Coca-Cola Championship Bottom Eight
Pos Team Played GD Points
17 Norwich 36 -10 44
18 Burnley 35 -2 41
19 Hull 37 -16 38
20 Barnsley 37 -23 38
21 QPR 36 -16 36
22 Luton 37 -17 36
23 Southend 37 -20 35
24 Leeds 37 -25 34
There you go guys it's that close. It goes without saying that the next two home games are massive, however we have been here before and got mugged by the Palace. This time there can be no repeat cock up.
The attitude of the team is first class, the work rate amazing, the luck maybe swinging back our way. There is no doubt, we can stay up and three points against a Burnley team in freefall, no wins in 14 league matches, is thereif the players really want it. COME ON YOU BLUES!!!!!!
With no injury problems from Saturday I see an unchanged starting eleven with the returning Foran and new signing Sam on the bench. (Though Bradbury may be under pressure from Foran and Lewis or Francis from Hammell it's just not Tilly's style to drop players that started the previous game.)
The pacey Sam, who has only just recovered from a bout of chicken pox, will link up with former Charlton team-mate Jamal Campbell-Ryce at Roots Hall. |
Speaking to their club's official website, Sam said: "I'm very pleased to have joined. I've seen Southend win on TV a couple of times this season, against Manchester United and QPR, and they definitely look good enough to get out of trouble. |
"It looked like I was going to be in a relegation battle whatever, but I'm looking forward to playing some competitive games. |
Burnley will be looking to build on their two recent draws the last being at home to Palace 1-1. The team that finished that match; Coyne, Duff, McGreal, Caldwell, Harley, Elliott, James O'Connor, Gudjonsson, McCann (Jones 80), Gray (Garreth O'Connor 89), Akinbiyi.
Subs Not Used: Djemba-Djemba, Spicer, Foster. Former Palace player Akinbiyi grabbed the equaliser and will form a dangerous partnership with the top scorer Gray.
Midfielder Alan Mahon remains doubtful for Burnley with a hamstring problem. But striker Kyle Lafferty returns from a ban, though defender Wayne Thomas will not be considered as he continues to recover from knee cartilage surgery.
Burnley boss Syeve cotterill said afterwards; "We're disappointed with a draw. We think we did enough to win the game. Against a decent Crystal Palace team, we were the better side. We're getting better but the trouble's everyone wants to get better overnight. It's hard when you haven't been winning or creating chances suddenly for it to just drop into place."
While Gray weighed in with how frustrated his team mates were by not turning recent displays into wins. Gray was particularly disappointed that last Saturday's fightback against Crystal Palace only resulted in a draw, after dominating the game for long periods. But the 29-year-old believes that the upbeat nature of the Burnley camp will soon encourage a turnaround in fortunes. "We're still remaining positive. It's a difficult period, and obviously it's one that we want to come out of. But we're quite a close team and I think the experience of going on this run will make us stronger long term," Gray said. "The performances in the last few games haven't been too bad. The staff, management, coaches and players - everyone is together and there are no cliques. Despite the bad run it's still a good place to go into work every day. Sometimes in a season you go through stages where nothing seems to go for you and you're not getting the breaks you sometimes would. After the game last Saturday (against Crystal Palace) you would have thought we had got beat. Everyone was pretty despondent because we'd done enough to win the game. The situation we're in, after going 1-0 down at home, that goal could have sent a lot of us under. But we were by far the better team. Once you analyse it after the game, we're playing well, we just need things to break for us. But Southend is a game we're looking forward to and it's an opportunity to get something down there." Bring it on Andy!
We have played Burnley 16 times, Won 6 Lost 7 Drawn 3 (so fairly equal though to wait 70 years to gain revenge for a 0-6 hammering in the Cup was pushing it a touch.)
Previous Results:
Tue 17-Oct-2006 Away Cham 0 0 10461
Sat 24-Jan-1998 Away D2 0 1 9386
Sat 23-Aug-1997 Home D2 1 0 Boere 4179
Sat 8-Apr-1995 Home D1 3 1 JonesG Hails Battersby 5027
Sat 31-Dec-1994 Away D1 1 5 Willis 10561
Tue 10-Apr-1990 Away D4 0 0 3967
Tue 31-Oct-1989 Home D4 3 2 McDonough Crown(pen) Bennett 3765
Sat 2-May-1987 Away D4 1 2 O'Shea 3970
Fri 28-Nov-1986 Home D4 2 1 Cadette(2) 3299
Fri 3-Jan-1986 Home D3 2 3 Cadette(2) 2619
Sat 2-Nov-1985 Away D3 3 1 Gymer Cadette O'Shea 2641
Fri 2-Mar-1984 Home D3 2 2 Whymark Phelan(og) 2567
Tue 18-Oct-1983 Away D3 0 3 5301
Fri 14-May-1982 Home D3 1 4 Mercer 4829
Tue 20-Apr-1982 Away D3 5 3 Phillips(2,1pen) Spence(2) Nelson 8126
Sat 30-Jan-1915 Away FAC2 0 6
History of the Club:
Nicknamed The Clarets due to their claret and blue strip, they have played at Turf Moor since 1883. They were founder members of The Football League in 1888, and are currently in the Football League Championship.
Burnley have been Football League Champions twice, in 1920-21 and 1959-60, and were FA Cup winners on April 25, 1914, beating Liverpool F.C. 1-0 at Crystal Palace.
