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With 11,600 season ticket holders the attendance of some 12,868 has to be a major concern for the powers that be especially given a sizeable turn out of visiting fans. This is the first time the attendance has dipped below 13,000 since a home defeat against Luton on a dreadful Tuesday night in February 2000 when the game was played on a flooded pitch.
Before the game today a minute’s silence was impeccably observed by both Burnley and Sheffield United supporters, a mark of respect for Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman the two young girls from Cambridgeshire found murdered this week. We can only hope that it can offer some comfort to the two girls’ families at this dreadful time.
We were all hoping for a much improved performance but to be honest it didn’t look as though it was going to be that way as Sheffield United dominated the early exchanges and we were somewhat lucky to escape that period without conceding a goal.
There were a couple of opportunities for the Clarets during the first half although we failed to hit the target with either. The first came when Paul Cook found Glen Little with a free-kick in a move similar to the one that brought the goal at Coventry last season. Glen though appeared to make a hash of it by opting not to shoot and the chance was gone.
Then Gareth Taylor got on the end of a Dean West cross but headed wide and in another effort a deflection saw the ball drop kindly to the visiting goalkeeper Paddy Kenny. At the other end the Blades could and should have scored on a couple of occasions but missed out when they should have done better. Kenny dealt with a McGregor shot from distance comfortably.
It looked as though the game was switching our way though when out of the blue we went a goal down and it really did just show that we are not getting much luck right now. McGovern found Onuora on the edge of the box and his speculative effort would not have troubled anyone had it not taken a vicious deflection and left Michopoulos with no chance.
Kenny, the on loan goalkeeper, is a pretty obnoxious character and he should clearly have seen red before half time when he clearly handled the ball outside his box. Incredibly the assistant referee did not bother to flag and so play continued.
Having said that the card would probably not have been red. In a similar incident last season at Deepdale Michopoulos was given just a yellow card by the very same referee for handling the ball outside his box. As it happened Nik hadn’t committed the offence that day but once the assistant had flagged the card should have been red.
A red card though at this stage of the game would have been interesting, our visitors did not have a goalkeeper named amongst their five substitutes.
Half time saw the introduction of Super Johnny Francis who came out to make the half time draw. John got an excellent reception from the fans of both clubs, he was signed by the Clarets from Sheffield United in 1990.
Not quite as quick as he was he is now a coach with Leeds United and has a twelve year-old daughter who holds the record for the quickest 75 yard hurdles in England for girls her age. I just wonder where she got her speed from?
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It is fair to say that things did get a bit better in the second half and at times it looked as though it was being played entirely in the visitors’ penalty box but we didn’t seem to be able to create anything clear cut.
Once again though Sheffield United benefited from a deflection as a Gareth Taylor effort went onto the post to Kenny’s left and out for a corner. Why oh why can we not get a bit of good fortune? Then the woodwork came to their rescue again and this time it was Lenny Johnrose who got in a header only to see it hit the bar.
Payts came on for the less than impressive Alan Moore with around a quarter of an hour left. His very presence lifted the crowd but apart from one flick on I cannot recall him making contact with the ball. We continued to press and there was an Ian Moore effort cleared off the line.
That was late in the game and I did think Moore was fortunate to be still on the pitch after a performance that could hardly be described as satisfactory. He and namesake Alan were the major disappointments for me today.
With three minutes of time added we piled forward but the breakthrough was never going to come and it was defeat number three.
This was though our best performance so far this season but that has to be balanced against the fact that Sheffield United look as though they are going to be one of the strugglers. They gave no indication today that they are going to be a top half side or anywhere near it.
We did though keep eleven men on the pitch even though Gareth Taylor, having received an early yellow, did his best to talk himself off the field during a frustrating first half.
In the cold light of day though we are bottom of the league without a point and with no money to go out and strengthen the squad. We do have a good number of players out with injury and suspension with more of that to come. Eventually though we should have a stronger squad to choose from.
Out of the darkness though today came a big positive, the performance of Mark McGregor. He was making just his third league appearance for the Clarets and in a third different position. This time alongside Ian Cox in the centre of defence he was without doubt my choice as Man of the Match. On this performance McGregor looks here to stay.
What we have to do is get our season going quickly and that means picking up some points. We need to go to Reading on Tuesday and get something, and preferably a win. If that happens and regardless of what happens elsewhere it will at least mean we are level with Reading and a two goal win would ensure they are below us. We need to get off the bottom quickly, a long stay can affect confidence and we could then find ourselves down there for a long time.
The attitude looked better in the second half than it has done all season so far and that must continue. Everyone needs to battle for the cause, give it everything they have got and that means on and off the field.
See you at Reading.
The teams today were;
Burnley: Nik Michopoulos, Dean West, Mark McGregor, Ian Cox, Lee Briscoe (Graham Branch 18), Paul Weller (Lenny Johnrose 45), Alan Moore (Andy Payton 76), Paul Cook, Ian Moore, Gareth Taylor, Glen Little. Subs not used: Robbie Blake, Dimitri Papadopoulos.
Sheffield United: Paddy Kenny, Robert Kozluk, Shaun Murphy, Steve Yates, Phil Jagielka, John-Paul McGovern, Stuart McCall, Michael Tonge (Nick Montgomery 82), Rob Ullathorne (Ben Doane 70), Iffy Onuora (Wayne Allison 76), Carl Asaba. Subs not used: Grant Smith, Peter Ndlovu.
Referee: Roy Pearson (Peterlee, County Durham).