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Television coverage, postponements, they have both forced the Norwich fans to make this journey in midweek in the last couple of years, and once again they are making that long tiresome journey from Norfolk in midweek.
They come here this time with their club in some sort of crisis. Only a year ago our 4-1 win at Carrow Road brought Nigel Worthington's time to an end, and we all remember Delia telling the privileged few in front of her in the stand that his time was up. A year on and another manager has gone, after Worthington's replacement Peter Grant hardly improved things.
They are currently under the caretaker management of Jim Duffy whilst they decide on the new manager, and right now Phil Parkinson and Martin Allen are believed to be the favourites although I'm led to believe that former Luton boss Mike Newell, he who isn't too keen on bungs and women running the line, could be offered the job.
The bad start has come after a summer when Grant brought in nine new players, including Chelsea's Jimmy Smith on loan. In that group were former player Jamie Cureton, who was the league's leading scorer last season and David Marshall the goalkeeper who was on loan last time round at Norwich.
To make way for them, out went players such as Paul McVeigh who ended last season on loan with the Clarets and Matthieu Louis-Jean. The list of players coming in now includes John Hartson who made his debut on Saturday after coming in on loan from West Brom. The full list of new players is:
Matthew Gilks from Rochdale
Jamie Cureton from Colchestert
Julien Brellier from Hearts
David Marshall from Celtic
David Strihavka from Banik Ostrava
Darel Russell from Stoke
Ian Murray from Rangers
Jimmy Smith from Chelsea (loan)
John Hartson from West Brom (loan)
The poor results this season, that saw Grant lose his job, have seen Norwich drop into the bottom two in the division. The only club below them are QPR who beat them last Monday and their two wins to date have seen them beat Southampton and Crystal Palace.
Burnley are looking for a first win in a while too. We haven't won since the 2-0 success at Hillsborough against Sheffield Wednesday and that means we've now played six league and cup games since our last win. We know all about long runs without a win, this one needs to be stopped now.
When Peter Grant took over as manager last season it was clear he wasn't happy with the goalkeeping situation at Carrow Road. Paul Gallacher was first choice but there were soon to be changes.
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Marshall also came in on loan, but injury ruled him out after five games and three of them had been in the FA Cup. Grant wanted him permanently but Celtic weren't keen, however in the summer of this year he got his man for £750,000.
The 22-year-old Glasgow born Marshall had begun his career with Celtic and made his debut at the age of 17. Things looked good for him and when Rab Douglas was sent off in a UEFA Cup game against Barcelona in the following season and was then subsequently injured it gave Marshall the chance to establish himself in the side.
He did that, played 24 times and won two Scottish caps, but just as quickly as he'd won that place, he lost it at the beginning of the following season. A 5-0 defeat against Artmedia Bratislava, on the day Mo Camara made his Celtic debut, was followed by a 4-4 draw against Motherwell and that was enough to persuade manager Gordon Strachan to make a change.
In came Polish keeper Artur Boruc and his form effectively ended the previously impressive Marshall's Celtic career. Unable to re-establish himself in the side he took the opportunity to join Norwich on loan last season and with one year remaining on a four year deal he'd signed with Celtic he made the decision to join Norwich on a permanent basis.
Although they have not had a good start to the season, Marshall is very much the number one choice in goal and has played in all of their games to date and will definitely line up against the Clarets tonight.
Caretaker manager Jim Duffy will be without left back Adam Drury tonight. He injured his knee in Saturday's defeat against second place Bristol City. The injury is not as bad as first feared but he will definitely be ruled out tonight.
Also out is Dion Dublin, and the only decision to be made in his case is whether he will travel to take up his place in the dug out alongside the manager. That's been the case so far and if it is thought taking on the journey will not cause any problems with the injury then that's where Dublin will be tonight.
John Hartson made his debut on Saturday and they are monitoring his situation. It is the first time he's been involved in any first team football since February and they are checking as to whether he is able to play again just three days after that debut. I expect Hartson, now aged 32, to play.
The one very good piece of news for Norwich is the return to fitness of their other loan player Jimmy Smith. The Chelsea youngster who spent last season at QPR has recovered from injury and will be in the squad tonight, more likely on the bench.
