[FM17] Burnley FC - The Premier League On A Budget

[JoeyBaldwin]

Despite having one of the smallest budgets in the Championship, Sean Dyche once again worked wonders with Burnley FC, leading them to promotion in the 2015/2016 season. However, keeping them in the Premier League will be one of the biggest challenges in football, and that challenge now falls to the inexperienced Joey Baldwin, a shock replacement for Dyche in the summer of 2016.

The first transfer window is disabled so for the first half of the season Baldwin is laboured with the squad he inherited from Dyche. However, the spine of the team is perfectly adequate: Heaton in goal, Keane at the back, Defour and Hendrick in the middle with Vokes and Gray the main attacking options. Jon Flanagan is the first choice right-back, Ben Mee plays on the left behind George Boyd while Hendrick and Defour are partnered by Dean Marney in a midfield three. Gudmundsson and Arfield are the right-mid options, while Bamford is also hoping to make an impression while Ashley Barnes recovers from a lengthy hamstring injury.

The media are predicting a 19th place finish for the club, and have given Burnley odds of 1000-1 to win the league. The board expect the club to avoid relegation, but that will be a significant challenge, especially given that the first seven fixtures in the league include trips to Old Trafford, Anfield, White Hart Lane and the Kingpower Stadium, with Arsenal and Everton visiting Turf Moor. 

It could be a very difficult start to life in football management for Joey Baldwin...

[JoeyBaldwin]

2016/2017

August

It doesn’t get much tougher than a trip to Old Trafford on the opening day of your first season in football management, but that’s exactly what faced Joey Baldwin when Burnley made the trip to Manchester United to kick off the 16/17 season.

However, within three minutes Burnley were ahead. Bailly conceded a needless penalty for a push in the area and Defour stepped up to bury the penalty past De Gea, who got a hand to it, and give the Clarets the lead! It lasted five minutes – a hopeful shot by Martial took a wicked deflection off Michael Keane and wrong-footed Heaton, going down as an own goal.

In the second half, Wayne Rooney was the difference, but not as you’d expect! His short back-pass was pounced upon by Andre Gray, who lashed home and secure a 2-1 victory for Burnley! What a brilliant start to the season!

The first home game of the season saw Burnley take on Everton, and the points were shared after a 1-1 draw. Keane had given Burnley the lead with a header from a corner, but another own goal, this time from Jon Flanagan turning a cross from Enner Valencia into his own net, levelled the scores.

A disappointing exit from the EFL Cup to Gillingham followed – a weakened Burnley side could only draw 2-2 (the goals being scored by Marney and a Defour penalty) and the Gills won 4-2 on penalties.

August was wrapped up with a trip to Anfield, and while the score was close, Burnley were never in the game. Liverpool dominated from start to finish, racking up 23 shots to Burnley’s four, but a solitary Sadio Mane goal mere seconds after the start of the second half was ultimately the difference.

At the end of the month, we sit 9th in the table with that first precious win on the board. I predict eleven wins will see us to safety.

 

Manchester United 1-2 Burnley (Defour pen, Gray)

Burnley 1-1 Everton (Keane)

Gillingham p2-2 Burnley (Marney, Defour pen)

Liverpool 1-0 Burnley

 

Next month:

Arsenal (h)

Sunderland (h)

Tottenham (a)

[Keano16]

Good start! Some more tough games coming up!

[JoeyBaldwin]

September 2016

The visit of Arsenal to Turf Moor gave us the chance to end their 100% start to the season, and Michael Keane volleyed a Defour free kick home to give us the perfect start! However, Giroud equalized just before half time and Arsenal started to turn the screw.

Patrick Bamford restored our lead with thirteen minutes to go and the possibility of beating another big team became a tantalizing reality, but two late goals by Walcott and Giroud crushed that dream, and Arsenal emerged victorious 3-2. Despite the defeat, I was delighted with how competitive we were.

It’s always important to beat the teams that are expected to be around us, and the home fixture with Sunderland provided the perfect opportunity to get back to winning ways. An even game was settled by thirty seconds of quality – a wonderful team move resulted in Ben Mee crossing for Bamford to score the only goal of the game.

The trip to White Hart Lane brought us back down to earth with a bang, as despite having more possession, we fell victim to some clinical finishing from the Spurs front line. Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen bagged a brace each, though Bamford continued his fine form by grabbing a consolation goal late on. The 4-1 defeat was comfortably our worst performance of the season so far, I was happy with seven points from our first six games considering we’d played Man United, Liverpool and Spurs away and Arsenal at home.

At the end of the month, we sit 14th in the league with a record of P6 W2 D1 L3.

 

Results:

Burnley 2-3 Arsenal (Keane, Bamford)

Burnley 1-0 Sunderland (Bamford)

Tottenham 4-1 Burnley (Bamford)

 

October Fixtures:

Leicester (a)

West Ham (h)

Hull (h)

Southampton (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

22 hours ago, Keano16 said:

Good start! Some more tough games coming up!

Yeah, I prefer it when there's a run of easier games in a row during the season. We have a run in December where we have five winnable games in a row, before we play Man City, Man United, Liverpool, Everton, Arsenal and Spurs in a row in January. Can time the team meetings easier to keep morale up.

[JoeyBaldwin]

October 2016

Our response to the heavy defeat at Tottenham was superb, as we produced a stunning performance to beat reigning champions Leicester at the Kingpower Stadium. Left-back Ben Mee poked home the rebound after Bamford’s close range effort was saved, before Bamford himself rounded off a patient team move with a composed finish to make it 2-0.

Slimani instantly pulled one back for Leicester, but after Jamie Vardy pushed Defour in the area, the Belgian midfielder picked himself up to convert the penalty and seal a terrific 3-1 victory.

The visit of West Ham to Turf Moor proved to be a difficult encounter, and we fell behind when James Collins stole in round the back to volley Payet’s deep free-kick into the net. However, man-of-the-moment Steven Defour produced a wonderful strike from 25 yards which crashed in off the crossbar to equalize.

Sadly on this occasion it was in a losing cause, as Simone Zaza, who was in prolific form, scored the winning goal in the 69th minute, consigning us to a 2-1 defeat.

Hull were sitting rock bottom of the league when they came to town, and we got back to winning ways with a comfortable 2-0 win. Bamford and Keane scored inside the first six minutes and our afternoon was made considerably easier when James Weir and Ryan Mason both received red cards, one either side of half time.

October finished with a difficult Monday night trip to Southampton, and although we competed well throughout the ninety minutes, the clinical finishing of Charlie Austin proved decisive. He scored twice in the first half, one of them a penalty, and despite Jeff Hendrick pulling one back with his first goal for the club, we succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. 

