Match Day Thread Burnley FC v Sunderland AFC – Friday 31st March 2023 - KO 20:00

I thought the ref was ok for once.

 

Yep,me too. He didn't seem to want to get his card out too early,preferred to talk and warn a little first,which I liked.Not bad Ref.

 

Barely noticed him so he must have been good.

Really good effort. Burnley are a very good side, and we aren't much short of being one either. Obvious what we lack, but it's great the the players and manager done use it as an excuse.

 

Tella? Should have had a yellow for diving though..

 

Lazy as fu*k. ...and we have 4 more years of that to look forward to.

 

Dear me. His first start in men's football and that's your opinion formed already. He was fine last night. Gave the ball away a couple of times but who didn't.

 

A cracking night overall. A really hard working performance from every player on the pitch. Onien and Gooch outstanding Batth immense. Thought Ekwah did OK at times better when he doesn't have time to think about things. Hume grew into the game and wins a lot of headers going forward. Mitchut is a quality player need to get him signed up . Burnley have undoubted quality but with a little bit of luck we could've nicked all 3 points. Supporters were immense and backed the lads the entire 96 mins loud and proud. Fantanstic support. Really enjoyed the night great catch up with friends and a gritty performance to be proud off. We'll done to all.

 

I was struck by how relaxed and happy the lads looked as they were waiting in the tunnel to get on the field. The team spirit looked really good and that was reflected by the energy on the field. Great result.

 

The away support did us proud again.

Any club can take thousands for 'glamour ties', and vital matches ...

... this was something much more impressive.

Traveling down on a Friday night to watch a reserve team play the runaway leaders is good support, knowing you'd be back after midnight for a game you could watch at home is fantastic.

My first thought, when the whistle blew was for our supporters, absolutely top class.

 

So much to like about that performance.

Given we lost two more to injury over the International break, have no recognised striker, had Gooch coming back for his first start after a long injury lay off and Pierre Ekwah making his first senior start - you have to give them all bags of credit.

Defensively we were sound. We held a great shape and the times when they managed to change the tempo with a couple of quick passes we either managed to get a block in by putting bodies on the line or force them into the wrong decision/a poor final ball due to the press. So, so impressed with Lyndon Gooch mind, given hes been out injured and was playing in an unnatural role he was superb. He got in the way to deflect over Brownhills effort first half and then a particularly excellent tackle when the ball fell to Benson at the back post second half. He defended resolutely when they had the ball wide on that side and eventually Benson was hooked. Trai Hume did a similar job on Zaroury. Great to see because those two changed the game in the reverse fixture. The last point I'd like to make about our defensive play was how well Luke O'nien marshalled Nathan Tella out of the game. Ten goals in his last nine but didn't get any change at all out of Luke, summed up in the second half where Luke shielded the ball out and nearly barged Tella into the stands, twice. Tella then went face to face with him and the stare O'nien gave him was ****ing fantastic. Hes a gem that lad, he just gets it!

So enough of that, what about down the other end? Well I was pleased to see that our game plan didn't just rely on us sitting in and clearing our lines for 90 minutes, we were a genuine threat down the other end. They were naturally the games aggressors seeing as they're 145,000 points clear of everyone and were playing at home, but that left the kind of spaces you love to see for Clarke, Pritchard and Roberts (forced a good save coming in off the right first half) to exploit. We pressed them so well and they got fortunate on a couple of occasions trying to play out - particularly the one where Joffy Gelhardt got a good tackle in but their lad just about recovered to toe the ball back to the keeper. Noticeably they went more direct from the back for the first 20 mins or so of the second half so Kompany must have bollocked them about it.

Now obviously they've had opportunities in the game, but I honestly feel they were fortunate in spells too. The aforementioned Gelhardt moment and then the deflected Amad effort second half - the keeper is an absolute passenger there and hes so unlucky for it to come off the underside of the bar and land kindly for the keeper. We manage to get the ball in the net (quality from Jack Clarke btw, I enjoy his outside of the right foot whipped crosses) but clearly Ba is that far offside he's actually in Blackburn. Always disappointing when your celebrations are cut short.

All in all we gave a really good account of ourselves and landed a decent amount of blows on them to ensure they were always wary of the threat we could pose. Defensively we were quality and deserved our point. No mean feat that we're the first side to keep a clean sheet there in over a year since Pep's City side, but well done to Burnley for being the first side to stop us scoring for 23(?!) games.

On to Hull.

 

I'm going to buck the trend and say I don't buy into the Vincent Kompany fan club. He's lauded as a master tactician but, last night, he moved his players around like chess pieces for 90 minutes and barely got close to checkmate.

There's no doubt he's done a good job but taking a relegated PL club back up isn't the hardest job and Burnley weren't exactly a basket case. He's a good manager but this all reminds me of Chris Wilder who organised a good team, made them work really hard and did well until the adrenaline wore off. The Man City game, and last night, shows they're tiring and are miles from being a PL side.

This current talk about him being the future Man City manager is daft imo, Chelsea tried that too soon with Lampard, and United with OGS.

Beating the likes of Rotherham and Wigan, with a newly relegated PL team, isn't a good guide and I know little about Belgian football. Kompany was out thought by uncle Tony last night. He may be the real deal but I'm not yet convinced.

 

Burnley got humped by Man City in the FA Cup which is a truer reflection of where they are at the moment. However, I will refrain judgement on Kompany until a full season in the prem.

 

Sorry I missed the write up RTB. Typical when I was going to predict a 0-0 .

Solid performance from a patched up team. Next season with a couple of additions and a lot less injuries we have nowt to fear in this league whatsoever and that includes them dropping down.

I know we will still have the moaners "we should have brought a striker in" and I can understand that but personally I think Speakman and his team have done a cracking job.

We have come across a lot more lows than highs through the seasons/years but this has been the best since the Reidy days imo and the potential is enormous.

 

Always love away games. It’s a different “crowd” to the home. You get little to none of the negativity you get at home games.

Didn’t get chance to see much last night. Was gigging from 8:30 first sport but managed to catch the last 10 and 15 minutes of the first half. Excellent result and, from what I’ve heard, none of the team looked ohased by the occasion. And we delayed them winning promotion by another game at least!

Kompany looks like a very good manager. Maybe destined for big things. Although it might be that he’s not built for the top club ego. He’s blatantly bigger than everyone at his current club, sometimes it doesn’t work as well when managers go from that to being less famous than those they manage.

Proud of the lads. Will be watching the replay today

 

Thought he had an excellent first start I’ve said before Michut looked lost in his first few games now he looks outstanding. My moneys on Ekwah to do the same he has everything apart from game experience Ekwah Ba Lihadji Michut Bennett Suspect they won’t all make it for us but Really looking forward to seeing their developmment

 

And he only had to make one save.

 

Official highlights
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