Norwich could line up: David Marshall, Jon Otsemobor, Jason Shackell, Ian Murray, Michael Spillane, Rossi Jarvis, Simon Lappin, Darel Russell, Darren Huckerby, John Hartson, David Strihavka. Subs from: Matthew Gilks, Lee Croft, Jamie Cureton, Chris Martin, Jimmy Smith, Luke Chadwick.
The late decisions for the Clarets will surely come up front. One unnamed player picked up a tweak in training yesterday but is expected to be fit. If that's the case then we shouldn't expect any changes at the back and given the way midfield played on Saturday I expect that to be the same.
The problems for Steve Cotterill are up front. Robbie Blake missed out on Saturday with a hamstring problem whilst Ade Akinbiyi came in despite feeling unwell. There appears to be little change with them and I certainly expect Blake to be absent again.
Much will depend on Ade and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him on the bench, available if required against his first club, which would give Kyle a first league start this season as a central striker.
The Burnley team could be: Gabor Kiraly, Graham Alexander, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, John Spicer, Chris McCann, Alan Mahon, Andy Gray, Kyle Lafferty. Subs from: Brian Jensen, David Unsworth, James O'Connor, Steve Jones, Ade Akinbiyi, Jon Harley.
Burnley had lost at Leeds on the previous Saturday, but this was a Burnley side just about safe from any threat of relegation after we'd won the previous three games, and we were soon back to winning ways against Norwich.
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Ade has a habit of scoring against his old clubs and so it was no surprise when he gave us the lead. We'd have been in front earlier but more than once the final ball was disappointing but on the half hour Eric Djemba-Djemba played made his favourite pass, back to right back Michael Duff. From there Duff hit the ball into the box from deep and Ade got across his defender to head home giving Tony Warner no chance.
That goal was greeted with delight by the Turf Moor crowd who had to patiently wait until four minutes from time for the second, and when it came we nearly brought the roof off. It was hard to believe we were still only one goal to the when James O'Connor hit a shot from outside of the box against the post. It rebounded for Andy Gray to hit into the empty net.
It was Gray's first goal since his return from the metatarsal injury and how the crowd responded to it. It had been coming for a few games, and this one clinched the win.
We even had time for a third. Jon Harley crossed from the left, Chris McCann ducked under it for Wade Elliott to control the ball and hit a shot right into the corner.
3-0 to the Clarets and it didn't flatter us. We were no longer just about safe from relegation, we were mathematically safe and ready for an eighth successive season at this level.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Wayne Thomas, Steven Caldwell, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, Eric Djemba-Djemba, James O'Connor, Steve Jones (Chris McCann 85), Andy Gray (John Spicer 90), Ade Akinbiyi (Kyle Lafferty 77). Subs not used: Danny Coyne, Graham Coughlan.
Norwich: Tony Warner, Andy Hughes, Jason Shackell, Dion Dublin (Billy Smart 87), Adam Drury, Lee Croft, Michael Spillane, Dickson Etuhu, Robert Eagle (Robert Earnshaw 72), Chris Martin, Kris Renton. Subs not used: Paul Gallacher, Andrew Cave-Brown, Patrick Bexfield.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
2000/01 | 1 | h | 2-0 | 15,017 | Payton Davis |
| . | . | a | 3-2 | 17,507 | Ball Taylor Moore |
2001/02 | 1 | a | 1-2 | 19,849 | Armstrong |
| . | . | h | 1-1 | 14,679 | Taylor |
2002/03 | 1 | h | 2-0 | 16,282 | McGregor Little |
. | . | a | 0-2 | 20,026 | . |
2003/04 | 1 | a | 0-2 | 16,407 | . |
| . | . | h | 3-5 | 12,417 | Wood May Blake |
2005/06 | C | a | 1-2 | 25,204 | Safri(og) |
| . | . | h | 2-0 | 11,938 | Gray Branch |
2006/07 | C | a | 4-1 | 24,717 | J O'Connor Gray(2) Mahon |
| . | . | h | 3-0 | 9,681 | Akinbiyi Gray Elliott |