At the end of October, we sit in a respectable 13th place with four wins, one draw and five defeats. We’re well on the way to my target of eleven wins, and have a run of winnable games coming up in November and December.

 

Results:

Leicester 1-3 Burnley (Mee, Bamford, Defour pen)

Burnley 1-2 West Ham (Defour)

Burnley 2-0 Hull (Bamford, Keane)

Southampton 2-1 Burnley (Hendrick)

 

November Fixtures:

Bournemouth (a)

Swansea (a)

Chelsea (h)

[JoeyBaldwin]

November 2016

We dug deep at the Vitality Stadium to claim all three points in dramatic fashion against Bournemouth. Despite dominating possession with 62%, the game was scoreless, but when Ben Mee brought down Francis in the area, it looked like Bournemouth would steal the points. 

But Marc Wilson put his penalty straight down the middle and Tom Heaton saved it, and in the 92nd minute Andre Gray struck from outside the area in sensational fashion to secure a crucial 1-0 win!

The drama kept on coming on our trip to Swansea. Patrick Bamford swept us into the lead early in the first half, but with time running out, Gylfi Sigurdsson produced a superb free kick to equalize. Heaton had got a hand to it, but minutes later, we conceded another set piece in a dangerous area. Lo and behold, Sigurdsson smashed it into the top corner again to put Swansea in front.

Step forward Sam Vokes. He’s being marginalized at the moment due to Bamford’s fine form, but he turned a terrific Gray cross in at the near post to level the scores in the 89th minute. The game finished 2-2, but having had 15 shots and 70% possession we felt we could have won the game.

November came to a head with the visit of Chelsea, and while we competed well (and indeed had more of the ball as I continue to employ a possession-focussed approach), second-half goals from Willian and Fabregas, the latter scoring from the spot after Tarkowski was dubiously adjudged to have fouled Diego Costa, saw us fall to a 2-0 defeat.

At the end of November, we’re still collecting points and enjoying a strong season considering the objective is simply to avoid relegation. We sit 12th with a record of P13 W5 D2 L6.

 

Results:

Bournemouth 0-1 Burnley (Gray 92)

Swansea 2-2 Burnley (Sigurdsson 77, 86; Bamford 7, Vokes 89)

Burnley 0-2 Chelsea (Willian 49, Fabregas p67)

 

December Fixtures:

Middlesbrough (h)

West Brom (a)

Stoke (h)

Watford (a)

Crystal Palace (h)

Man City (h)

Man United (h)

[JoeyBaldwin]

December 2016

With seven Premier League games in December, this would be the busiest month of our season. And what an amazing month it was!

Struggling Middlesbrough were our first opponents, and we saw them off with ease. Dean Marney opened the scoring after just two minutes, powering a Hendrick cross past Victor Valdes, and Patrick Bamford completed the scoring with a smart finish early in the second half. It finished 2-0.

We then snatched all three points at The Hawthorns, the two sides separated by a 25-pass move which was rounded off by Andre Gray’s deflected strike, and we claimed a third successive win (and clean sheet!) with a 2-0 win at home to Stoke – Bamford and Defour the goalscorers.

Then came our best performance of the season so far at Vicarage Road. Michael Keane opened the scoring, converting Defour’s free-kick, but Isaac Success equalized just after the half-hour mark. In the second half, Patrick Bamford stole the show. First, he rifled home with his left foot after Hendrick played him in, before doubling his tally with a sumptuous volley from Gudmundsson’s left-wing cross. Watford piled men forwards in an attempt to get back in the game, but when a corner was cleared by Scott Arfield, we broke and he played Bamford in. He had a lot to do, but he held off Kaboul to complete his hat-trick and secure an emphatic 4-1 win.

With eleven league goals for the season already, Bamford found himself competing with Simone Zaza and Diego Costa for the Golden Boot in December, and with four wins on the bounce, we were looking far from the relegation candidates we’d been tipped to be.

And our great form wasn’t finished yet! Crystal Palace were brushed aside on their visit to Turf Moor, with Andre Gray scoring the only goal of the game, and then came another superb result – victory over Manchester City on Boxing Day. Patrick Bamford was again the difference, scoring twice in quick succession, and despite Sergio Aguero pulling one back immediately, and despite losing Defour to a second half red card, we held on for a famous 2-1 win! 

Our New Years Eve fixture was our third home game in a row, and Manchester United were the visitors. Our run of six consecutive league wins in a row came to an end when Ibrahimovic pounced on a short back pass from Tarkowski to lash a shot past Heaton in the second half to inflict an undeserved defeat – we’d had more shots and 60% possession.

Nevertheless, it had been an outstanding month, and I was given the Manager of the Month award. The team had also climbed into the top half of the table, and we sit 7th at the turn of the year with a record of P20 W11 D2 L7, albeit with a tough run of fixtures to come in January.

 

Results:

Burnley 2-0 Middlesbrough (Marney 2, Bamford 46)

West Brom 0-1 Burnley (Gray 65)

Burnley 2-0 Stoke (Bamford 2, Defour pen 66)

Watford 1-4 Burnley (Success 32; Keane 17, Bamford 67, 83, 84)

Burnley 1-0 Crystal Palace (Gray 24)

Burnley 2-1 Man City (Bamford 30, 32; Aguero 34)

Burnley 0-1 Man United (Ibrahimovic 53)

 

January Fixtures:

Liverpool (h)

West Brom (h) (FA Cup 3rd Round)

Everton (a)

Arsenal (a)

Tottenham (h)

[JoeyBaldwin]

January 2017

The January transfer window was the first window we could buy and sell players in, but sadly our transfer budget remained firmly fixed on £0. The board did let us keep 100% of our transfer income to spend on players, and with the team performing so well it was only natural that some big clubs were sniffing around, and players’ heads were turning.

Somewhat surprisingly, there was only one major departure – Michael Keane left the club, joining West Ham in a deal worth £25m, including £20m up front. This gave us a budget to work with, and we broke the Burnley transfer record on a defensive replacement – Newcastle’s Grant Hanley, who joined in a deal worth up to £16m.

We also added some depth in the midfield with the signings of Javier Eraso (£1.3m) and Jon Gaztanaga (£725K) from Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad respectively.

The new year began with the home fixture with Liverpool, just two days after our defeat to Manchester United. With limited depth in the squad, many players played both matches and inevitably we were found wanting for fitness at the end.

However, in the first half we played very well and Bamford continued his prolific goalscoring form with a tap-in after excellent wing play from Gudmundsson. The lead wouldn’t last, as a patient passing move from Liverpool ended in Sheyi Ojo releasing Divock Origi, who beat Heaton at his near post from close range. Heaton was definitely at fault for Liverpool’s winner, dropping a cross into his own net as we got 2017 underway with a 2-1 defeat.

