games did we win late on, great goals and off course derby wins) this season is just error after error, basic football rules like kick it out if under pressure, let the goalie take some pressure out of the game by holding onto the ball and finally the other team can't score when the ball is in their half, don't seem to matter. Its like our players have never played professional football where winning is secured by professional behaviour (gamesmanship).

The signings have been baffling,

Not one player is worth more money now than when we bought them, we haven't built a team but a collection of players. There is no evidence that our coaching staff have improved the players.

This is going to be controversial but we seem to have a thing for "circus" players, players who have a trick want to run with the ball and beat players, except no one else is running at the same time.

We have lost our way, I've seen it before, all of us have. We've all seen managers struggle to find the right formula.

For some reason this season i am so angry that we have recruited badly, that we are such a poor team, that we are outrun and out organised by other teams.



Im angry that Benson and Zaroury haven't had a chance, I'm angry that Trafford struggles to catch a ball cleanly, I'm even angry at the separate milk for coffee!!

Im getting fed up with VAR, why does Trafford do the Pickford flop everytime he lands on the ball?

Maybe its my age but this season just feels so different, i go from really struggling to go on the turf, then being blazing mad about everything. Is anything going well at the club?

Ive never felt so certain that we don't know what we, who we are, what we stand for as a club, there is no plan to develop the style, no analysis of what is wrong and what we need to put it right.

I am angry that we seem to have thrown everything away.

Im angry that this current group will not walk the championship. We are easy to beat, high ball back post, put Trafford under pressure. High press and we will cough it up.


I am a similar age to you and think that you have summed it up perfectly.
I didn't go on last night, mainly due to ...not wanting to walk back up Brunshaw road, after the match, feeling dejected, robbed,another weekend ruined again!
It was, as if I had a premonition, this was about to happen...and I was correct!

22 players on a pitch and 6 officials, trying their best to ruin and take enjoyment out of the game that we love!
5 live summed it up perfectly this morning, on their talk show.....If the goal would have been disallowed for a foul, there
wouldn't have been much of a fuss..how very , very true.!!!

[Stproc]

I’ve been watching Burnley for 51 years now & this is probably my last season. It’s not because of the ownership, team, style or results though, it’s 100% because of the PL & VAR - they have completely ruined everything about going to the match. Yet again I sat there waiting for the invisible, unaccountable man in an office to decide whether or not I can celebrate a goal.
I no longer seem to know what’s a foul, what handball is or whether somebody is offside or not although I did until a few years ago.
The fun has gone. The game is gone.

[bfcjg]

I'm angry that the future of our club could be in jeopardy by the ridiculous borrowing to fund show ponies who in essence turned out in the main to be cart horses.

[Westleigh]

I am 59 this month, so i reckon I've spent more time watching us lose than wining in the 53 years i have attended Turf Moor.

Ive seen plenty of relegations and i have seen a lot of sub standard football.

Previous relegations from the Premier League haven't brought the same emotions. Perhaps in the steady descent into the 4th division i always felt the club needed me, my money was important. The steady recovery i felt part of.

After what was an incredibly emotional season last year (how many games did we win late on, great goals and off course derby wins) this season is just error after error, basic football rules like kick it out if under pressure, let the goalie take some pressure out of the game by holding onto the ball and finally the other team can't score when the ball is in their half, don't seem to matter. Its like our players have never played professional football where winning is secured by professional behaviour (gamesmanship).

The signings have been baffling,

Not one player is worth more money now than when we bought them, we haven't built a team but a collection of players. There is no evidence that our coaching staff have improved the players.

This is going to be controversial but we seem to have a thing for "circus" players, players who have a trick want to run with the ball and beat players, except no one else is running at the same time.

We have lost our way, I've seen it before, all of us have. We've all seen managers struggle to find the right formula.

For some reason this season i am so angry that we have recruited badly, that we are such a poor team, that we are outrun and out organised by other teams.

Im angry that Benson and Zaroury haven't had a chance, I'm angry that Trafford struggles to catch a ball cleanly, I'm even angry at the separate milk for coffee!!

Im getting fed up with VAR, why does Trafford do the Pickford flop everytime he lands on the ball?

Maybe its my age but this season just feels so different, i go from really struggling to go on the turf, then being blazing mad about everything. Is anything going well at the club?

Ive never felt so certain that we don't know what we, who we are, what we stand for as a club, there is no plan to develop the style, no analysis of what is wrong and what we need to put it right.

