Aug 24 2009
Fortress Turf Moor
Remember the good old days when it seemed like anyone could come back and knock off Burnley FC — including a ragtag bunch of college kids in Cary, North Carolina? It seems like ancient history now, the summer of 2008.
My, how things have changed. After a rude introduction to Premier League football at Stoke, Burnley has turned Turf Moor into a mighty fortress, notching 1-0 victories against Manchester United and Everton. Suddenly, these newly promoted Clarets are only 34 points from safety with 35 games left.
The big question, though, is this — do these results say more about Burnley than they do about Man United and Everton?
After all, United is just a big red sea monster adjusting to life without its most useful tentacle. It probably looked at the small fish with the misshapen fin and figured it wouldn’t be a problem. Ah, but Nemo had a little fight in him, didn’t he? Cue the old “That’s why they play the games” cliché. Sometimes, these things happen, and after the big red beast blasted 5 past Wigan, most people are assuming it was just a blip on the radar.
Everton, on the other hand, seems to have made itself a victim of unnecessary transfer drama. Do these things ever go well? Remember last season, when Daniel Levy was waving a fist into air and prattling on about how Dimitar Berbatov would “rot in the reserves?” Remember how Tottenham got off to such a slow start? Big difference now, isn’t it? With no transfer drama to speak of, Spurs have taken their first three and sit top of the table. (And you enjoy that while it lasts, Spurs supporters.)
The Joleon Lescott saga is taking the same toll on the Toffees right now, and while it looks like it’s finally coming to a close, the damage has been done. A home thrashing against Arsenal and this loss to Burnley has left egg on David Moyes’ face. He’ll recover, no doubt, but he’s got some work to do. Maybe thrashing Sigma Olomouc again will help with that.
As for Burnley, it’s early days, yes, but we should start considering that they might stick around a while. Owen Coyle built a side that suddenly has a short history of giant-killing in cup ties, and now it’s doing the same in league play. Maybe, just maybe, these guys won’t be instant relegation fodder after all.
Perhaps we can thank those plucky Cary Railhawks U-23s for giving Coyle the teaching moment he needed to get Burnley to this point. Burnley thanked that PDL side already — by buying into it.
One Response to “Fortress Turf Moor”
Burnley got in through the playoffs, didn’t they (he says, too lazy to Google it)? That’s not usually the team that is going to survive, sadly.
Anyway neat how the same kit patterns seem to be used a lot in English football: claret shirts with light blue sleeves are used by Burnley, Aston Villa, and West Ham.
On the other hand, although that sounds like a lot of kit copy-catting, of the 92 clubs of the old Football League, ie, of the four upper divisions of English football, that’s only 3/92 or 3.26%.
But this year all three are in the 20 team Premier League, or 3/20 or 15%.
Not too bad I guess. Not as bad as having two teams named “Rough Riders” in a 9 team league, eh?