The FA Cup 3rd Round was an exciting prospect as I feel we can compete with anyone on our day, and positive results in the league against both Manchester clubs affirm that belief. However, West Brom knocked us out at the first hurdle, beating us 1-0 courtesy of Salomon Rondon. We’d had four times as many shots and 67% of the ball, and to make matters worse, Steven Defour picked up a knee ligament injury which would rule him out for the next six weeks.

January was quickly becoming a nightmare following such an awesome December, and we succumbed to another narrow defeat on our trip to Everton, despite again managing 67% possession. With more quality in the side I think we’d be pushing for the top half with domination like that! Romelu Lukaku was the difference here, scoring the only goal of the game early on.

In bad form, the trip to the Emirates was even more daunting than it would normally be, and unsurprisingly the league leaders took us apart. Jeff Hendrick committed the cardinal sin of conceding a soft penalty with the scores goalless, thus rendering our defensive efforts worthless when Santi Cazorla converted it, before a sweet strike from Alexis Sanchez doubled the scores. However, the best goal of the game was scored by Mesut Ozil, who thundered an effort into the top corner from 25 yards.

It looked like we’d shaken off our patchy form when Spurs came to Turf Moor in the final game of January. We raced into a 2-0 lead when Bamford and Tarkowski found the net, but everything fell apart after that. Harry Kane pulled one back just before the interval, and in the second half, a quick-fire Moussa Sissoko brace turned the game on its head and gave Spurs a 3-2 lead they would hold on to. Gutted.

 

At the end of the month, the biggest negative is that we were back in the bottom half, occupying 12th position with a record of P24 W11 D2 L11. However, we have now played all of the big teams bar Chelsea and Man City twice, so we have twelve winnable games left in the season and we’re only five points from the pre-season target of 40.

 

January Results:

Burnley 1-2 Liverpool (Bamford 36; Origi 72, Heaton OG 82)

Burnley 0-1 West Brom (FA Cup Third Round) (Rondon 66)

Everton 1-0 Burnley (Lukaku 11)

Arsenal 3-0 Burnley (Cazorla pen 18, Sanchez 37, Ozil 54)

Burnley 2-3 Tottenham (Bamford 8, Tarkowski 18; Kane 39, Sissoko 70, 73)

 

February Fixtures:

Leicester (h)

Sunderland (a)

West Ham (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

February 2017

Having improved morale with a well-timed team meeting, the visit of struggling Leicester was a great opportunity to get back to winning ways. However, when Grant Hanley was adjudged to have pushed Danny Drinkwater in the area, Jamie Vardy dispatched the penalty and it looked like our dismal run would continue.

Not for the first time this season, Patrick Bamford restored belief with a fine finish from the edge of the area to equalize. We’d been behind for just three minutes, and he struck again just after half time with a sumptuous left-footed strike to give us the lead with his 17th goal of the season. The scoring wasn’t finished there either – on the hour mark Bamford turned provider, teeing up Dean Marney to blast a shot home from the edge of the area. Three wonderful goals, three valuable points.

Our goals were getting more and more spectacular, and on our visit to the Stadium of Light, an absolute howitzer from Dean Marney was the difference. He was fully 30 yards out and found the corner with power and precision. The three points took our total past the 40-point mark, which is seen as the benchmark for teams expected to be around the bottom of the table. We still had 12 games to go.

But February ended on a sour note. 2,691 battle-hardened fans made the trip to the London Stadium, but West Ham, who were enjoying a good season thanks to the scoring exploits of Simone Zaza, took the spoils with a 2-0 victory. Another Heaton own goal and a fine strike from Sevilla loanee Hiroshi Kiyotake made the difference.

Our two victories took us back into the top half, and at the end of the month we sat in 10th position with a record of P27 W13 D2 L12. With no cup football to focus on, we can continue to exceed expectations in the league.

 

February Results:

Burnley 3-1 Leicester (Bamford 40, 50, Marney 60; Vardy pen 37)

Sunderland 0-1 Burnley (Marney 14)

West Ham 2-0 Burnley (Heaton OG 13, Kiyotake 43)

 

March Fixtures:

Southampton (h)

Bournemouth (h)

Hull (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

March 2017

On the face of it, March looked like it could be a very positive month with two home matches and a trip to relegation-threatened Hull. But Southampton were having an excellent season and despite once again having more shots and more possession, the Saints emerged the victors. The nature of the goal that decided the match added to my exasperation – a defensive clearance cannoned into Shane Long and wrong-footed Heaton.

My frustration at the defeat to Southampton was compounded when Bournemouth visited Turf Moor. Patrick Bamford headed us into the lead after a terrific team move and a pinpoint Andre Gray cross made it impossible for the Chelsea loanee to miss, but Jack Wilshere drilled home for Bournemouth soon after.

The winner came late in the day, and it went the way of Bournemouth. January signing Diafra Sakho nodded home in the 87th minute to send the away fans into raptures and make it three defeats in a row for us.

Despite our form, I considered us favourites for the trip to Hull, who were entrenched in the relegation zone. Somewhat unsurprisingly for two out-of-form sides, the game was a dire affair, and it finished 0-0, which was a massive missed opportunity for us considering they had Andrew Robertson sent off after just fifteen minutes. However, at least we stopped the run of consecutive defeats!

At the end of March, with the end of the season looming large, the solitary point we collected actually helped us gain a place and we ended the month in 9th, our record now reading P30 W13 D3 L14.

 

March Results:

Burnley 0-1 Southampton (Long 18)

Burnley 1-2 Bournemouth (Bamford 27; Wilshere 33, Sakho 87)

Hull 0-0 Burnley

 

April Fixtures:

Chelsea (a)

Middlesbrough (a)

Swansea (h)

West Brom (h)

Stoke (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

April 2017

April began with a trip to Stamford Bridge, and without a win in four matches I couldn’t see any way we would emerge with a positive result. However, the boys dug in tremendously well and we took the lead in the first half when Andre Gray smashed Ben Mee’s cross past Courtois.

Eventually Chelsea clicked into gear, and they equalized when Diego Costa rolled Grant Hanley and curled a superb effort into the far corner. Then it was the turn of £24m January signing Saido Berahin, who bagged the winner when he capitalized on a loose ball in the area following a David Luiz long throw. The 2-1 scoreline was a fair reflection on the match but we’d come very close to taking something from the game.

A trip to Middlesbrough came at the ideal time as we sought to end our five-match winless run against the side currently bottom of the table. We did just that. George Boyd got us up and running in the first half before two goals in quick succession just after half time from Javier Eraso (his first for the club) and Andre Gray gave us a 3-0 lead. We started to shake late on when Jordan Rhodes scored a penalty and Christian Stuani pulled another goal back, but we held on to secure an important 3-2 win!