I am angry that we seem to have thrown everything away.

Im angry that this current group will not walk the championship. We are easy to beat, high ball back post, put Trafford under pressure. High press and we will cough it up.

Post of the weekend ,well said.

[IanMcL]

My thought has been, for a number of years, that the prem league is designed to produce the best product to ensure its revenues steadily grow.

This requires the biggest 'best known worldwide' teams to retain their dominance. That is sorted. It also requires a degree of competition throughout. 20 teams is hard. I can see less in the future.

They like the odd team to capture the imagination. Leicester - prime example - which demonstrates anyone can win. In reality, they can't. No one will dissuade me from the belief that Leicester got all those pens, to ensure they won or didn't lose. Hardy regularly tripping himself up and getting the pen.

Aston Villa is that team, this season. Another Midlands team doing well. They get the breaks and against us, for sure.

Size matters. The bigger the city and its ground, the more welcome.

I am convinced these ingredients assist decision making.

Burnley is not welcome. 80000 is nothing. Plenty of big cities in our midst.

Bristol is the need for the prem. The South West needs to be in the Prem. Some way off.

We have experienced sufficient VAR or ref decisions, this season, to know that we are unwelcome. If they can ensure our departure, it will be done - for the improvement of the prem model.

Sad.

Up the Clarets.

[steve1264b]

Hi everyone

Thank you for the comments.

I could mention a million things.

But ive spported a great club and count myself lucky to have seen the highs and lows.

I think its probably an age thing.

[Newcastleclaret93]

My thought has been, for a number of years, that the prem league is designed to produce the best product to ensure its revenues steadily grow.

This requires the biggest 'best known worldwide' teams to retain their dominance. That is sorted. It also requires a degree of competition throughout. 20 teams is hard. I can see less in the future.

They like the odd team to capture the imagination. Leicester - prime example - which demonstrates anyone can win. In reality, they can't. No one will dissuade me from the belief that Leicester got all those pens, to ensure they won or didn't lose. Hardy regularly tripping himself up and getting the pen.

Aston Villa is that team, this season. Another Midlands team doing well. They get the breaks and against us, for sure.

Size matters. The bigger the city and its ground, the more welcome.

I am convinced these ingredients assist decision making.

Burnley is not welcome. 80000 is nothing. Plenty of big cities in our midst.

Bristol is the need for the prem. The South West needs to be in the Prem. Some way off.

We have experienced sufficient VAR or ref decisions, this season, to know that we are unwelcome. If they can ensure our departure, it will be done - for the improvement of the prem model.

Sad.

Up the Clarets.

Can’t get over how many fans genuinely believe the premier league is corrupt and don’t want Burnley in it.

Not trying to be offensive but that is just complete and utter nonsense.

Literally every single club has been on the end of howlers week in week out. No more so than wolves they have had 4 apologies for mistakes this season.

[BurnleyFC]

The positive is that we won’t go down with a record low points total, which I was thought was a real possibility when we were shipping goals left, right and centre (I realise we still ship far too many).

[Burnley1989]

If we stay up I’d probably not bother renewing, I stopped watching last time even though I had a season ticket. I just fell out of love with football, watching premier league antics. I quite enjoy going to watch Padiham and keeping an eye on results in the bar.

I’ll renew if we are relegated, had some great away days with my mates last year.

Sounds mad, and many will think I’m talking nonsense but I just hate the premier league, I don’t find it entertaining. It feels like that pretentious restaurant or bar that you don’t really have the money to be in, some love being there for their ego, I’d rather be sat in my local with like minded folk

[vinrogue]

Back in the crazy days when we first entered the PL I thought it was great to see us against all these World Class players and believed it wouldn't last and we would be back mid table Championship quite soon. I was happy with that belief and then we did the yo yo and slowly the enjoyment got less with every daft decision, Arsenal at home bugs me still. Last season I said can we just not get promoted and stay playing like this I feared we would lose VK and all our good players on promotion. So here we are and I have mates I play walking football Over 65's with who support and watch, Peterborough, Lincoln, Boston United, Stoke City, Brentford, Chelsea, Spurs and Sheff Utd, some are like me season ticket holders. We all hate the PL and VAR, weekly we have the same discussions. Football is being ruined by the elite.
p.s. I didn't include Leeds above as I can't class Andy as a friend despite him appearing quite normal and still wittering on about going with Peterborough Dave to watch the cup game together one sat on his hands lol Bamford scored a fluke so he tells me!!

