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It goes on relentlessly. We get linked with players that they are signing and vice-versa, and often former Burnley players are reported as former Barnsley players. The BBC seem to be the biggest culprits but they are not the only ones, far from it.
So to end the confusion - sadly it isn't us who are a week away from a Wembley semi-final appearance in the FA Cup but thankfully it is not us who are fighting a relegation battle and neither is it us who wheel out Dickie Bird and Reading season ticket holder Michael Parkinson after every important win.
My congratulations to Barnsley on reaching the last four in the cup and especially to Stephen Foster, our former player, who scored one of their goals against Liverpool in the fifth round. They might, under other circumstances, have had their minds on the cup this week but such is the need for league points that they cannot afford that.
Since beating Liverpool they have failed to score in five of seven league games, scored one in another, but just to prove they can get goals they hammered Ipswich 4-1 in the other. And of course in the middle of all that they beat Chelsea in the cup with a goal from Kayode Odejayi.
He was one player wrongly linked with us last summer and the former Cheltenham striker has netted only one league goal, and that in September, to add to his all important cup goal.
Their away form isn't good, and the only success on the road came at Southampton back in September when Grant McCann, now with Scunthorpe, scored twice from free kicks.
They currently sit two points above the drop zone with 46 points and have seven games to play. That points total would have been enough in either of the last two seasons to stay up, but they are going to need quite a few more this time if they want a third successive Championship season.
It is over a year since we lost three successive games and we need to keep it that way. Whatever the season holds for us now following the two defeats against Wolves and Preston we need to keep going and get as many points as we can.
Another six points will give us our best return for six years. That has to be the first target and we could do with getting there sooner rather than later. It would probably take at least five wins for us to have a chance of finishing in the top six. But this is a strange division and anything is possible.
Let's keep that dream going for at least another week and get those three points tomorrow.
Barnsley boss Simon Davey has injury worries ahead of the game with three of his side rated as doubtful. They are Kayode Odejayi (ankle), Dennis Souza (facial injury) and leading scorer Brian Howard (knee).
He's not likely to want to risk them unless they are fully fit but other than that Davey has a full squad to select from. We can expect Barnsley to line up: Luke Steele, Rob Kozluk, Stephen Foster, Marciano Van Homoet, Lewin Nyatanga, Martin Devaney, Bobby Hassell, Sam Togwell, Diego Leon, Jonathan Macken, Daniel Nardiello. Subs from: Michael Coulson, Istvan Ferenczi, Jamal Campbell-Ryce, Jacob Butterfield, Rohan Ricketts, Miguel Mostto.
Again the Clarets will have a player out of the squad through suspension. This time it is Clarke Carlisle who serves the first of a three match ban tomorrow following his dismissal against Preston last week.
The good news for manager Owen Coyle is that both Stanislav Varga and Andrew Cole should be fit and that will leave him, other than Carlisle, with a full squad apart from long term injury victims Michael Duff and Bes Berisha. There's even good news regarding Duff this week with the manager believing he could be involved next week for the game at Norwich.
I think both of the loan players from RK Sunderland will start. Other than that it will be much the same as last week providing Chris McCann and Kyle Lafferty are both passed fit.
Our team could be: Brian Jensen, Graham Alexander, Stanislav Varga, Steven Caldwell, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, James O'Connor, Chris McCann, Kyle Lafferty, Robbie Blake, Andrew Cole. Subs from: Gabor Kiraly, David Unsworth, Alan Mahon, Mark Randall, Joey Gudjonsson, John Spicer, Ade Akinbiyi.
This fixture last season was one of the most memorable games of the season as the Clarets turned a two goal deficit into victory in sensational style after it looked as though we might suffer a third successive home defeat.
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Back we came and Barnsley keeper did well to save from Alan Mahon although the midfielder appeared to injure himself whilst shooting. He was limping and if that wasn't bad enough Michael Duff dallied on the ball and in came McIndoe to score again - Burnley 0 Barnsley 2 after just over half an hour.
Mahon was almost immediately withdrawn with a groin injury that was to trouble him for the rest of the season and on came Gifton Noel-Williams. He'd been booed on three days earlier in the home defeat against Colchester but had done well, so this time he came on with little response from the crowd.
He went up front, Steve Jones moved to the left hand side, and the game changed. Three minutes before half time Gifton was fouled 25 yards out and Jon Harley curled in the free kick. It was game on now and almost immediately it should have been 2-2 as Jones broke clear. Incredibly referee Gary Sutton pulled play back and gave us, yes us, a free kick.
We were behind at half time but continued to press after the break and just before the hour Turf Moor erupted as Gifton got his first Burnley goal in well over a year, heading home a brilliant Wade Elliott cross. Every single Burnley player descended on Gifton in the Barnsley box, and that included Brian Jensen who run the full length of the pitch to join in.
Barnsley looked shell shocked and we simply poured forward but they were a frustrating team to play against with time wasting tactics that were upsetting the home crowd. We went into the last ten minutes still level but then Gifton got onto a pass from Micah Hyde and turned it in off the bar.
Finally in front and we, and in particular Gifton, hadn't finished. Micah tried a shot in the last minute but it was mis-hit and dropped for Gifton who made no mistake to complete his first ever hat trick. Again his team mates descended on him and once we'd restarted and got into stoppage time Steve Cotterill acted quickly. He got Kyle Lafferty ready and brought Gifton off to allow him his standing ovation.
Under normal circumstances the man of the match that night would have been between Wade Elliott and James O'Connor - but these were not normal circumstances and this was Gifton's night.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Wayne Thomas, John McGreal, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, James O'Connor, Micah Hyde, Alan Mahon (Gifton Noel-Williams 34, Kyle Lafferty 90), Andy Gray, Steve Jones (Chris McCann 85). Subs not used: Frank Sinclair, Stephen Foster.
Barnsley: Nick Colgan, Bobby Hassell, Antony Kay, Paul Reid, Robbie Williams, Martin Devaney, Sam Togwell, Brian Howard, Michael McIndoe, Paul Hayes, Mark Richards (Tommy Wright 71). Subs not used: Vito Mannone, Paul Heckingbottom, Colin Healy, Nicky Wroe.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1994/95 | 1 | h | 0-1 | 11,968 | . |
| . | . | a | 0-2 | 5,537 | . |
2000/01 | 1 | a | 0-1 | 18,725 | . |
| . | . | h | 2-1 | 15,380 | Johnrose Payton |
2001/02 | 1 | h | 3-3 | 14,690 | Morgan(og) Briscoe Payton(pen) |
| . | . | a | 1-1 | 14,411 | Taylor |
2005/06 | LC | h | 3-0 | 4,501 | Lowe Akinbiyi Spicer |
2006/07 | C | h | 4-2 | 10,304 | Harley Noel-Williams(3) |
| . | . | a | 0-1 | 12,842 | . |
2007/08 | C | a | 1-1 | 11,560 | Gray |