After a fireworks start to the season, it's settled into pure Scott Parker football at Burnley who sit second in the league thanks to a mean defence and series of single-goal victories - Tom Whittaker (@TomClaret) takes us through it.
How was last season?
Last season was about as bad as it gets. There was early optimism among the fanbase after a fantastic Championship title-winning campaign and a summer spending spree far outstripping anything the club has ever done previously, despite the loss of a couple of key loanees in Ian Maatsen and Nathan Tella. What followed, however, was worse than even the most pessimistic Burnley fan could have predicted, as the Championship title winning Vincent Kompany appeared to be replaced by an alien who didn't understand how to get the best out of the players and the lopsided squad he had assembled. The playing-out-from-the-back style proved relentlessly suicidal and obvious personnel changes came too late to prevent by far the most tame relegation we've witnessed in our years as a yo-yo club.
Burnley in the league this season…
Luton 1-4 Burnley Chong 55 – Brownhill 6, Odobert 37, O’Shea 72, Vitnho 80
Burnley 5-0 Cardiff Horvath og 9, Koleosho 31, Brownhill 51, Amdouni 88, Gudmundsson 90
Sunderland 1-0 Burnley Mundle 26
Burnley 1-1 Blackburn Foster 10 – Weimann 23
Leeds 0-1 Burnley Koleosho 18
Burnley 2-1 Portsmouth Sarmiento 63, Brownhill 90 – Lang 42
Oxford 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 1-0 Plymouth Brownhill pen 26
Burnley 0-0 Preston
Sheff Wed 0-2 Burnley Anthony 37, Brownhill 50
Hull 1-1 Burnley Simons 45 – Fleming 77
How's the start of the season been?
It's difficult to complain with only one defeat in 11, just five goals conceded and second place in the table. We're a tough watch at times but I think Parker was dealt a bad hand and so we're ahead of where I expected us to be at this stage.
Early impressions of Scott Parker - hardly inspiring but gets results?
After 4-1 and 5-0 wins in the first two games, I was wondering what your season preview was talking about when you said Scott Parker's football was boring. After the upheaval of half the squad leaving shortly afterwards, though, he has certainly reverted to type. The football is often one-paced and we struggle to break down a deep-lying defence, although we don't give much away either. It's very much Gareth Southgate at the Euros stuff. Thankfully we haven't come across many teams who are better than us yet in this division.
Chaotic transfer window, how do you assess the ins and outs overall?
The squad building was done in a very haphazard manner, with more and more players handing in transfer requests or refusing to play as the deadline approached. The squad was bloated and needed trimming but it was done more according to the wants of the players than the needs of the club or the manager - this led to what felt like a last minute scramble to get replacements over the line, particularly out wide. There is quality in the starting 11 but the bench looks thin and overall we're not at the level we were last time in this division. I'm hopeful we can stay in contention until January and some more considered recruitment can help us get over the line.
Ins >>> Mike Tresor, 25, LW, Genk, £16m >>> Maxime Esteve, 22, CB, Montpellier, £10m >>> Hannibal Mejbri, 21, AM, Man Utd, £5m >>> Joe Worrall, 27, CB, Forest, £5m >>> Andreas Hountondji, 22, CF, Caen, £3m >>> Lucas Pires, 23, LB, Santos, £2m >>> Josh Laurent, 29, CM, Stoke, £1m >>> Oluwaseun Adewumi, 19, AM, FAC (Austria), £300k >>> Shurandy Sambo, 22, RB, Eindhoven, Free >>> Vaclav Hladky, 33, GK, Ipswich, Free >>> Etienne Green, 24, GK, Saint-Etienne, Free >>> John Egan, 31, CB, Sheff Utd, Free >>> Jeremy Sarmiento, 22, LW, Brighton, Loan >>> Jaidon Anthony, 24, LW, Bournemouth, Loan >>> Bashir Humphreys, 21, CB, Chelsea, Loan >>> Zian Flemming, 26, AM, Millwall, Loan >>>
Outs >>> Wilson Odobert, 19, RW, Spurs, £25m >>> Sander Berge, 26, CM, Fulham, £20m >>> Dara O’Shea, 25, CB, Ipswich, £10m >>> Arijanet Muric, 25, GK, Ipswich, £8m >>> Ameen Al-Dakhil, 22, CB, Stuttgart, £7m >>> Vitinho, 25, RB, Botafogo, £6m >>> Anass Zaroury, 23, AM, Lens, £4m >>> Scott Twine, 25, AM, Bristol City, £3m >>> Wout Weghorst, 32, CF, Ajax, £2m >>> Bailey Peacock-Farrell, 27, GK, Birmingham, £500k >>> Samuel Bestien, 27, CM, Fortuna Sittard, £200k >>> Charlie Taylor, 30, LB, Southampton, Free >>> Lawrence Vigouroux, 30, GK, Swansea, Undisclosed >>> Luke McNally, 24, CB, Bristol City, Undisclosed >>> Johann Gudmundsson, 33, RW, Al-Orobah, Undisclosed >>> Zeki Amdouni, 23, CF, Benfica, Loan >>> Michael Obafemi, 24, CF, Plymouth, Loan >>> Darko Churlinov, 24, LW, Jagiellonia (Poland), Loan >>> Dara Costelloe, 21, LW, Accrington, Loan >>> Oluwaseun Adewumi, 19, AM, Dundee, Loan >>> Jack Cork, 35, CM, Released
Stand out players and weak links in the side?
Maxime Esteve at centre half is a level above the majority of the division - he won't be playing Championship football next season whatever happens. Josh Brownhill is a great player at this level and has already chipped in with five goals from midfield. Out wide, Luca Koleosho has bags of potential but has flattered to deceive, and we look vulnerable at left back, with neither Bashir Humphreys nor Lucas Pires making the position their own yet.
Immediate return? How do you see this season panning out?
We're currently second in the table despite not really playing well all season. An optimist would say performances will improve to match the results as the squad gels and Parker finds his best team, while a pessimist might say if we keep playing as we are we're unlikely to be second for long. I'd lean towards the former currently, so let's say automatic promotion and another miserable Premier League season to look forward to.
Links >>> Burnley Official Website >>> Turf Moor – Ground Guide >>> No Nay Never — Podcast >>> Lancashire Telegraph — Local Press >>> Up The Clarets — Message Board
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