[gawthorpe_view]

I get more angry/frustrated/shocked /amazed each game when VK makes his substitutions .

This.

[7decades]

The thing that makes this season so bad is because last season was so good

[Stockbrokerbelt]

Tried not to reply to nonsense & negative posts but some are just plain ridiculous, full of incorrect assumptions & don’t start me off how people seem to have the audacity to imply they have better ideas around transfers, tactics, finance & players values than our management & owners. We are building a club in one of the most difficult leagues in the world where spending is akin to the 80’s nuclear arms race, playing some of the best attacking football ever, some of the best young players we’ve had in a lifetime, all of which will be great assets for BFC. You only have to look at good big clubs in this league that have spent hundreds of millions more than us & have much bigger fan bases yet they will never win the prem & think being top 10 is an achievement. We had a great season last year, not so great this season but we have & would have been further up the league if decisions from officials, injuries & a little bit more of experience had been there. We had an awful decision go against us Friday night that cost us a win which would have set us up nicely for the 2nd half of the season with positive view on the team which has been getting much better in the last couple of months. Most of the moaners moaned about Dyche, Dyche ball & the older, non value journeymen we had whilst we fought relegation battles for the last several years under the old guard. We certainly seem to have found a following of prem fans with little view except some pundits half axsed slanted view to keep his wages on the prem gravy train rolling in & a fair amount of arrogance thrown in, It’s football, promotion, relegation, we are not Man City or Liverpool. I for one will not miss the prem or VAR & the band wagon fans it brings. I will wait for the usual footballing experts to lay waste to my opinion but remember great teams & clubs need one voice, paitience & a great management team, we have the latter little of the others.

[FCBurnley]

I have watched Burnley for over 70 years so I think that qualifies me to have more experience than most on here. Not much I haven’t seen before both on and on the pitch. I actually thought I had seen it all until last season
Without a doubt it was the most joyous season I have ever seen. It was fabulous. Great football. Light years ahead of our neighbors and then we top it all by winning the Championship at Ewood. What could be better ?
We were promoted back to the PL with with one of the best Championship teams ever and a highly coveted Manager who I personally thought was close to genius
What a time to be a Claret. It almost rivaled supporting the Champions of England in 1959/60 who should have won at least 1 more title. Then came almost 50 years of ups and downs including the Orient game followed by miracles from Sean Dyche who took us into the top flight and even back into Europe !
Then enter Mr Pace and his ‘investors’ and out goes SD and in come VK. Top players are sold and never replaced but hey no problems we have a plan.
Well our overseas investors clearly knew their stuff. Flashing lights , even flashier football and the most eloquent of Managers. It all just seemed too easy and perfect.
Premier League here we come. Top 10 finish no problem maybe even a spot in Europe. Heady days indeed. Money to throw around like confetti. What could possibly go wrong ?
The rest as they say is history. Virtually relegated by Christmas. We made the classic mistake by trying to fix what clearly was not broken. Corner stones of last season were discarded like toilet paper. Muric Cork Cullen Taylor Barnes THB Maatsen Tella Roberts etc
Turf Moor changed from a Rock Solid Fortress to a Kindergarten. Embarrassing defeat after embarrassing defeat and excuse after excuse from a man I thought was a genius !
And while all this is happening the World is being being destroyed by corrupt governments all across the world creating poverty and fear !! It’s not just the football or VAR it’s life in general of which sport is a part
Is it any surprise us older Clarets fans feel frustrated and Angry.

UP THE CLARETS

[Stalbansclaret]

Last season was as good as it can get being a football fan.
This season is the opposite........We have a fundamental problem as a club in that we can afford the players to out-football teams of Championship standard playing VK's preferred style of possession based football but can't afford anywhere near the level of squad required to succeed playing this type of football in the Premier League against opposition who can do it much better by virtue of athleticism, strength and technical ability.

We haven't helped ourselves by signing the bunch of players we CAN (hopefully) afford, thereby raising expectations unrealistically whilst simultaneously losing the potential benefits of retaining the same squad. Some of the signings, particularly Tresor, just haven't worked either. As the reality of our inferiority in this league has sunk in VK has started to look a bit lost and some of his decisions have also been baffling with the substitutions on Friday night being particularly ridiculous ....I would love to see him asked about this in an interview but that never happens.