The drama continued when Swansea visited Turf Moor, with the visitors taking the lead early on through Fernando Llorente. Patrick Bamford picked a good time to end his comparative drought by slotting home an equalizer, before Leon Britton was sent off for a second bookable offence. The winning goal came from an unlikely source – left-back Ben Mee rose highest to power a brilliant header into the net with just minutes remaining. The 2-1 win mathematically ensured our survival with five matches to go.

We made it three in a row with a comfortable 2-0 victory over West Brom, with Bamford opening the scoring and Craig Dawson putting through his own net, but the month ended with a poor performance at Stoke, for whom Peter Crouch scored the only goal in the first minute of a very boring match.

At the end of a strong month we were still sitting pretty in 9th with no chance of reaching a Europa League place and no chance of being relegated. Our record was P35 W16 D3 L16.

 

April Results:

Chelsea 2-1 Burnley (Costa 68, Berahino 80; Gray 23)

Middlesbrough 2-3 Burnley (Rhodes pen 66, Stuani 70; Boyd 32, Eraso 47, Gray 49)

Burnley 2-1 Swansea (Bamford 28, Mee 84; Llorente 10)

Burnley 2-0 West Brom (Bamford 63, Dawson OG 67)

Stoke 1-0 Burnley (Crouch 1)

 

May Fixtures:

Watford (h)

Crystal Palace (a)

Man City (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

May 2017

The final stretch of the season was rather uneventful for us, with three dead rubber matches, and it showed in our performances. Our final home game of the season was against Watford but we didn’t do the fans proud as we lost 1-0, Daryl Janmaat scoring late in the first half. The Hornets had Capoue sent off with 17 minutes remaining but we were unable to capitalize.

An even game at Selhurst Park followed but finished goalless, but our final day trip to the Etihad was much more eventful. We kept City at bay for almost the entire first half but Kevin De Bruyne finally broke us down, scoring the rebound after Sane’s effort hit the post, and De Bruyne doubled his tally straight after half-time. 

Raheem Sterling made it three minutes later with a low strike that went in off the post, and the game looked to be petering out into a straightforward victory for City until the 86th minute when January signing Nacho was sent off. This sparked us into life. Grant Hanley immediately pulled a goal back from the resulting free-kick, before Javier Eraso notched a quick-fire second. However, a remarkable comeback wasn’t to be, and City held on to win 3-2.

We finished the season in 12th after dropping two positions on the final day, but having been predicted 19th by the media in pre-season I was very satisfied with our finishing position. Our record was P38 W16 D4 L18, and we scored and conceded 47 goals.

 

May Results:

Burnley 0-1 Watford (Janmaat 43)

Crystal Palace 0-0 Burnley

Man City 3-2 Burnley (De Bruyne 45+1, 47, Sterling 54; Hanley 87, Eraso 89)

 

2016/2017 Season Summary

Arsenal won their first league title for thirteen years, topping the table with 82 points. Liverpool came second, nine points adrift, while Man United and Tottenham rounded out the top four. Southampton were 5th, Chelsea 6th, West Ham 7th and Man City were down in 8th.

Defending champions Leicester could only finish 15th, while the three relegated sides were Swansea (18th), Hull (19th) and Middlesbrough (20th), the latter managing just eighteen points. The three promoted sides were Newcastle, Wolves and Derby.

Sunderland were the biggest overachievers, finishing 9th having been predicted to finish 18th, while Man City were the biggest underachievers, having finished 8th after being predicted to win the title. Invariably Guardiola was sacked with a 49% win ratio, and he was replaced by Rafa Benitez.

Diego Costa finished as the Premier League’s top goalscorer with 28, ahead of Simone Zaza (25) and Olivier Giroud (23), and Costa also picked up the Players’ Player of the Year award. Patrick Bamford ended with 20 goals, an excellent return for a side that finished in mid-table.

Barcelona won the Champions League, beating Arsenal in the final. Tottenham won the FA Cup, thumping Man United 5-1 in the final, while Man City beat Liverpool on penalties to win the EFL Cup.

As for the summer transfer window, the Burnley hierarchy have given me £65m to spend which will allow us to bring some quality into the first eleven and add depth to the squad.

 Bring on the summer signings!

[bucket]

Great read. Well done fella. Keep up the good work. Hopefully with a few key signings you'll be closer to a Europe next season. You going to try and complete a deal for Bamford? 

[apass93]

14 hours ago, JoeyBaldwin said:

May 2017

 

The final stretch of the season was rather uneventful for us, with three dead rubber matches, and it showed in our performances. Our final home game of the season was against Watford but we didn’t do the fans proud as we lost 1-0, Daryl Janmaat scoring late in the first half. The Hornets had Capoue sent off with 17 minutes remaining but we were unable to capitalize.

 

An even game at Selhurst Park followed but finished goalless, but our final day trip to the Etihad was much more eventful. We kept City at bay for almost the entire first half but Kevin De Bruyne finally broke us down, scoring the rebound after Sane’s effort hit the post, and De Bruyne doubled his tally straight after half-time. 

Raheem Sterling made it three minutes later with a low strike that went in off the post, and the game looked to be petering out into a straightforward victory for City until the 86th minute when January signing Nacho was sent off. This sparked us into life. Grant Hanley immediately pulled a goal back from the resulting free-kick, before Javier Eraso notched a quick-fire second. However, a remarkable comeback wasn’t to be, and City held on to win 3-2.

 

We finished the season in 12th after dropping two positions on the final day, but having been predicted 19th by the media in pre-season I was very satisfied with our finishing position. Our record was P38 W16 D4 L18, and we scored and conceded 47 goals.

 

 

May Results:

 

Burnley 0-1 Watford (Janmaat 43)

 

Crystal Palace 0-0 Burnley

 

Man City 3-2 Burnley (De Bruyne 45+1, 47, Sterling 54; Hanley 87, Eraso 89)

 

 

2016/2017 Season Summary

 

Arsenal won their first league title for thirteen years, topping the table with 82 points. Liverpool came second, nine points adrift, while Man United and Tottenham rounded out the top four. Southampton were 5th, Chelsea 6th, West Ham 7th and Man City were down in 8th.

 

Defending champions Leicester could only finish 15th, while the three relegated sides were Swansea (18th), Hull (19th) and Middlesbrough (20th), the latter managing just eighteen points. The three promoted sides were Newcastle, Wolves and Derby.