As recently as 1960 they were league champions, but have been outside the top flight since 1976 and from 1985 endured a seven-year spell in the lowest tier of the Football League. In 1987 they narrowly avoided relegation to the Conference. Since 2000, they have been in the second tier of the English league.
Burnley enjoyed a long unbroken top flight spell ending in 1971 during which, more often than not, they were in the upper reaches of the League table. The 1950s and early 1960s saw the team revolve around the midfield engine room of Jimmy Adamson and Jimmy McIlroy, after whom a new stand was named in the 1990s. It was around these two that the championship-winning team of 1960 was built, managed by Harry Potts, who gives his name to the road which Turf Moor occupies. Two years later the Clarets narrowly missed out on a League and Cup double. Other stars included John Angus, Brian Miller, John Connelly and Gordon Harris. The departure of McIlroy to Stoke City and retirement of Adamson coincided with a decline in fortunes; they nonetheless managed to finish 3rd in 1966. The remainder of the decade was otherwise one of mid-table mediocrity, with Potts being replaced by Adamson as manager in 1970. Adamson was unable to halt the slide and relegation followed in 1971.
Burnley won the Second Division title in 1973 with Adamson still in charge. In the First Division, led by elegant playmaker Martin Dobson, the side managed 6th in 1974, and 10th (despite Dobson being sold to Everton early in that season) in 1975. Relegation from the First Division in 1976 saw the end of Adamson's tenure as manager, and the club have not been back in the highest level since.
Burnley are one of the most famous clubs to fall from greatness in the last few decades. They won the league championship in 1960 but have been outside the top division since the 1970s, and for seven seasons after 1985 they were in the Fourth Division. They reached their lowest ebb in 1987, when only a win against Leyton Orient on the last day of the season saved them from relegation to the Conference
In 1991-92, they were crowned champions in the last ever season of the Fourth Division before the league re-organisation, and two years later they won the new Division Two playoffs and gained promotion to Division One under Jimmy Mullen, only to suffer relegation after just one season. In 1997-99 they narrowly escaped relegation into Division Three with Chris Waddle in the hot seat, but the appointment of Stan Ternent that summer saw the club's fortunes turned around.
In 1999-2000 they finished Division Two runners-up and gained promotion to Division One, where they have remained since. For the next two seasons, Burnley emerged as serious contenders for a promotion play-off place. However, by 2002-03 the side's form had declined despite a good FA Cup run, and conceded goals at an alarming rate.
This was repeated the following season and in June 2004, Ternent's six-year reign as manager came to an end and since then Burnley have been managed by Steve Cotterill. Steve Cotterill's first year in charge ended with two cup runs, knocking out Premiership giants Liverpool and Aston Villa, and a 13th place finish in The Championship. Cotterill overhauled the squad with younger players and a notable improvement in the side's defensive record in 2004-05. The season gave football its first real glance at Aston Villa's Gary Cahill - tipped by some as a future England star, on loan at Turf Moor during the season. The following year's Carling Cup third round draw once again paired Burnley with Villa, though the Clarets travelled to Villa Park this time round. The score finished 1-0 to Aston Villa and Burnley were knocked out of the Carling Cup.
The 2005/2006 season ended in disappointing fashion for The Clarets, with them finishing in 17th place. They were forced to sell Ade Akinbiyi to Sheffield United and Burnley's season then went on a downward spiral. Steve Cotterill made signings during the summer in order for Burnley to progress in The Championship during the 2006/2007 season, starting with the acquisition of Steve Jones from Crewe Alexandra. Then in June the Clarets yet again raided Crewe this time signing lifelong Crewe defender Stephen Foster on another free transfer. Cotterill also signed Andy Gray permanently from Sunderland AFC after having him on loan since January 2005.
Burnley made a great start to the 2006/7 season and looked well on the road to regaining the top division place which they had last held some 30 years earlier, but their form during December was less convincing due to an injury to prolific striker Andy Gray and by 3 January 2007 they occupied 12th place in the Championship. Their form during December included losses against two of the bottom four teams (Barnsley F.C. and Hull City A.F.C.) and a draw against high flyers Derby County F.C.. But after capturing the signature of former fan favorite Ade Akinbiyi, less than 12 months after he left, for a fee of around £750,000 the fans are hoping for the goals to be flowing again. Mid season also saw the loan signings of Mike Pollitt from Wigan Athletic and Eric Djemba-Djemba from Aston Villa and the signings of both Joey Guðjónsson from AZ Alkmaar for £150,000 plus add ons and Steven Caldwell who signed just 9 minutes before the deadline.
But these changes have not been enough to save Burnley from falling to 15th place by the end of February, placing them closer to the relegation zone than the playoff places.
In the early years, various designs and colours were used by the Burnley club. The first kit was a white shirt with white shorts. Other early kits included a dark blue shirt with dark blue shorts. Other shirt designs were white with a blue sash, light blue and white stripes and claret and amber stripes. For much of the 1890s a combination of black with amber stripes was used, although the club wore a shirt with pink and white stripes during the 1894-95 season. Between 1897 and 1900 the club used a plain red shirt. From 1900 until 1910 the club changed to an all green shirt with white shorts. In 1910 it was decided to adopt the claret and blue of the football league champions Aston Villa. As history shows, this move had a positive effect.[1]
On March 4, 2007, Burnley's away kit for the 2006/07 season (yellow shirt with claret bar, yellow shorts and yellow socks) won the Best Kit Design award at the Football League Awards at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, England.
