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Steve Cotterill left Burnley just five days later but the Bryan Robson saga just rolled on and on. Everyone was to blame but himself as poor result followed poor result (something supporters of Middlesbrough, Bradford City and West Brom would know about) and eventually he was relieved of his duties in February.
They offered him another job, presumably to avoid having to pay him off, but he turned that down. And before they'd even got the chance to dust his office it was occupied again with former assistant manager Kevin Blackwell returning until the end of the season.
They drew three and lost two of his first five games in charge, and that included a cup exit at Middlesbrough, but things have looked up since with five wins and a draw in the last seven games and only Preston having beaten them in that run of games.
When Blackwell arrived the transfer window was closed and he's added just one loan signing in Reading full back John Halls who has been unable to hold down a place in the side. He's just basically used the same players and got better results than Robson did.
He's popular with the supporters, those same supporters who had been holding demonstrations outside the ground in the hope of getting rid of Robson. They were expected to be amongst the promotion favourites but instead were struggling too close to the bottom of the league.
They are now in thirteenth place in the league and just one point behind us. That gap was eight points just ten games ago when Blackwell first arrived.
Owen Coyle has asked his players to finish the season well for the players and until the last few years this was a fixture in which we usually did very well. But Sheffield United have lost only one of their last four games at Turf Moor.
A win today will see the Clarets past sixty points and it would also give us a higher points total than in any of the previous five seasons, the best in those seasons was the sixty achieved in 2004/05.
The news from Bramall Lane is that Blackwell is almost certain to name the same team that started in the 2-2 draw against Wednesday on Tuesday. He is also expected to name the same five substitutes who were on duty.
Their team is expected to be: Paddy Kenny, Gary Naysmith, Chris Morgan, Matthew Kilgallon, Derek Geary, David Cotterill, Gary Speed, Michael Tonge, Stephen Quinn, Billy Sharpe, James Beattie. Subs: Ian Bennett, John Halls, Ugo Ehiogu, Rob Hulse, Jonathan Stead.
We can expect changes in the Burnley side from the one that lost at Norwich. Owen Coyle said he would make some and it is just a matter of trying to find where. He's certainly not happy with our defending but with Clarke Carlisle still suspended and Stanislav Varga again ruled out with a foot injury it is likely to be the same back four. Although Michael Duff is fit I don't expect him to start this game.
That means changes in midfield and up front. With Alan Mahon not involved in Wednesday's reserve team game I would think he could start, and probably on the left hand side at the expense of Joey Gudjonsson or James O'Connor. In fact both could be left out with Andrew Cole fit again. He could come in with Robbie being asked to play on the left, or alternatively Kyle going back into that position.
We could line up: Brian Jensen, Graham Alexander, Steven Caldwell, David Unsworth, Jon Harley, Wade Elliott, Chris McCann, Alan Mahon, Robbie Blake, Andrew Cole, Kyle Lafferty. Subs from: Gabor Kiraly, Michael Duff, Joey Gudjonsson, Joey Gudjonsson, James O'Connor, John Spicer, Mark Randall, Ade Akinbiyi.
Almost three seasons of football have passed since we last played a home game against Sheffield United. That was back in August 2005 in what was our first home game of the season.
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Our opponents included Jon Harley who was only a matter of a couple of weeks away from becoming a Burnley player, but they left out Andy Gray who had scored their first goal on the Saturday as he was all set to sign for Sunderland.
We fell behind to an early Neil Shipperley goal but that led to a bright spell from the Clarets particularly down the right hand side where captain Frank Sinclair and home debutant Wade Elliott were linking up well.
More than once we came close to an equaliser with Ade Akinbiyi going with inches of an equaliser with a spectacular bicycle kick. Unfortunately the goal didn't come and we fell two behind following a corner. Brian Jensen, back in for the injured Coyne, failed to hold the ball and eventually central defender Chris Morgan turned it in.
Two goals down at the interval but we dominated the second half although in fairness we created very little but we pulled one back after yet another raid down the right. Man of the match Sinclair's cross was met by Gifton Noel-Williams, another making his home debut. His header looked goal bound but Akinbiyi got to it and turned it in for his first goal of the season.
We couldn't get a second and in all fairness a point would have been more than we deserved against a side that at times looked ready for the promotion that they eventually won. For Burnley it was two games played and two defeats leaving us joint bottom of the league with Crystal Palace.
The teams were;
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Frank Sinclair (Kyle Lafferty 82), Wayne Thomas, John McGreal, Graham Branch, Wade Elliott, Micah Hyde, James O'Connor, Garreth O'Connor, Gifton Noel-Williams, Ade Akinbiyi. Subs not used: Danny Coyne, Michael Duff, Danny Karbassiyoon, Chris McCann.
Sheffield United: Paddy Kenny, Leigh Bromby, Chris Morgan, Phil Jagielka, Jon Harley, Paul Ifill (Keith Gillespie 85), Nick Montgomery, Lilian Nalis, Michael Tonge (Rob Kozluk 81), Neil Shipperley, Danny Webber (Steve Kabba 86). Subs not used: Phil Barnes, Alan Quinn.
Previous 20 Seasons | |||||
Season | Div | Ven | Result | Att | Scorers |
1992/93 | FAC | a | 2-2 | 23,041 | Heath(2) |
| . | . | h | 2-4 | 19,061 | Heath Monington |
1994/95 | 1 | h | 4-2 | 11,475 | Robinson Hoyland Davis Gayle |
| . | . | a | 0-2 | 13,349 | . |
2000/01 | 1 | h | 2-0 | 16,635 | Payton(2 1pen) |
| . | . | a | 0-2 | 20,013 | . |
2001/02 | 1 | h | 2-0 | 13,166 | Taylor Cook |
| . | . | a | 0-3 | 19,003 | . |
2002/03 | 1 | h | 0-1 | 12,868 | . |
| . | . | a | 2-4 | 17,359 | Taylor Blake |
2003/04 | 1 | a | 0-1 | 20,967 | . |
. | . | h | 3-2 | 11,452 | Blake(2 1pen) I Moore |
2004/05 | C | h | 1-1 | 16,956 | Hyde |
| . | . | a | 1-2 | 19,374 | Akinbiyi |
2005/06 | C | h | 1-2 | 11,802 | Akinbiyi |
| . | . | a | 0-3 | 23,118 | . |
2007/08 | C | a | 0-0 | 25,306 | . |