 

Sunderland were the biggest overachievers, finishing 9th having been predicted to finish 18th, while Man City were the biggest underachievers, having finished 8th after being predicted to win the title. Invariably Guardiola was sacked with a 49% win ratio, and he was replaced by Rafa Benitez.

 

Diego Costa finished as the Premier League’s top goalscorer with 28, ahead of Simone Zaza (25) and Olivier Giroud (23), and Costa also picked up the Players’ Player of the Year award. Patrick Bamford ended with 20 goals, an excellent return for a side that finished in mid-table.

 

Barcelona won the Champions League, beating Arsenal in the final. Tottenham won the FA Cup, thumping Man United 5-1 in the final, while Man City beat Liverpool on penalties to win the EFL Cup.

 

As for the summer transfer window, the Burnley hierarchy have given me £65m to spend which will allow us to bring some quality into the first eleven and add depth to the squad.

 Bring on the summer signings!

 

Great read mate and a great season many many positives to take. Hopefully can turn some of those losses into draws and that would really give you a push up the table.

 

looking forward to who you're going to get in the summer.

[JoeyBaldwin]

On 19 November 2016 at 08:00, bucket said:

Great read. Well done fella. Keep up the good work. Hopefully with a few key signings you'll be closer to a Europe next season. You going to try and complete a deal for Bamford? 

Much appreciated, thanks, and same to aaronpassfield

I re-signed Bamford on loan for another year after selling Sam Vokes and Ashley Barnes, full update to come now.

[JoeyBaldwin]

The Summer Transfer Window

Having not been able to spend any money in my first season in charge, the board were very generous in the summer of 2017, setting my transfer budget at £65m and extending the wage budget by an extra £300K per week.

We’d secured the signings of Matty James and Sebastien Bassong in the second half of the 16/17 season but that was done with the remnants of the Michael Keane money. Now we had some serious cash to burn, I began targetting some bigger names, and we broke our record transfer fee to sign Barcelona striker Paco Alcacer for £22.5m. He’d signed for Barca the season before for £26m, but scored just once in fourteen appearances for the club (nine of which came as a sub).

At the age of 23, Alcacer still has a long career ahead of him, and I continued the policy of signing promising young players by sealing a £10m deal for 22-year-old attacking midfielder Tonny Trindade de Vilhena, who joined from Feyenoord. If he could form a strong partnership with Alcacer, I felt we’d have a very potent threat going forward to match our hard work and industry without the ball, qualities which were further strengthened when Marcos Rojo traded Old Trafford for Turf Moor. He’d been placed on the transfer list by Jose Mourinho and cost us a mere £6.25m.

Paul Robinson had retired at the end of the 16/17 season, so we needed to find a backup goalkeeper to Tom Heaton. I decided to sign a young Croatian goalkeeper named Josip Posavec from Palermo, who cost just £975K despite being just 21 years of age and seemingly having bags of potential.

Further signings came in the form of Jeffrey Schlupp, who cost us £5.25m when we signed him from Leicester, while we also paid £1.7m to Hamburg in order to sign Gotoku Sakai, a Japanese full-back who can play on either side. Later on in the transfer window, I also signed Carl Jenkinson, who had rather bizarrely joined Man City the previous January and not played a single minute for them. He cost us £7.5m, perhaps not the best financial deal for the club but a solid replacement for Jon Flanagan, who we were unable to loan for a second season from Liverpool.

With all these signings, it was inevitable there would be some departures as well, especially as there was plenty of deadwood in the squad when I took over. Michael Kightly and Lukas Jutkiewicz were the most notable names among the players we released, while Sam Vokes joined Hull in a £3.6m deal – a move that prompted me to bring Patrick Bamford back on loan for another season.

Other players to leave included Stephen Ward (Brentford, £135K), Matt Lowton (Wolves, £2.8m), Kevin Long (QPR, £375K) and Ashley Barnes (Fulham, £525K).

There were some very big deals elsewhere in the Premier League, and as we’ve become accustomed to, the highest fee was paid by Man United. They spent £86m to secure the sensational signing of Antoine Griezmann, while they also splashed £28m plus add-ons for Adrien Rabiot, and a further £20.5m on Miguel Layun from Porto.

Arsenal finally splashed some cash on a striker, spending £49.5m on Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon in a deal which could rise to £68m. The third biggest signing of the window was made by Man City, who spent £39m (possibly rising to £50m) on Swedish defender Victor Lindelof.

Finally, in other news (non-transfer related but still interesting), the decision was taken to move the 2022 World Cup from Qatar for scheduling reasons. The new venue? Of all the places FIFA could have picked, Morocco was the chosen country. That will be very interesting indeed…

[Murrayzoster]

Loving this mate! Loving the good old fashioned detail and writing, consider me subscribed and a follower, KUTGW.

[JoeyBaldwin]

August 2017

We kicked off the new season with a home fixture against Watford, and with five new signings in the starting lineup, I was excited to see how my new-look Burnley side would perform. Jenkinson, Rojo, Trindade de Vilhena, Schlupp and Alcacer all made their full debuts, while Josip Posavec, Matty James and Gotoku Sakai were all on the bench (indeed, the latter two did come on in the second half to make their debuts as well).

Alcacer had the ball in the net after just thirteen seconds, but was adjudged offside after nodding a cross from Schlupp past Heurelho Gomes, but that was the only real action in an otherwise tepid first half. However, after 66 minutes Alcacer broke the deadlock, glancing a Jenkinson cross in at the near post.

He doubled his tally just minutes later, latching onto a long ball by George Boyd to squeeze a shot under the body of Gomes, who should have done better. Nevertheless, it was another opening day victory, and the perfect start to a season in which the media were again predicting a season of struggle – 17th our expected finishing position.

We were brought back down to earth with a bump in our first away game of the season. Our trip to newly-promoted Newcastle was never going to be easy, but another game of few chances this time went against us. Dwight Gayle opened the scoring with just ten minutes to go, and Rolando Aarons sealed the win for Newcastle in added time.

Our third match of the season was at home to West Ham, who featured Jon Flanagan in the team after he’d opted against re-joining us on loan. Dimitri Payet curled a trademark free-kick into the top corner after eleven minutes to give West Ham the lead, and in a sense there was nothing we could have done about that. What followed, however, was some of the worst defending imaginable, and unsurprisingly it cost us the match.

A large portion of the blame fell on the shoulders of Grant Hanley, who bizarrely tried to head the ball back to Tom Heaton from the halfway line. Inevitably Simone Zaza raced through and punished him, displaying the prolific form we’d come to expect from the previous season when he’d notched 25 league goals. Patrick Bamford pulled us back into the game to open his account for the season, heading home from Schlupp’s cross, but the game was put beyond reach when Hanley put through his own net with just two minutes to go – he somehow contrived to power a header past Heaton from a wide Payet free-kick.