Personally I think we have to seek improvement through the rest of the season, accept the inevitable relegation and hope that VK can bring us back up, more experienced and wiser in 2025. Changing the manager at this stage seems pointless given the commitment we have shown to VK in terms of both his contract and the players signed.

[Ric_C]

I think the main issue, which has been talked to death about has been our poor recruitment in the summer. No amount of miracles on the training pitch can address that monumental clusterfuck

All we can do now is learn and adapt both for next season in the championship and hopefully the season after in the prem.

Having an astute mix of youth and experience should be the evolution of "the project" rather than arrogantly playing moneyball.

[Ampth7]

Ultimately, the club has tried to bridge the gap by bringing in lots of young up and coming talented players because we cannot afford to buy ready-made premier league experienced ones. It hasn’t worked, it’s as simple as that and the tipping point VK and we were all hoping for just hasn’t happened which is not really that surprising is it?
Ultimately the strategy has not paid off, and next summers transfer window simply must address the complete lack of experience and leadership that we currently have. We also must plug the gaping holes in our squad including left back, centre mid and up front to name but a few whilst also binning off the dead wood and players who may get snapped up by premier league clubs. Another big summer ahead I reckon!

[NewClaret]

Tried not to reply to nonsense & negative posts but some are just plain ridiculous, full of incorrect assumptions & don’t start me off how people seem to have the audacity to imply they have better ideas around transfers, tactics, finance & players values than our management & owners. We are building a club in one of the most difficult leagues in the world where spending is akin to the 80’s nuclear arms race, playing some of the best attacking football ever, some of the best young players we’ve had in a lifetime, all of which will be great assets for BFC. You only have to look at good big clubs in this league that have spent hundreds of millions more than us & have much bigger fan bases yet they will never win the prem & think being top 10 is an achievement. We had a great season last year, not so great this season but we have & would have been further up the league if decisions from officials, injuries & a little bit more of experience had been there. We had an awful decision go against us Friday night that cost us a win which would have set us up nicely for the 2nd half of the season with positive view on the team which has been getting much better in the last couple of months. Most of the moaners moaned about Dyche, Dyche ball & the older, non value journeymen we had whilst we fought relegation battles for the last several years under the old guard. We certainly seem to have found a following of prem fans with little view except some pundits half axsed slanted view to keep his wages on the prem gravy train rolling in & a fair amount of arrogance thrown in, It’s football, promotion, relegation, we are not Man City or Liverpool. I for one will not miss the prem or VAR & the band wagon fans it brings. I will wait for the usual footballing experts to lay waste to my opinion but remember great teams & clubs need one voice, paitience & a great management team, we have the latter little of the others.

Brilliant post.

I’m visiting this site less than usual at the moment because the constant drawl of negativity genuinely drains me. I also try to ignore it and just engage in the discussion that interests me, but it’s hard so I am just tending to access the site less and less (everyone will be pleased to know).

I’ll say this and be off for the afternoon:

I listened to Rob Edward’s pre-match presser and his thoughts to relegation was so starkly different to what I hear from fans on here. He basically said they’ll try their best to stay up but if not, they’ll use the experience, keep moving the club forward and the future is bright. Just a real reasoned, sensible response and I feel exactly the same about Burnley.

We have no right to be a premier league club at all. We’re a Championship club really, as are Luton. We’re the 19th best team in the country and in a place that 73 of the 92 league clubs would rip our arms off to be in. Whenever we are in this league, relegation battles are going to be our most likely outcome, with perhaps the occasional purple patch but they’ll be very difficult to maintain as the moment you put a good team together the vultures will circle on your best players.

The same usernames that are moaning now were also unhappy with Dyche, Dycheball and the model of signing ageing pros with no resale value. Now they’re unhappy with the current model but if you read their posts, rarely offer any form of alternative solutions or panacea’s.

I think we have a squad with brimming with the best young talent I’ve ever known and I’m really excited to see it develop. I’d like to hope we’ll learn lessons too, of course, so remain hopeful for the future if disappointed about how the season has panned out so far.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Brilliant post.

I’m visiting this site less than usual at the moment because the constant drawl of negativity genuinely drains me. I also try to ignore it and just engage in the discussion that interests me, but it’s hard so I am just tending to access the site less and less (everyone will be pleased to know).

I’ll say this and be off for the afternoon:

I listened to Rob Edward’s pre-match presser and his thoughts to relegation was so starkly different to what I hear from fans on here. He basically said they’ll try their best to stay up but if not, they’ll use the experience, keep moving the club forward and the future is bright. Just a real reasoned, sensible response and I feel exactly the same about Burnley.

