The Sinister One returns

Last updated : 01 November 2008 By Tony Scholes

Burnley will be hoping to end the week with another win ahead of what will be a testing two weeks on the road with trips to Wolves, Chelsea and QPR before our next home game three weeks today against Doncaster.

We've moved back into the play off places and that's not something we'll want to give up when we play a Norwich side who might be 18th in the table but do have only seven points less than us.

Our Opponents


Norwich were searching for a new manager last time they played at Burnley but a week later they surprised most people with the appointment of former Gillingham, Watford, West Ham and Newcastle boss Glenn Roeder.

The manager is well known in these parts for his part in the 1997/98 season as assistant to Chris Waddle. Such was their departure in the summer that Burnley fans have never really had the opportunity to say thanks and goodbye but today gives us that chance with the surly looking Roeder, christened The Sinister One.

He's done OK at Norwich, winning almost as many games as he's lost. They were in a mess when he arrived at Carrow Road and he kept them up last season and has for this season opted to make extensive use of the loan market.

Roeder brought in five new players over the summer on a permanent basis. They were Sammy Clingan (Nottingham Forest), Wes Hoolahan (Blackpool), Dejan Stefanovic (Fulham), David Bell (Luton) and Stuart Nelson (Leyton Orient).

But, just look at this list - Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Elliot Omozusi (Fulham), Arturo Lupoli (Fiorentina), John Kennedy (Celtic), Koroma (Portsmouth), Troy Archibald-Henville (Spurs), Jonathan Grounds (Middlesbrough), Antoine Sibierski (Wigan) and Leroy Lita (Reading).

There are nine players in that list, and they have all signed for Norwich on loan, an incredible nine players which certainly suggests a lack of available finance at Carrow Road with the inability to bring in players on a permanent basis.

Although lowly in the table the league is very tight and two more wins would see them right behind the top six. In the last week they've won one against Doncaster then lost to Derby where there were no hints of any strange betting patterns.

Click HERE to see all Norwich's results this season


Norwich shouldn't be in danger of being sucked into the relegation battle this season but neither are they likely to be challenging at the top of the league.

Team News


Antoine Sibierski is a big doubt for Norwich after picking up a knock on Tuesday in the defeat against Derby. But it is mainly good news for Roeder who has both Jon Otsemobor and Mark Fotheringham available again whilst David Bell is close to a start.

The expected Norwich team: David Marshall, Jon Otsemobor, John Kennedy, Dejan Stefanovic, Ryan Bertrand, Lee Croft, Sammy Clingan, Darel Russell, Mark Fotheringham, Wes Hoolahan, Leroy Lita. Subs from: Stuart Nelson, Gary Doherty, Elliot Omosuzi, David Bell, Matty Pattison, Jamie Cureton.

Click HERE to see the full Norwich squad


It's a guessing game for the Clarets. I think we can say with some certainty that left back Christian Kalvenes won't play following his injury on Tuesday. Kalvenes has come back into the side for the last four games, grabbing his chance after Stephen Jordan was sent off at Reading.

Jordan was back in the centre of defence on Tuesday and where he plays today will be decided by who is available. Steven Caldwell (hip) played in midweek but Clarke Carlisle (hamstring) and Michael Duff (illness) both missed out.

None of those are certain to play whilst other players, including Robbie Blake, have been hit by the illness suffered by Duff.

I believe all of the doubtful players are close to being available and should that be the case I expect us to return to the formation we've used successfully in recent weeks with Graham Alexander back in the midfield, and that will mean Chris Eagles reverting to a place on the bench.

We could line up: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Clarke Carlisle, Steven Caldwell, Stephen Jordan, Graham Alexander, Wade Elliott, Joey Gudjonsson, Chris McCann, Steven Thompson, Martin Paterson. Subs from: Diego Penny, Remco van der Schaaf, Kevin McDonald, Chris Eagles, Robbie Blake, Jay Rodriguez.

Last Time


Robbie Blake
Robbie Blake - first minute goal
I would think scoring in the first minute of a game is considered a good start. When you add a second from the penalty spot three minutes later it can hardly get much better.

That's what happened when Norwich came to Burnley a year ago last week. They were under caretaker boss Jim Duffy and were struggling next to the bottom of the league. It was all set up for a big win but it didn't happen and in the end we were thankful for the points.

It was an incredible start. Norwich kicked off and believe it or not won a corner before we scored and that was all in the first minute. We cleared the corner to Kyle Lafferty who tried to find Chris McCann. The ball reached Wade Elliott on the right and his pinpoint cross was headed in at the far post by Robbie Blake.

Three minutes on and referee Jones, not known for being sympathetic to away teams, pointed to the spot and Andy Gray converted.

We sat back and waited but we just couldn't get that third goal. Half time came with the score surprisingly still 2-0 and we continued after the break. Then Norwich introduced a barrage balloon, although I'm told it was John Hartson, and they started to get back into the game.

They pulled one back through Chris Brown, now with Preston, and put us under a bit of pressure. They brought on Jamie Cureton and we feared the worst. He got himself a gilt edged chance with only Gabor Kiraly to beat but the Hungarian keeper pulled off a stunning save.

It all ended in a 2-1 win. We'd not played as well as in the previous two games at Cardiff and Barnsley, but this had yielded three points whilst the other two had only given us one point from an underserved defeat and draw.

This win over Norwich proved to be Steve Cotterill's last win as Burnley manager and lifted us to tenth in the table with a game in hand.

The teams were;

Burnley: Gabor Kiraly, Graham Alexander, Clarke Carlisle, David Unsworth, Stephen Jordan, Wade Elliott, John Spicer, Chris McCann, Kyle Lafferty (Ade Akinbiyi 78), Robbie Blake (Alan Mahon 57), Andy Gray. Subs not used: Brian Jensen, Jon Harley, James O'Connor.

Norwich: David Marshall, Jon Otsemobor, Ian Murray, Jason Shackell, Simon Lappin, Luke Chadwick (Jamie Cureton 69), Michael Spillane, Darel Russell (Jimmy Smith 84), Darren Huckerby, David Strihavka (John Hartson 58), Chris Brown. Subs not used: Lee Croft, Chris Martin.

Previous games against Norwich


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

2007/08

C

h

2-1

10,133

Blake Gray(pen)

.

.

a

0-2

24,049

.



Click HERE to see all our results against Norwich