The team needed a lift, so it seemed that the second round of the EFL Cup came at a good time for us. We’d been drawn away at League Two side Cambridge United, so I rotated the squad, handing debuts to Sebastien Bassong, Josip Posavec and Gotoku Sakai. Cambridge caused us a few problems, but we took the lead early on when Javier Eraso smashed home from the edge of the area. Scott Arfield settled the match with a superb strike deep in second-half injury time.

Despite that victory, we needed to get back to winning ways in the Premier League, and our final game of August saw us travel to Selhurst Park to take on Crystal Palace.

Fortunately for us, Crystal Palace were terrible in the first half. After two minutes, Mandanda played a short goal-kick to Scott Dann, and Alcacer robbed him before calmly rolling the ball into the bottom corner to give us the lead. Jeff Hendrick doubled our advantage with a sweet left-footed strike, and it was three on the stroke of half-time. Hendrick slid Alcacer through with a wonderful pass, and the Spaniard made no mistake. Palace fought back in the second half but our defence held firm to keep a clean sheet.

With six points from our first four league matches, plus a winnable draw in the next round of the EFL Cup (MK Dons away), we sat in 12th place in the table. Of course, the league doesn’t really take shape for a while but it’s always nice to get a couple of early wins on the board.

 

August Results:

Burnley 2-0 Watford (Alcacer 66, 72)

Newcastle 2-0 Burnley (Gayle 80, Aarons 90+1)

Burnley 1-3 West Ham (Bamford 72; Payet 11, Zaza 57, Hanley OG 88)

Cambridge 0-2 Burnley (Eraso 8, Arfield 90+3)

Crystal Palace 0-3 Burnley (Alcacer 2, 45+1, Hendrick 28)

 

September Fixtures:

Southampton (h)

Man United (a)

MK Dons (a)

Tottenham (h)

Wolves (a)

[apass93]

Good stuff again mate nice to see quality and depth being added to the squad and your front man is firing early. As soon as the team starts to gel I'm sure you will be marching up the table.

[JoeyBaldwin]

Apologies for the delay in updates, my computer has been undergoing maintenance but is now fixed so the file can continue 

[JoeyBaldwin]

September 2017

The positive momentum that we generated with victories over Cambridge and Crystal Palace continued when Southampton visited Turf Moor. We were ahead inside three minutes courtesy of another fine strike by Jeff Hendrick, again with his supposedly weaker left peg, from 20 yards. Southampton had the chance to equalise from the penalty spot but Tom Heaton was able to deny Dusan Tadic, and we made him pay in fortuitous fashion. Andre Gray beat Ryan Bertrand to the by-line, and Fonte smashed his cross into Patrick Bamford, the ball cannoning off him and into the net.

Our three-match winning streak in all competitions would certainly be tested at Old Trafford in our next league game, and though we fought hard, Man United were the better side and took the points. Paul Pogba opened the scoring after ten minutes with a simple header from a corner, but it took a wonder strike from Juan Mata with two minutes remaining to confirm our defeat. He volleyed home from 25 yards after Ibrahimovic picked him out.

I rotated the side again for our trip to MK Dons in the third round of the EFL Cup, and we fell behind to a goal from Aleix Garcia early on. Without showing much attacking threat, we managed to equalise when Trindade de Vilhena opened his account for the club when a free-kick fell to him in front of goal, but we slipped to defeat when Nicky Maynard slotted home. We were out of the EFL Cup, and the board were very disappointed as they were expecting us to reach the fourth round.

Tottenham had started the season in good form, but on their visit to Turf Moor, we took them to the cleaners. Hugo Lloris suffered the ignominy of scoring an own goal after Schlupp’s effort rebounded off the post, and Grant Hanley doubled our advantage just after half-time when he volleyed Defour’s free-kick into the net. Spurs had more shots over the course of the game but it was our clinical finishing that decided the match, and this was exemplified by our third goal, which came about when Bamford guided a cross from Andre Gray just inside the far post with consummate ease.

However, the 3-0 win over Tottenham would only be an advantage if we could capitalise on it with a win over Wolves, and despite dominating with 61% and 16 shots to Wolves’ seven, we succumbed to a narrow 1-0 defeat. The only goal of the game was an Abel Hernandez penalty, which came about when Jenkinson brought down Ivan Cavaleiro in the area.

Another two wins and two defeats in September meant that our record at the end of the month was P8 W4 D0 L4, and we currently sit 10th in the league. The 3-0 win over Spurs will be one of the highlights of the season, and shows what can happen when we play at our best.

 

September Results:

Burnley 2-0 Southampton (Hendrick 3, Bamford 79)

Man United 2-0 Burnley (Pogba 10, Mata 88)

MK Dons 2-1 Burnley (Garcia 12, Maynard 81; Trindade de Vilhena 73)

Burnley 3-0 Tottenham (Lloris OG 28, Hanley 50, Bamford 65)

Wolves 1-0 Burnley (Hernandez pen 54)

 

October Fixtures:

Bournemouth (a)

Liverpool (h)

Sunderland (h)

[JoeyBaldwin]

October 2017

With Bournemouth struggling towards the bottom of the league table, I felt the trip to the south coast was an excellent opportunity to get back on track after our defeat to Wolves. The Cherries’ lack of confidence was very evident, and after fifteen minutes Trindade de Vilhena waltzed through the midfield and fired home from eighteen yards. However, against the run of play Bournemouth equalised through Andrew Surman, who nodded Jordon Ibe’s cross into the net.

Minutes into the second half, Harry Arter received his second yellow card and his marching orders, and from then on it was pretty much attack vs defence. We ended the match with 68% possession, which highlights the dominance we displayed throughout the match, but it didn’t look like we were going to break Bournemouth’s resilient defence down…

Step forward Patrick Bamford yet again! Defour’s whipped cross was met on the volley by the Chelsea loanee, beating Adam Federici at his near post in the 89th minute.

It was a timely three points ahead of the visit of Liverpool, who promised to be tough opponents. Paco Alcacer hadn’t scored since the win over Crystal Palace back in August, but when Joel Matip fouled Hanley in the area, the ex-Barcelona striker stepped forward and ended his goal drought from the spot. Within minutes he’d scored again, converting a simple close-range chance that owed itself to the creativity of Trindade de Vilhena, who was proving to be an inspired signing. Marcos Rojo was a rock at the back as we successfully claimed our fifth clean sheet of the season!

With the team in great form, we were labelled heavy favourites when Sunderland came to town. In typical fashion, we fell behind when summer signing Sergi Enrich looped a header beyond Heaton, who should have done a lot better.