We have no right to be a premier league club at all. We’re a Championship club really, as are Luton. We’re the 19th best team in the country and in a place that 73 of the 92 league clubs would rip our arms off to be in. Whenever we are in this league, relegation battles are going to be our most likely outcome, with perhaps the occasional purple patch but they’ll be very difficult to maintain as the moment you put a good team together the vultures will circle on your best players.

The same usernames that are moaning now were also unhappy with Dyche, Dycheball and the model of signing ageing pros with no resale value. Now they’re unhappy with the current model but if you read their posts, rarely offer any form of alternative solutions or panacea’s.

I think we have a squad with brimming with the best young talent I’ve ever known and I’m really excited to see it develop. I’d like to hope we’ll learn lessons too, of course, so remain hopeful for the future if disappointed about how the season has panned out so far.

Weird isn't it how being miserable makes some so happy. I am just grateful the majority of the usual suspects don't go to games imagine the drivel posted if it actually cost them any money to watch us.

[CoolClaret]

Brilliant post.

I’m visiting this site less than usual at the moment because the constant drawl of negativity genuinely drains me. I also try to ignore it and just engage in the discussion that interests me, but it’s hard so I am just tending to access the site less and less (everyone will be pleased to know).

I’ll say this and be off for the afternoon:

I listened to Rob Edward’s pre-match presser and his thoughts to relegation was so starkly different to what I hear from fans on here. He basically said they’ll try their best to stay up but if not, they’ll use the experience, keep moving the club forward and the future is bright. Just a real reasoned, sensible response and I feel exactly the same about Burnley.

We have no right to be a premier league club at all. We’re a Championship club really, as are Luton. We’re the 19th best team in the country and in a place that 73 of the 92 league clubs would rip our arms off to be in. Whenever we are in this league, relegation battles are going to be our most likely outcome, with perhaps the occasional purple patch but they’ll be very difficult to maintain as the moment you put a good team together the vultures will circle on your best players.

The same usernames that are moaning now were also unhappy with Dyche, Dycheball and the model of signing ageing pros with no resale value. Now they’re unhappy with the current model but if you read their posts, rarely offer any form of alternative solutions or panacea’s.

I think we have a squad with brimming with the best young talent I’ve ever known and I’m really excited to see it develop. I’d like to hope we’ll learn lessons too, of course, so remain hopeful for the future if disappointed about how the season has panned out so far.

Luton spent wisely and have amassed a team that fight for each other.

I can't say that we have done that at all.

0 issue with going down whatsoever, we always will - have issue with players shitting out of challenges, not tracking runners and the club heavily speculating.

That doesn't make me negative or a bad fan at all

[NewClaret]

Weird isn't it how being miserable makes some so happy. I am just grateful the majority of the usual suspects don't go to games imagine the drivel posted if it actually cost them any money to watch us.

I always have a little scroll through the match day threads and it’s amazing how there’s a direct correlation between those most unhappy and those that can get a signal on the turf on matchdays

[NewClaret]

Luton spent wisely and have amassed a team that fight for each other.

I can't say that we have done that at all.

0 issue with going down whatsoever, we always will - have issue with players shitting out of challenges, not tracking runners and the club heavily speculating.

That doesn't make me negative or a bad fan at all

I didn’t mention anything about anyone being a bad fan, did I?

Anyway, not stinking up this thread with arguments so will wish you a good afternoon.

[CoolClaret]

I didn’t mention anything about anyone being a bad fan, did I?

Anyway, not stinking up this thread with arguments so will wish you a good afternoon.

Not you per se more that notion of not being unanimously in favour of proceedings = **** fan or whatever

Same to thee

[claretonthecoast1882]

I always have a little scroll through the match day threads and it’s amazing how there’s a direct correlation between those most unhappy and those that can get a signal on the turf on matchdays

I can't even look at scores at half time on my phone, yet some make comments on the match thread that can only possibly be made after watching several action replays then claim to be at games Love to know who their phone contract is with, even the clubs wifi probably doesn't work that good

[Newcastleclaret93]

Brilliant post.

I’m visiting this site less than usual at the moment because the constant drawl of negativity genuinely drains me. I also try to ignore it and just engage in the discussion that interests me, but it’s hard so I am just tending to access the site less and less (everyone will be pleased to know).

