It's getting worse

Last updated : 22 March 2003 By Tony Scholes

Alan Moore - brightened things up for a short time at the start of the second half
Stan named the same starting eleven but the invention and enthusiasm of Tuesday had clearly been left behind for a game against a Grimsby side who are so bad it is hard to believe they haven’t already been relegated.

Before the match I caught the local evening paper with Chairman Barry Kilby telling the fans in no uncertain terms that poor gates over the last few games will have an effect when it comes to negotiating deals with players. He was almost demanding that we turn up.

But he will have great difficulty getting some people to turn up again after being treated to almost ninety minutes of passionless garbage. It was another poor turn out, in real terms less than 11,300, and it was those who didn’t bother that had made the right decision.

It wasn’t as though Grimsby made it difficult for us, in fact anything but, and neither side were able to get a single shot on target until just before half time. It is unfair to pick on individuals but Burnley’s attacking play was virtually non-existent. The midfield were awful and Robbie Blake was certainly no better. To be fair Ian Moore worked hard but got little support.

The one highlight was Glen having a childish tantrum and getting booked by the nit-picking Fraser Stretton for his actions and there was never any real chance of anyone being able to create a chance.

If a goal was to come it could have only been via a bad mistake and that’s exactly what happened just before half time. Just how Grimsby’s Stuart Campbell was able to take the ball from Steve Davis is difficult to imagine but he did and the skipper could only look on as he slotted the ball past Marlon.

The first half really had been as bad as anything for some time and was made even worse with that goal. Surely it could only get better in the second half.

And it did, for a short while. Alan Moore came on to replace Robbie Blake and he looked to be in fine form. He was involved in the build up to an Ian Moore goal that was disallowed for offside, he scored the equaliser after a good header from Davis and then tested goalkeeper Danny Coyne with another good effort.

That was all in the first twelve minutes of the second half but that was the end for Moore who looked as though he had damaged a hamstring and became the second player to be stretchered off.

The first had been Grimsby’s Stacy Coldicott in the first half with the bad news that he has broken a leg. Moore’s season is probably at an end if indeed he does have hamstring problems.

Papadopoulos came on for Moore and a more ineffective striker would have been hard to find. He went down in the box on a couple of occasions but it is about time he worked out that strikers score goals by staying on their feet. He should spend some time with Payts who might be able to explain goalscoring to him.

Once Alan Moore had gone off the performance almost reduced itself to the level of the first half and apart from a couple of forlorn shouts for penalties another goal was hardly likely.

We did our best to let Grimsby in a couple of times but this inept outfit were never going to capitalise.

With further injuries a further five minutes was added at the end, as if we really wanted it, but eventually the ref put us all out of our misery by blowing the final whistle.

Grimsby will not be here next season, they will certainly go down. Surely one of the other teams at the bottom must be better than this.

But for Burnley it is also going to be a difficult period. With the club set to announce increased season ticket prices and the Chairman warning the fans about the consequences of not turning up it will do nothing to persuade people to come on.

Attendances will continue to drop and season ticket sales could drop alarmingly. As someone said today not only are over 2,000 season ticket holders no longer coming on they are not even able to find someone else to use them.

Somehow we have to find some better form than this, the last two to three weeks have been nothing short of a horror story that have seen us pick up two points from fifteen and go out of the FA Cup along with a string of awful performances.

There will be changes on Tuesday, nothing is more certain. Cox and Branch could be available and Taylor will be. There has to be an improvement or there will soon be a return to attendances of less than 10,000. And that seems to be the only real concern to those within the corridors of Turf Moor right now.

For Grimsby they left with a point, and despite their reputation for fish they even raided one of our fish and chip shops before leaving. Around an hour after the game was finished Burnley FC's Marketing Manager Edoardo Abis was spotted in a local shop ordering fish and chips for each of the Grimsby team as they were about to set off on the journey home.

The teams today were,

Burnley: Marlon Beresford, Dean West, Steve Davis, Driss Diallo, Arthur Gnohere, Glen Little, Paul Weller, Paul Cook (Tony Grant 73), Lee Briscoe, Robbie Blake (Alan Moore 45, Dimitri Papadopoulos 57), Ian Moore. Subs not used: Nik Michopoulos, Mark McGregor.

Grimsby: Danny Coyne, John McDermott, Simon Ford, Georges Santos, Tony Gallimore, Stuart Campbell, Richard Hughes, Stacy Coldicott (Chris Bolder 37), Paul Groves, John Oster, Darren Mansaram (Steve Livingstone 90). Subs not used: Shaun Allaway, Steve Chettle, David Soames.

Referee: Fraser Stretton (Nottingham).