After falling behind, we needed someone to step up and grab the game by the scruff of the neck. That man was Jeff Hendrick. Within four minutes of going behind, he controlled a high pass from Boyd, burst past Papy Djilobodji and rifled a powerful shot into the top corner from just outside the box. Didier Ndong was sent off for a second bookable offence in the 55th minute, but it wasn’t until the 83rd minute that Hendrick scored the deciding goal, and this one was even better than his first!

Gotoku Sakai was the creator this time, but all he did was play a square ball in the midfield. The ball sat up nicely and Hendrick struck it first time on the half-volley, catching the shot absolutely perfectly. Pickford had no chance, the ball flying into the bottom-left corner with pinpoint accuracy. The game finished 2-1 and both of Hendrick’s goals were worthy of winning any game.

Our 100% record in October saw me crowned Manager of the Month, and we were flying high in 6th with a record of P11 W7 D0 L4. Hendrick’s second goal against Sunderland came third in the October Goal of the Month competition, while he himself came third in the Player of the Month award.

 

October Results:

Bournemouth 1-2 Burnley

(Surman 45, Arter sent off 54; Trindade de Vilhena 15, Bamford 89)

Burnley 2-0 Liverpool (Alcacer pen 38, 43)

Burnley 2-1 Sunderland (Hendrick 26, 83; Enrich 22, Ndong sent off 55)

 

November Fixtures:

Derby (a)

Chelsea (a)

Stoke (h)

[Northernpilgrim]

You're doing great, good luck for the season ahead 

[bucket]

Well done fella. Good to see Bamford still popping up with some important goals! 

[JoeyBaldwin]

November 2017

November began with a trip to newly-promoted Derby County, who have endured a difficult start to the season and were floundering at the foot of the table. In the first half, our quality and confidence showed.

Our first goal came from a Derby corner. We sprung a wonderful counter-attack which was finished by Alcacer, who volleyed Boyd’s cross into the corner of the net. Then it became the Trindade de Vilhena show – first he beat Scott Carson at his near post from Arfield’s deep cross, then he fired powerfully home after Alcacer’s shot was blocked, and at half-time I thought the game was dead and buried at 3-0.

I was very wrong, as Derby came out all guns blazing in the second half and proceeded to absolutely dominate us. A period of relentless pressure was capped by a fierce Jacob Butterfield strike, and they really set the cat among the pigeons when Bradley Johnson reduced the arrears further with two minutes to go. Thankfully we held on and claimed the points, but I was very unimpressed with our second half performance – it really was a game of two halves.

The trip to Stamford Bridge saw our four-match winning streak come to a dignified end. We battled hard but a solitary first-half goal by Eden Hazard, assisted by expensive summer signing Ross Barkley, was enough to settle the game, which we finished with ten men after Steven Defour was sent off in second-half stoppage time.

But despite this defeat, we finished the month arguably our most complete performance of my tenure to date. Stoke were the visitors, and we dominated from start to finish, having 74% possession and restricting Stoke to just two shots in the entire match, neither of which were on target. By contrast, we managed 16 shots, but it took 68 minute for one to find the net. When it came, there were no surprises for guessing it was Jeff Hendrick from outside the area. What a season he’s having.

We sealed a 2-0 win with an emphatic strike from another in-form player – Tonny Trindade de Vilhena rounded off a superb move by blasting a shot into the roof of the net from close range.

Our record of P14 W9 D0 L5 saw us climb up to 5th as our wonderful start to the season continued. The busy Christmas period will be difficult though, as we play consecutive away games on the 23rd, 26th and 30th!

 

November Results:

Derby County 2-3 Burnley

(Butterfield 61, Johnson 88; Alcacer 10, Trindade de Vilhena 25, 34)

Chelsea 1-0 Burnley (Hazard 33; Defour sent off 90+1)

Burnley 2-0 Stoke (Hendrick 68, Trindade de Vilhena 85)

 

December Fixtures:

Leicester (a)

Man City (h)

Arsenal (a)

West Brom (h)

Everton (a)

Watford (a)

West Ham (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

December 2017

Our first match of a very busy and difficult December took place at the Kingpower, scene of a fine victory for us last season. We’d done the double over Leicester in the 16/17 season, but they were out for revenge and took the lead when Dominic Iorfa nodded home after we failed to properly clear a corner. They made it two just minutes later when Marco Benassi struck from the edge of the box, and the situation looked bleak.

Our response was instant. Jeff Hendrick played Scott Arfield through on goal, and while he could only hit the post, the ball fell to George Boyd who couldn’t miss. But Leicester weren’t to be denied in this match, and they sealed their win with a back-post header from Robert Huth late in the game, and an injury to Jeff Hendrick which ruled him out for the month added to the disappointment.

Man City were our next visitors to Turf Moor, and they were in superb form, sitting top of the table. Unsurprisingly, they turned on the style and they carved us open to take the lead when Kelechi Iheanacho smashed Nolito’s cross into the net from six yards. Iheanacho doubled his tally soon after, powering a shot from the edge of the area past Heaton. He had a chance to complete his hat-trick in the dying moments of the match, but Heaton was able to save his penalty, but City still completed a straightforward 2-0 win which they owed to the Nigerian striker.

Having lost two matches in a row, the last thing we needed was a trip to the Emirates to play the current title-holders. But there’s a never-say-die attitude among my Burnley squad and we almost always make it difficult for the big teams to get a result against us, and this was no different.

Indeed, we defended very well and were duly rewarded when Javier Eraso robbed Per Mertesacker and found Alcacer, who placed a wonderful shot into the bottom corner! Thus the onslaught began, and our defence were tested to their absolute limits. But we continued to frustrate the Gunners, and when a slick passing move enabled Alcacer to slide Trindade de Vilhena through on goal, he made no mistake and doubled our lead.

Arsenal created five clear-cut chances throughout the match, and they did pull a goal back when Theo Walcott thumped a shot across goal inside the far post, as is his trademark, but despite Trindade de Vilhena receiving his second yellow card, we held on to claim a famous victory!

I felt we had a good chance of following that brilliant win with another when West Brom came to town, but circumstances conspired against us when Javier Eraso received his marching orders for a second bookable offence in the second half. We hadn’t been anywhere near our creative best, but out of nothing Matty James scored a thunderbolt from distance to give us the lead. Our advantage lasted just two minutes, and Leigh Griffiths’ equaliser was the final goal of a game nobody deserved to win. It finished 1-1.