I’ll say this and be off for the afternoon:

I listened to Rob Edward’s pre-match presser and his thoughts to relegation was so starkly different to what I hear from fans on here. He basically said they’ll try their best to stay up but if not, they’ll use the experience, keep moving the club forward and the future is bright. Just a real reasoned, sensible response and I feel exactly the same about Burnley.

We have no right to be a premier league club at all. We’re a Championship club really, as are Luton. We’re the 19th best team in the country and in a place that 73 of the 92 league clubs would rip our arms off to be in. Whenever we are in this league, relegation battles are going to be our most likely outcome, with perhaps the occasional purple patch but they’ll be very difficult to maintain as the moment you put a good team together the vultures will circle on your best players.

The same usernames that are moaning now were also unhappy with Dyche, Dycheball and the model of signing ageing pros with no resale value. Now they’re unhappy with the current model but if you read their posts, rarely offer any form of alternative solutions or panacea’s.

I think we have a squad with brimming with the best young talent I’ve ever known and I’m really excited to see it develop. I’d like to hope we’ll learn lessons too, of course, so remain hopeful for the future if disappointed about how the season has panned out so far.

This is my issue with your post, your thinking so small fry. There are only 22 clubs in English football with more premier league games than us. And over the last ten years we rank in the top 15 clubs in the country in terms of games played at this level.

We have every right to be playing at this level and shouldn’t demean the club by saying we are a championship club

[ChorltonCharlie]

I’d like to think I have reasonably balanced opinions in both good and bad. What doesn’t help forums like this is the binary nature of discussions. I’m very much on the fence when it comes to Kompany and have been since November when it was clear the season was turning into a disaster. That doesn’t mean I want him out. I just don’t agree with some of the sugar coating. Some opinions of mine, including some which don’t fit popular narratives.

• Summer recruitment nowhere near as bad as made out
• With a caveat that we signed too many players, which left the manager too much like a kid in a sweet shop
• Top performing Championship players like Zaroury should have been given more of a chance to prove themselves
• Benson slightly different matter – he only started around a third of games last season, but could/should have been used more as an impact sub recently
• The fundamental issue is tactics – we approached far too many games early on like we had players the equal of the opposition
• Plus the opposition at this level have seasoned managers who tactically picked holes in our naivety/arrogance.
• Buying Tella, Maatsen and THB would have largely been irrelevant other than feel good factor. They’d still have been asked to play in a way they wouldn’t have been ready for. E.g. Beyer, Cullen have not looked anywhere near as good at this higher level with VK’s tactics.
• We shouldn’t be writing off expensive fringe players. Tresor, Ramsey, etc could still end up being great if used right and given a run of games.
• Switch to 4-4-2 has had limited success, but can be argued as much about luck than judgement. Results at Fulham and Brighton could easily have gone the other way based on possession, chances, etc.
• The game against Luton summed up the current issues. We’ve gone backwards as a team since the back end of last season and were out passed by a team that is set up to be direct. Irrelevant of the last minute goal, this does not fit with the argument that we’re on some kind of masterplan where it all comes good in the end.
• If you claim we’re in a 5 year project, to also claim we’re on track you have to assume that year 2 ended with us still a Championship team. It’s highly unlikely that was seen as acceptable 18 months ago.
• Points per game also sees us significantly worse off than 2 years ago. We had 19 points from 21 games that season.
• There’s nothing wrong with backing Kompany, but we’re now doing so from an overall position of we’re worse than when he took over after spending a substantial amount of money.

It’s largely pointless sacking Kompany now. For the future of the club to be rosy, we need fans to get behind the players and manager and Kompany to get a balance between what served him so well last season, but tweaked to the PL. The main thing wrong at the start of the season was the gung-ho approach to attack which left us wide open when we failed to beat the press. Go more direct, play with the handbreak on a bit, but do so with players in a set up that allows us to attempt to control the game, whilst using the pace we have to make us a serious threat on the counter attack when we don’t. If we are to get promoted next season, or unbelievably stay up this season, then the nucleus of the side will still be very similar going forward so we have to adapt and be much better than we have been.

[ChorltonCharlie]

This is my issue with your post, your thinking so small fry. There are only 22 clubs in English football with more premier league games than us. And over the last ten years we rank in the top 15 clubs in the country in terms of games played at this level.

