Heath back at Burnley

Last updated : 19 October 2004 By Tony Scholes

Andrew Whing
He has today said, “I probably should have stayed there rather than going to Everton but that is all hindsight and we haven’t got the benefit of that.”

Given the reception that Glen Little received from the Burnley fans at Reading just over a couple of weeks ago, a reception that upset members of Glen’s family, you wonder just what sort of reception this little man will get when he makes his way round the Turf Moor pitch – the Burnley fans will not have forgotten that he walked out on us and set us up for a year of Waddle and Roeder.


He’s number two at Coventry now, after another failed attempt at management at Sheffield United, his career is now based on following Peter Reid up and down the country, hanging on to his coat tail.

Reid took over at Highfield Road right at the end of last season, a decision that incensed the Coventry fans because of the sacking of Eric Black. Those fans are still not happy.

The new management team made a number of new signings during the close season, the first being Bjarni Gudjonsson from VfL Bochum. The Icelandic midfielder has previously played in English football with Stoke, signed by his dad Gudjon Thordason.

Stephen Hughes was next, another midfield player signed from Charlton. He started his career with Arsenal but has moved a number of times. He was with Watford before Charlton but didn’t feature at all in the first team during his season at the Valley.

He was followed by a player familiar to Burnley fans – Neil Wood who was released at the end of last season by Manchester United. Along with Bradley Orr they were all set to sign for the Clarets – done deals according to Stan. Orr moved to Bristol City but Wood moved to Highfield Road but he has featured in only three games and not played a full ninety minutes.

Wood signed on the opening day of the season but there have been more since and on the Monday after the opening fixture they signed former Blackburn captain Tim Sherwood from Portsmouth.

Sherwood, now 35, is fast approaching 500 league games and has been a regular in the Coventry midfield until recently when he has found himself on the bench.

Louis Carey came in from Bristol City and more recently they won the battle to sign Stern John from Birmingham, he cost them £200,000.


To add to that they also have five players at the club on loan – Eddie Johnson and Luke Steele (Manchester United), Dean Leacock (Fulham), Matthew Mills (Southampton) and more recently Rohan Ricketts from Spurs, he made his debut on Saturday.

There have been departures though, none more so than Calum Davenport. He was sold to Spurs and then to Coventry’s disgust was immediately loaned out to West Ham.

Others to go include Mo Konjic, Barry Quinn, Julian Joachim, Youssef Chippo and Keith O’Neill whilst strikers Gary McSheffrey and Dele Adebola are currently out on loan at Luton and Bradford respectively.

Burnley will be delighted to know that neither Joachim nor McSheffrey will be around after the pasting they gave us last March when we crashed 4-0 on our return from a week’s break in Spain.

They are currently in 19th place in the league and this follows a run of seven games without a win in the league. The last victory came on August Bank Holiday Monday when they beat West Ham at home 2-1 with goals from Micky Doyle and Andy Morrell.

Saturday saw them earn a point in a 1-1 draw with Leicester at home but this was a somewhat fortunate point, the equaliser coming with an own goal from Chris Makin, formerly at Sunderland with Reid and Heath, after Dion Dublin had given Leicester the lead against his former club.

Click HERE to see all Coventry’s results this season.

Coventry will again be without Louis Carey with a back injury, and Andrew Whing is expected to deputise once more, whilst Claus Jorgensen is ruled out with a rib injury.

Other than that Peter Reid has a full squad to choose from and he is expected to name the same team that drew with Leicester which is:

Luke Steele, Andrew Whing, Richard Shaw, Dean Leacock, Steve Staunton, Andy Morrell, Micky Doyle, Stephen Hughes, Rohan Ricketts, Eddie Johnson, Stern John. Subs: Scott Shearer, Tim Sherwood, Stuart Giddings, Patrick Suffo, Graham Barrett.


As for the Clarets, much will depend on the situation with Ian Moore who is set to undergo surgery on his knee. He could have the operation delayed a week and play tonight and if that is the case expect Steve Cotterill to name the side that drew at Ipswich on Saturday.

Should Mooro not make it then he will probably be replaced by Jean-Louis Valois. Michael Duff meanwhile suffered from cramp on Saturday, but he is expected to be OK.

The Burnley team will probably be:

Danny Coyne, Michael Duff, Frank Sinclair, John McGreal, Mo Camara, Ian Moore (or Jean-Louis Valois), Richard Chaplow, Tony Grant, Micah Hyde, Graham Branch, Robbie Blake. Subs: Brian Jensen, Lee Roche, Richard Duffy, Amadou Sanokho, Jean-Louis Valois (or Matt O’Neill).

Last season saw us go down to a 2-1 defeat in what was a dreadful performance by the Clarets. It would have been very much a throw one in had Coventry been able to finish.


They led 2-0 at half time with a goal from Patrick Suffo and an own goal from Paul Weller but Robbie Blake pulled one back early in the second half.


The teams were,

Burnley: Brian Jensen, Lee Roche (Dean West 45), Mark McGregor (David May 45), Arthur Gnohere, Mo Camara, Luke Chadwick (Jay McEveley 73), Paul Weller, Tony Grant, Glen Little, Robbie Blake, Ian Moore. Subs not used: Joel Pilkington, Matt O’Neill.


Coventry
: Gavin Ward, Andrew Whing, Calum Davenport, Mo Konjic (Richard Shaw 43), Steve Staunton, Micky Doyle, Johnnie Jackson, Yazid Mansouri, Stephen Warnock, Patrick Suffo (Craig Pead 78), Andy Morrell (Dele Adebola 72). Subs not used: Scott Shearer, Dean Gordon.

Previous 20 Seasons

Season

Div

Ven

Result

Att

Scorers

1999/2000

FAC

a

0-3

22,774

.

2001/02

1

a

2-0

16,849

Taylor Little

..

h

1-0

18,751

Taylor

2002/03

1

h

3-1

13,470

Blake(pen) Grant Davenport(og)

.

.

a

1-0

13,659

Cox

2003/04

1

h

1-2

10,358

Blake

..

a

0-4

12,953

.

Click HERE to see all our results against Coventry, right from the first meeting, a 5-0 FA Cup win in 1911.