A Very Strange Villain

In my last column, I talked of the kind of status that can only come with extended service. Yet as I wrote that piece, it occurred to me that the longest serving member of Burnley’s current playing staff is exactly that exception.

Graham Branch isn’t a world class player, with a glittering array of subtle skills. He isn’t a bone shattering enforcer, or a natural goal poacher. He’s a decent player, in many ways the classic journeyman: respectable purveyor of many traders, but master of none.

Except Branchy isn’t a journeyman, not really. He was a Stan Ternent signing in the classic mould: a couple of clubs – Stockport and Tranmere - without ever quite establishing himself, but with a bit more ability than his reputation gave him credit for. And then he put down roots, became an unsung member of successive Burnley sides.

He started as a left sided attacker, played occasionally up front, morphed into a left back and suddenly ended up filling in occasionally, then more frequently, at centre half. Then he played a bit in centre midfield to complete the set; legend has it that had we been in a tight spot for a ‘keeper during any game last season, you-know-who would have donned the gloves.

Yet Branch, despite his longevity, his apparent attachment to the club, his unfailing willingness to have a stab at any role assigned to him and the value placed on him by successive managers, has never quite won over the crowd.

In many ways I can understand why. Perhaps because he’s been moved about so much, he’s always struggled for a little consistency. Never an eye-catching player, it is on his bad days that he will get noticed. And as a player with notoriously fragile confidence, on those bad days even the most basic skills can become an insurmountable challenge – especially with the crowd less than, shall we say, totally supportive.

It’s a vicious circle: a player can’t hold down a regular spot in the side, knows he’s one bad pass from the wrath of the boo-boys, puts himself under pressure, struggles a bit, plays badly, loses even more confidence, and finds that opportunity to make a shirt his own even further away. The crowd expects him to struggle, he’s worried he might fail: it almost becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Yet regardless of his ability, Graham Branch hasn’t been fairly treated by the Longside. There are targets of abuse who deserve it: those who have made demands of the club, who have lacked commitment on the pitch and had too much to say for themselves; those who have stuck two fingers up at the club and the fans by drinking themselves into oblivion, or in a multitude of other ways. The loudmouths, the freeloaders, the prima donnas and the unprofessional.

Branch isn’t in any of those categories. There might have been a suspicion when he arrived that he could be lazy, but that has surely been dispelled now. He’s an uncomplaining, dedicated pro who has quietly accepted the invitation to play in all those positions, often on a hiding to nothing.

There was a time a couple of years ago when he threatened to win over the doubters, and become a cult-hero. He won a few of the player of the year awards. But last season that goodwill subsided, and it hasn’t returned.

To listen to the reported words of Steve Cotterill, about how he must spend the week between matches rebuilding Graham’s confidence after the latest battering at the hands of the unthinking masses, ought to stop any genuine supporter in their tracks. There’s plenty of talk about so-called genuine fans being those who will pay for a season ticket come what may. Nonsense. A true fan is one who wants the best for the club, and will do everything in his power to encourage the club as a whole, and every player who wears the shirt, achieve everything possible.

In my ideal scenario for the Burnley-Blackburn game earlier this season, the late winner wasn’t scored by any of the heroes of the Burnley crowd. It was scored by Branch, finally winning the acclaim becoming of an unsung member of so many Burnley teams. And I’m pleased he’s signed a new deal: versatile squad players will be more valuable under next season’s transfer regulations than ever before; the alacrity with which he signed on speaks volumes for his attitude, and for his feelings for the club.

I’ve been told by some that somewhere, deep inside Graham Branch lurks a very good player indeed, perhaps even a Premiership player, who never quite broke free of the shackles of self doubt. It is almost certainly too late for that real talent to stand up. But perhaps he can adapt with dignity to the role of reliable odd-job man, senior pro, club stalwart. It would be nice to think so, and to think he could he could, at long last, do so with the appreciation his efforts deserve.