We have every right to be playing at this level and shouldn’t demean the club by saying we are a championship club

We have Sean Dyche to thank for those stats. We have as much 'right' to be at this level as any other professional club. That we are as a club representing one of the smallest towns/cities in English professional football AND in an era of billionaire benefactors is because of how lucky we've been with Dyche in charge alongside how well we've in general been run as a club.

I don't want to be losing every week and I'd have liked to see much more of a relegation battle than this, but for anyone who expects/demands us to stay up, you're being ignorant of just what we're up against at this level.

[Spike]

When we started signing players last summer I said that we could go the same way as Fulham and lose the team spirit and not play the players who were Champions.
We didn’t strengthen in all the obvious areas which was criminal
We now appear to have just bought players who we thought we could profit from rather than build a team

[Stockbrokerbelt]

Luton spent wisely and have amassed a team that fight for each other.

I can't say that we have done that at all.

0 issue with going down whatsoever, we always will - have issue with players shitting out of challenges, not tracking runners and the club heavily speculating.

That doesn't make me negative or a bad fan at all

How do you dream that up? We have amassed a squad of young talented players who will command big fees, Foster, Kolosho, Oderbert,Trafford, Bayer, Berge to name a few. Bottling challenges? Tell me a club that does not have times players lose runners? It can’t be perfect, from the off VK said they are learning & will get better which has been fully visible in the last couple of months. We are not Man City & if you expect us to deliver like they do it’s laughable. We ran Villa ragged, caused Liverpool issues, should have had 3 points Friday except for a woeful decision. Credit should be given & the team will be stronger for the experience wether it’s relegation or a scrap that keeps us up.

[CoolClaret]

How do you dream that up? We have amassed a squad of young talented players who will command big fees, Foster, Kolosho, Oderbert,Trafford, Bayer, Berge to name a few. Bottling challenges? Tell me a club that does not have times players lose runners? It can’t be perfect, from the off VK said they are learning & will get better which has been fully visible in the last couple of months. We are not Man City & if you expect us to deliver like they do it’s laughable. We ran Villa ragged, caused Liverpool issues, should have had 3 points Friday except for a woeful decision. Credit should be given & the team will be stronger for the experience wether it’s relegation or a scrap that keeps us up.

In all honesty I don't give a damn about what fees they may or may not one day bring in, I think it's weird that this is now the narrative.. none of us will see benefit from that will we?

I care about a team fighting for the shirt and players that want to be here for more than a season or two at the most

Yes bottling challenges and not tracking runners.

After 21 games I think we've hit a ceiling, and it's a very underwhelming one.

[ClaretPete001]

Brilliant post.

I’m visiting this site less than usual at the moment because the constant drawl of negativity genuinely drains me. I also try to ignore it and just engage in the discussion that interests me, but it’s hard so I am just tending to access the site less and less (everyone will be pleased to know).

I’ll say this and be off for the afternoon:

I listened to Rob Edward’s pre-match presser and his thoughts to relegation was so starkly different to what I hear from fans on here. He basically said they’ll try their best to stay up but if not, they’ll use the experience, keep moving the club forward and the future is bright. Just a real reasoned, sensible response and I feel exactly the same about Burnley.

We have no right to be a premier league club at all. We’re a Championship club really, as are Luton. We’re the 19th best team in the country and in a place that 73 of the 92 league clubs would rip our arms off to be in. Whenever we are in this league, relegation battles are going to be our most likely outcome, with perhaps the occasional purple patch but they’ll be very difficult to maintain as the moment you put a good team together the vultures will circle on your best players.

The same usernames that are moaning now were also unhappy with Dyche, Dycheball and the model of signing ageing pros with no resale value. Now they’re unhappy with the current model but if you read their posts, rarely offer any form of alternative solutions or panacea’s.

I think we have a squad with brimming with the best young talent I’ve ever known and I’m really excited to see it develop. I’d like to hope we’ll learn lessons too, of course, so remain hopeful for the future if disappointed about how the season has panned out so far.

The problem you have is that Luton spent less than £20 million in the summer window while we spent nearly £100 million.

They also have money in the bank and their wage bill is tiny. So, they are likely to view things differently

And I agree, dealing with reality is a drag but you know I enjoy your content so Manperson-up New and erm cart on...! Don't let it get you down.

