Next Game – Watford (home)

Jamie Hand

Watford have beaten us twice this season and returned the fixture to what it has always been, a home team fixture. Until two seasons ago when Gareth Taylor’s first Burnley goal gave us a 1-0 win no fixture between the two sides had ever ended in an away win. But we did it again the following season with a late, late goal from Paul Weller clinching a 2-1 victory.

This season we were somewhat unfortunate to lose in the league game back in November but can have had no complaints over the cup defeat.

Watford are one of the clubs who are trying to get through a major financial disaster although their problems seem to have been caused by overspending last season with Gianluca Viallu in charge.

When we met in November things were going well for both clubs. Watford were just a point away from the play off places and the Clarets only two points behind them. Both clubs were being tipped to break into the top six.

They are in fact the division’s bottom club based on results since November, they have won only three more league games since the win against the Clarets. Mind you it is not that much better for us, in that period of four months we find ourselves only a point clear of the bottom four.

It is incredible that both sides managed to find cup runs in the middle of that but Watford’s only league successes since they beat Burnley at the end of November have been at home to Bradford and Norwich and away to Coventry.

The Coventry win on 1^st February was their last league win and they have picked up just three points in nine games since. They had a March worse than ours in terms of league results and last Saturday picked up only their second point in the month with a 2-2 draw at Sheffield Wednesday.

Paul Robinson

It worked for them and next week it will be Watford and not Burnley who take on Southampton in the Semi-Final.

Such are the financial problems at the club they sold the ground earlier in the season and are now organising events so the fans can make the contributions to pay it back. You see we are not the only club who considers its fans only for what it can get out of them money wise.

Despite the cup success some of the players will be leaving in the summer with the club unable to continue paying them. There is no doubt that next week’s game will be very much on their minds.

Back to last week and the 2-2 draw at Hillsborough. Despite the goals this was apparently a poor game that with any luck the Yorkshire club would have won. But it was Watford who twice went in front, firstly through Tommy Smith and then a first goal for Jamie Norville.

Watford lined up for the game at Hillsborough: Alec Chamberlain, Neil Cox, Sean Dyche, Wayne Brown, Paul Robinson (Jamie Hand 47), Gavin Mahon, Stephen Glass, Paolo Vernazza, Neal Ardley, Tommy Smith, Michael Chopra (Jason Norville 70). Subs not used: Richard Lee, Gifton Noel-Williams, Lee Cook.

Heidar Helguson is their leading scorer with ten league goals this season whilst Tommy Smith who scored the first in the cup tie has seven. Also with seven is defender Neil Cox with just two of those from the penalty spot.

Watford’s only point ever at Burnley was in 1994 when The Sinister One Glenn Roeder was their manager.

Click HERE to see the preview for the away game, HERE for the cup game if you really want a reminder and HERE to see Watford’s results this season.

He played for both

Atkinson was an outstanding youngster in the Oldham side of the early 1980s and having played over 140 league games for the Latics was snapped up by Watford boss Graham Taylor for £175,000. In 1983 that was still a sizeable fee.

To be honest at the age of 22 that was almost the end of his career. He hardly set the world alight at Vicarage Road and made just eleven league appearances in two years before returning to Boundary Park for a knock down fee of £30,000.

In the next three years at Oldham he struggled to win a regular place and had loan spells with Swansea (twice) and Bolton before Brian Miller picked him up on a free transfer in the summer of 1988.

But in two years at the Turf he managed just 22 appearances fitted in between a host of injuries and he retired in 1990 at the age of 29.

He scored just the one goal for us in what was probably his only good performance for us. It was his second game and a 6-0 win against York on the Turf, a third successive win at the beginning of that season.

Atkinson played in nine successive games during that period before injuries took over and his appearances became less and less.

Click HERE to see all our past league results against Watford.

Burnley 1 (Little 2) Watford 0 - Nationwide League Division 1, Tuesday 13^th November 2001

That was it as far as goals were concerned but Burnley turned in one of their best performances of the season. It was mainly being orchestrated from midfield by the outstanding Tony Grant. He was playing alongside the cultured Paul Cook with Paul Weller providing the energy.

Watford couldn’t get near the ball in the first half and their only main contribtion was from the bench where manager Gianluca Vialli was having tantrums at regular intervals. Everything looked calm in the home technical area with the Clarets in control throughout the match.

If there could be any criticism of this performance it was that we overdid the passing at times and probably didn’t punish Watford just as much as we should have done.

The win took us into second place in the league and was the start of a run of six wins. It was to get even better a week later at Coventry.

The teams were,

Burnley: Nik Michopoulos, Dean West, Ian Cox, Arthur Gnohere, Lee Briscoe, Glen Little, Paul Weller (Kevin Ball 71), Tony Grant, Paul Cook (Lenny Johnrose 74), Ian Moore, Gareth Taylor. Subs not used: Luigi Cennamo, Graham Branch, Andy Payton.

Watford: Alec Chamberlain, Neil Cox, Ramon Vega, Pierre Issa (Marcus Gayle 64), Lloyd Doyley, Micah Hyde, Paolo Vernazza (David Noble 77), Stephen Hughes (Nordin Wooter 64), Paul Robinson, Tommy Smith, Heidar Helguson. Subs not used: Espen Baardsen, Jamie Hand.

Referee: Trevor Parkes (Birmingham).