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Six games gone and sixth in the table. It's not a bad start but much of it has come about because of a 100% home record. Away from home, results have not been so good. It's been a problem for almost two years now with only three league wins on the road since before Christmas 2008.
After the major disappointment at Middlesbrough it is back on the road, and how, to Crystal Palace no less which has to be the most difficult journey any football fan has to undertake. Without any disrespect to Palace, I was hoping they'd have been the side relegated at the end of last season rather than Sheffield Wednesday, just to get this trip off the fixture list.
But Selhurst Park it is, a trip we've made no less than twelve times previously since winning promotion in 2000. Just three of those games have been won, twice against Palace and once against Wimbledon, the last of them coming in December 2001 when Ian Moore (then without his Thomas) scored both goals in a 2-1 win.
Blackpool, Plymouth and Hull - they are the three teams we've beaten on our travels in league games in the last twenty months or more. We need to start winning on the road and there's no better time to start than right now.
Crystal Palace were fighting for their lives at the bottom of the Championship last May and in the summer were fighting for their very future. They'd dropped into the relegation dog fight after going into administration and losing ten points and survived that scare on the last day of the season.
Manager Neil Warnock had already gone with Paul Hart taking over. For a time during the close season their very future looked threatened, but as always seems to happen with clubs in the top two divisions, they managed to get through that and then found someone to come in and make things right. Yes, another club that was able to wipe out doubts and virtually start again.
Once everything was sorted they brought in new manager George Burley and soon the transfer embargo was lifted. That's enabled him to bring in as many as ten new players with five of those on loan including James Vaughan who arrived last week on an emergency loan.
He was a player who Brian Laws admitted Burnley were looking at and might have signed on loan had Chris Iwelumo's injury been serious, but he's gone to Palace and notched a hat trick on his home debut in midweek.
The most intriguing of Burley's signings has been Edgar Davids who had been out of the game for two years. The 37-year-old former Dutch international has played twice but hasn't featured since the resumption following the international break.
Palace currently sit in 19th place in the table and, like Burnley, are more dangerous at home with all six points coming in two home wins, the last three in their big win against Portsmouth on Tuesday.
Burley has admitted that their target is the play offs, and he believes his side are now in the sort of form they need to getting into those positions in the league.
Palace will definitely be without the influential Darren Ambrose who is suffering from bruising on his leg. They will also be missing David Wright who is nursing a calf strain and Jonathan Obika remains doubtful, also with a strained calf.
On the positive side, Burley has Wilfried Zaha available again after serving a three match suspension and he'll be back in the squad.
Burley is expected to stick to the side that won in midweek which was: "Julian Speroni, Alex Marrow, Patrick McCarthy, Anthony Gardner, Nathaniel Clyne, Owen Garvan, Andy Dorman, Kieron Cadogan, Neil Danns, Kieran Djilali, James Vaughan. Subs: Lewis Price, Adam Barrett, Claude Davis, Julian Bennett, Charlie Holness, Pablo Counago, Calvin Andrew.
Burnley have reported no injury problems from the game at Middlesbrough and, other than Chris McCann, it is a fully fit squad for Brian Laws to select from and despite the defeat at Middlesbrough on Tuesday it isn't likely that he'll make many, if any, changes.
I'd expect it to be the same starting eleven and, unless there is a recall for fit again Michael Duff, the same seven substitutes who were on duty at the Riverside.
That would see us line up: Brian Jensen, Tyrone Mears, Clarke Carlisle, Andre Bikey, Danny Fox, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Jack Cork, Chris Eagles, Chris Iwelumo, Ross Wallace. Subs: Lee Grant, David Edgar, Leon Cort, Dean Marney, Martin Paterson, Jay Rodriguez, Steven Thompson.
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Diego Penny, Michael Duff and Remco van der Schaaf had gone after the first defeat at Sheffield Wednesday and now another three had lost their places with Stephen Jordan, Joey Gudjonsson and Robbie Blake left out and replaced by Christian Kalvenes, Kevin McDonald and a return for Michael Duff.
The first half of the game I described at the time as desperate stuff with neither goalkeeper having had much to do at all, but with the start we'd made a 0-0 scoreline at half time was not to be sniffed at although the performance had shown little, if any, improvement.
Having said that, Palace were much the better of the two sides and had they shown much at all would surely have taken a decent lead into the half time break. The only thing they did get was a yellow card for James Scowcroft right on half time that was, at the time, hardly noticed.
Only one yellow card from card happy referee Iain Williamson. You just knew he was going to produce more at some stage and it didn't take long. In the first minute of the second half Clarke Carlisle challenged with Scowcroft leaving both requiring treatment.
Williamson got the yellow card out again, dropped it as he tried to wave it. It was going to Scowcroft and he certainly didn't drop the red one as Scowcroft had to go. And seven minutes later the visiting fans were singing the traditional 'Time to go' as Shaun Derry followed after a bad challenge on Wade Elliott.
Down to nine men, but Palace should have had a penalty when Duff fouled, but just to even things up a bit he disallowed a Chris McCann goal for a handball that just didn't happen.
In the end, we proved to be little better against nine men than we were against eleven but at least we finally got our season off the mark with our first point from a 0-0 draw.
The teams were;
Crystal Palace: Julian Speroni, Danny Butterfield, Patrick McCarthy, Matt Lawrence, Clint Hill, John Oster (Calvin Andrew 51), Tom Soares, Shaun Derry, Nick Carle (Kieran Djilali 80), Leandre Griffit (Jose Fonte 53), James Scowcroft. Subs not used: Victor Moses, Ben Watson.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff (Robbie Blake 64), Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Christian Kalvenes, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Kevin McDonald (Joey Gudjonsson 74), Chris McCann, Chris Eagles, Martin Paterson (Ade Akinbiyi 82). Subs not used: Diego Penny, Stephen Jordan.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
2000/01 | 1 | a | 1-0 | 18,531 | Branch |
| . | WC | h | 2-2 | 5,889 | Cooke Payton(pen) |
| . | WC | a | 1-1 | 5,720 | Cooke - lost on away goals |
| . | 1 | h | 1-2 | 14,973 | Cook |
2001/02 | 1 | h | 1-0 | 14,713 | Cook |
| . | . | a | 2-1 | 18,457 | Ian Moore(2) |
2002/03 | 1 | h | 0-0 | 12,407 | . |
| . | . | a | 1-1 | 16,344 | Taylor |
2003/04 | 1 | h | 2-3 | 12,976 | Blake Roche |
| . | . | a | 0-0 | 15,276 | . |
2005/06 | C | a | 0-2 | 20,127 | . |
| . | . | h | 0-0 | 11,449 | . |
2006/07 | C | a | 2-2 | 16,396 | Mahon Lafferty |
| . | . | h | 1-1 | 10,659 | Akinbiyi |
2007/08 | C | h | 1-1 | 10,711 | Blake |
| . | . | a | 0-5 | 23,950 | . |
2008/09 | C | a | 0-0 | 14,071 | . |
| . | . | h | 4-2 | 10,312 | Carlisle Alexander(pen) Thompson Rodriguez |