[Westleigh]

How do you dream that up? We have amassed a squad of young talented players who will command big fees, Foster, Kolosho, Oderbert,Trafford, Bayer, Berge to name a few. Bottling challenges? Tell me a club that does not have times players lose runners? It can’t be perfect, from the off VK said they are learning & will get better which has been fully visible in the last couple of months. We are not Man City & if you expect us to deliver like they do it’s laughable. We ran Villa ragged, caused Liverpool issues, should have had 3 points Friday except for a woeful decision. Credit should be given & the team will be stronger for the experience wether it’s relegation or a scrap that keeps us up.

I reckon one of the big bugbears for us unhappy fans is that as said by a previous poster about teams that have come up from the Championship with outstanding points total have always made a better fist of it than us ,I think the obsession with trying to develop young talent could ultimately be our downfall ,it’s a good idea to buy cheap develop and sell for a profit ,but that was surely our policy in the 60’s and 70’s ,however the difference then was the priority was a winning team then sell the odd player to subsidise another season,I personally think at the end of last season we should have tweaked ever so slightly and gone into this season with roughly the same squad instead of appearing to run before we could walk.

[ClaretPete001]

I reckon one of the big bugbears for us unhappy fans is that as said by a previous poster about teams that have come up from the Championship with outstanding points total have always made a better fist of it than us ,I think the obsession with trying to develop young talent could ultimately be our downfall ,it’s a good idea to buy cheap develop and sell for a profit ,but that was surely our policy in the 60’s and 70’s ,however the difference then was the priority was a winning team then sell the odd player to subsidise another season,I personally think at the end of last season we should have tweaked ever so slightly and gone into this season with roughly the same squad instead of appearing to run before we could walk.

The difference was the abolition of the maximum wage and the ability of smaller clubs to compete with big ones for young talent.

Now big clubs have big academies and pay higher wages.

By the mid 70s the model had largely gone and most of the Lancashire clubs struggled to stay in Division 1.

What the evidence has shown is that while you can pay £3-£4 million for a decent Championship player you have to pay £12 million upwards for similar in the PL. And unless they are good enough for the top 6 the market at those prices is quite limited.

[Westleigh]

The difference was the abolition of the maximum wage and the ability of smaller clubs to compete with big ones for young talent.

Now big clubs have big academies and pay higher wages.

By the mid 70s the model had largely gone and most of the Lancashire clubs struggled to stay in Division 1.

What the evidence has shown is that while you can pay £3-£4 million for a decent Championship player you have to pay £12 million upwards for similar in the PL. And unless they are good enough for the top 6 the market at those prices is quite limited.

But it doesn’t get away from the fact that his we prioritise building a good team first then sell the odd diamond there’s more chance than changing 1/3 of the squad every year.

[matucana]

My thought has been, for a number of years, that the prem league is designed to produce the best product to ensure its revenues steadily grow.

This requires the biggest 'best known worldwide' teams to retain their dominance. That is sorted. It also requires a degree of competition throughout. 20 teams is hard. I can see less in the future.

They like the odd team to capture the imagination. Leicester - prime example - which demonstrates anyone can win. In reality, they can't. No one will dissuade me from the belief that Leicester got all those pens, to ensure they won or didn't lose. Hardy regularly tripping himself up and getting the pen.

Aston Villa is that team, this season. Another Midlands team doing well. They get the breaks and against us, for sure.

Size matters. The bigger the city and its ground, the more welcome.

I am convinced these ingredients assist decision making.

Burnley is not welcome. 80000 is nothing. Plenty of big cities in our midst.

Bristol is the need for the prem. The South West needs to be in the Prem. Some way off.

We have experienced sufficient VAR or ref decisions, this season, to know that we are unwelcome. If they can ensure our departure, it will be done - for the improvement of the prem model.

Sad.

Up the Clarets.

Excellent post and so true. Who could forget the comments of the leading PL honcho following the playoff final in May 2010 , and who could also forget the preferred criteria of the PL for ground size along with capacities, owner wealth, location and transport access. At the time it was mooted that should it come to pass that all of their preferred clubs gained access to the PL, relegation could become history with no promotion. At that time some preferences had fallen down to League 1 and appeared unlikely to return to the PL anytime soon. However it could be resurrected to prevent the breakaway of the big boys into a European League , that would leave the PL with less attractive teams that would not enhance the PL brand with significantly reduced viewing figures along with advertising to match.
As regards the PL and the funding of the PGMOL, which has risen dramatically with the introduction of VAR, he who pays the piper calls the tune.

[ClaretPete001]

But it doesn’t get away from the fact that his we prioritise building a good team first then sell the odd diamond there’s more chance than changing 1/3 of the squad every year.

Indeed totally agree