Our trip to Goodison Park saw us produce a terrible first half performance against an Everton side who were sitting 16th in the table and had just replaced manager Ronald Koeman with Steve Clarke. Romelu Lukaku opened the scoring with a simple header from a Deulofeu corner, and when Grant Hanley brought down Fernando Llorente in the area, Lukaku stepped up to double his tally. It was 3-0 before half-time as well – Ramiro Funes Mori scored an unbelievable 30-yard free-kick, which flew into the top corner. We improved after the break and monopolised possession (as we so often do) as we tried to find a way back into the match, but it was to no avail.

The second of three consecutive away matches over the festive period came at Vicarage Road, scene of one of our best victories last season when we beat them 4-1. We needed a response to the hammering we took at Everton, and an even game looked to be heading the way of Watford when Heaton spilled a strike from Holebas straight to the feet of 17-year-old debutant Elliot Ball, who made no mistake with just 20 minutes to go.

But we showed our tremendous fighting spirit again, and we equalised when Alcacer capitalised on a goalmouth scramble caused by Andre Gray’s cross. Gray was at the centre of attention again moments later, squaring a ball across the six-yard box for substitute Bamford to tap in – we’d turned the game well and truly on its head! A fine victory was sealed when Bamford fired home from Trindade de Vilhena’s cross for his second of the match. It was a much-needed 3-1 victory.

But the trip to West Ham told a very different story, and having already beaten us at Turf Moor this season, the Hammers made light work of us. Simone Zaza was a man inspired, and he bagged a hat-trick to continue the prolific form that earned him a big-money move to Arsenal once the January transfer window opened.

Zaza opened the scoring with a smooth finish at the near post after he was played in by Lanzini, and he doubled his tally on the half-hour when Ayew robbed Jenkinson and crossed the ball into the middle for him to finish emphatically into the top corner. Zaza completed his hat-trick in injury time with an easy finish from close range, which Heaton nearly saved. It was academic anyway, we’d been comfortably outplayed and deserved to lose.

We’d been 5th at the start of December but four defeats in the month saw us fall down to 11th, with a record of P21 W11 D1 L9. At least nobody can say we’re a boring side, but we do have to start turning losses into draws if we want to fight for Europa League places.

 

December Results

Leicester 3-1 Burnley (Iorfa 29, Benassi 36, Huth 78; Boyd 38)

Burnley 0-2 Man City (Iheanacho 10, 26)

Arsenal 1-2 Burnley

(Walcott 70; Alcacer 16, Trindade de Vilhena 66, sent off 78)

Burnley 1-1 West Brom (Eraso sent off 73, James 81; Griffiths 83)

Everton 3-0 Burnley (Lukaku 20, pen 26, Funes Mori 42)

Watford 1-3 Burnley (Ball 73; Alcacer 78, Bamford 82, 90+2)

West Ham 3-0 Burnley (Zaza 11, 30, 90+3)

 

January Fixtures

Newcastle (h)

Southampton (a, FA Cup 3rd Round)

Crystal Palace (h)

Man United (h)

Southampton (a)

[JoeyBaldwin]

January 2018

We lost every single game we played in January last season, but this season the fixture list had been slightly kinder and I saw our home game with Newcastle on New Years Day as a very winnable game. We started well and took the lead in the first half when Trindade de Vilhena rolled the ball into an empty net after excellent wing play by George Boyd. However, Newcastle were enjoying a decent first season back in the Premier League and they snatched a very late equaliser through Achraf Lazaar to salvage a draw. For us, it was very definitely two points dropped.

The FA Cup third round draw had given us a tough fixture away at Southampton, but we produced a solid display and came away with a 0-0 draw. We’d come the closest, hitting the woodwork through Trindade de Vilhena, but I was satisfied that we’d be in with a good chance of winning the replay at home.

But we followed this resilient performance with a fairly torrid one when Crystal Palace visited Turf Moor. We’d pulverised them at Selhurst Park but fell behind here when Nordin Amrabat fired home from 20 yards after we cleared a corner straight to him.

Our best move of the match drew us level. Trindade de Vilhena played Schlupp in down the left, and his cross was met by Paco Alcacer, who made no mistake at the near post. However, Amrabat had the last word, and he netted the winner for Palace in the second half, scoring from outside the area for the second time in the match. It was a very disappointing 2-1 defeat, and the misery was compounded by a red card for Steven Defour.

It would take a monumental effort to end our run of four games without a win when Man United came to town, especially with Defour suspended. As you’d expect, United were the more attacking side but we took the lead against the run of play – Trindade de Vilhena beat De Gea at the near post to give us a surprise lead. We defended very well and arguably deserved all three points for our efforts, but we were let down by a bad mistake by Tom Heaton, who let a Luke Shaw cross squirm beneath his body. Nevertheless, a point against Man United is a decent result, and I was very happy with the effort.

Then came a double-header with Southampton. First, we had the FA Cup third round replay at Turf Moor, and while the game was a very even affair, two moments of genuine quality made the difference, and sadly for us, Steven Davis was responsible for both.

Davis opened the scoring after latching onto Austin’s lay-off and driving home from the edge of the box, but we fought hard and equalised when Jenkinson’s perfect cross from deep found Alcacer, who slotted home. Davis scored what proved to be the decisive goal just after half-time by firing home from a narrow angle after Jonathan Biabiany’s cross evaded everyone. We were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle for the second consecutive season.

This meant that the league fixture at St. Mary’s would be our final fixture of the month, and we still hadn’t won a game in January. However, Southampton had the mental edge after beating us just four days previously, and they produced a solid performance that we couldn’t match. Possession was 50/50, something we’ve made our strength, and the Saints were more creative in attack. One goal settled the encounter, and Nathan Redmond scored it after slotting home from Harrison Reed’s through ball.

So for the second consecutive season we failed to win a game in January, and having accrued just two points in the month we had completely faded away after our excellent start. Our record is now P25 W11 D3 L11 and we sit 12th in the table. We’re well clear of relegation and the teams in mid-table are all very close together, but we need to get back to winning ways having gone seven without a win in all competitions.

We didn’t make any signings in the January transfer window, but Arsenal were big spenders, splashing out £39.5m on Simone Zaza from West Ham and £18.5m on Jetro Willems. Spurs also spent big, signing Franco Vasquez from Sevilla for £38m, while Man City signed Jose Gaya from Valencia for £23m.

 

January Results:

 

Burnley 1-1 Newcastle (Trindade de Vilhena 34; Lazaar 89)

Southampton 0-0 Burnley

Burnley 1-2 Crystal Palace (Alcacer 30, Defour sent off 73; Amrabat 15, 55)

Burnley 1-1 Man United (Trindade de Vilhena 49; Shaw 77)

Burnley 1-2 Southampton (Alcacer 38; Davis 11, 47)

Southampton 1-0 Burnley (Redmond 17)

 

February Fixtures:

 

Tottenham (a)

Wolves (h)

Liverpool (a)