No Stan but still another win against Walsall

Last updated : 12 October 2002 By Tony Scholes

Robbie Blake - first Turf Moor goal in an impressive performance
When asked how it was away from the dug out after the game Stan described it as ‘Crap’ but he will certainly be happy to see the Clarets move up another three places to 9th in Division One after we started the season with four defeats and had him considering his future.

Clarets Mad were struggling to come up with a line up earlier, such was the injury situation, but we did learn that Matthew O’Neill and Earl Davis had been named in an eighteen man squad. Neither made it onto the bench though as we were able to welcome back Paul Weller, Tony Grant and Lee Briscoe although the latter two had to settle for places on the bench.

Apparently these three had to play despite still carrying their injuries in a squad that was depleted with other injuries to Stretch Armstrong and Alan Moore and a suspension and an international call.

It was somewhat disjointed at times although during the first half we did look the better side. Good chances at either end were scorned but generally we looked comfortable enough. Robbie Blake was showing some nice touches, most of his good performances have been away from home, and he linked up nicely with Glen Little down the right hand side on a number of occasions.

Stan quite often arranges matches that he calls ‘Behind Closed Doors Friendlies’ and I have often wondered what the benefit was. It is clear now that he is getting his players used to playing in a quiet environment with no crowd noise or atmosphere. That’s how it was today again and I just wonder what has happened to the Turf.

During the first half, apart from the odd moan, you would have thought there was nobody inside the ground. Last week the following at Hillsborough was commended by onlookers for its support and noise. That was all gone again today sadly. Yes it was pretty dull stuff to watch during the first half but I couldn’t imagine the away support ever being so quiet.

Eventually the game was lit up with another classic Burnley goal, this time from Robbie Blake. He was put clear by Steve Davis, saw goalkeeper Walker off his line, and chipped him superbly.

It was a piece of class from Blake that saw is in front at the interval although it was almost two right on time when a well worked free kick was almost turned in by Paul Weller. A two goal lead would have been somewhat unfair on Walsall but we were definitely the better side.

Although not on the bench during the first half Stan was as close as you can get on the front row of the Director’s Box. In fact he was almost within touching distance of his usual position at the side of the box and had been able to issue instructions to the new management team.

The second half was following a similar pattern to the first with lots of scrappy play with only the occasional flash to break it up. Most of it was involving Robbie Blake who was having his best game yet at home having scored his first home goal.

Just ten minutes in to the half and a substitution was made (was it Stan from afar?) seeing Tony Grant return for Paul Cook. Cooky had again done well and it is good to see him back in the side. Grant though was to play a significant part almost a quarter of an hour later.

The next change saw Brad Maylett come on for his first game since the Isle of Man Tournament, replacing the struggling Paul Weller who was clearly not match fit. Maylett immediately made an impact with a good run and cross.

With just over 20 minutes to go we looked to have clinched the game with a second and it was all started by a superb pass by Tony Grant out to Glen Little on the right. Glen crossed for Ian Moore and his effort was on its way in before Steve Davis made sure. It initially looked as though it had crossed the line before Davis got a touch but that was not the case and it was definitely Davis’ goal. It was his first goal since our first in the August Bank Holiday defeat to KKMC last year. Almost fourteen months between Davis goals is very rare indeed.

Arthur Gnohere - outstanding at the back
That looked to be it and the points looked well and truly in the bag but ten minutes later a mistake by Marlon allowed Walsall back in it with a headed goal from a corner. Marlon has had such a great couple of weeks but he missed the cross and substitute Birch had the task of heading home.

Now if there is something I don’t like about watching the Clarets it is seeing us try to defend a lead in the latter stages of a game and we had more of it today. We dropped deeper and deeper, made little effort to move out even when in possession, and almost invited Walsall to put balls into our box.

We survived and to be fair probably came closer to scoring a third than they did to equalising on a couple of occasions we did break through Maylett and Moore but Walsall could and probably should have snatched an equaliser. At times it looked as though we were defending with a back six as the ball didn’t seem to want to come out of our penalty box.

The final whistle was greeted with relief but there is no doubt that we deserved the points and with so many players lacking any sort of match fitness and with the squad down to the bare bones this was three more very welcome points.

We are not back to the sort of form that was destroying sides just under a year ago but we are suddenly becoming a difficult team to play against once more. The win takes us to ten games without defeat, eight of them in the league. The run has seen us climb fifteen places from bottom up to ninth.

We worked hard and there wasn’t a single player out on the field who could be criticised for any lack of commitment. This is a Burnley team working for each other again and as long as that is the case we can hardly complain. But Stan can we put some sort of fence up, say about thirty yards from our own goal, that stops the ball being inside our penalty box so much in the last ten minutes of a game?

Man of the Match for me today was without doubt between two players, one forward and one defender, and I have difficulty in choosing between them. Robbie Blake had an excellent game up front and provided us with some classy moments and in particular his goal. At the back Arthur played as well as I have seen him play, he is getting better and better and is now becoming a top defender at this level.

Finally I must comment on referee Brian Curson after his first Burnley game. There is little I can say in defence of a referee who never gave the impression he knew what was going on. By the end of the game he had given out six yellow cards and certainly five of them were an absolute nonsense. The sixth, for Glen Little, was for dissent and without knowing what was said it is difficult to comment.

Early in the game he didn’t seem to have any sort of grip on the game but then decided he would start waving his yellow cards around. Sadly when the moment came, a blatant elbow, he chose to take no action.

He is not a referee I want to see again in a hurry although almost certainly he will have gone home believing he has had a good game.

So it’s Leicester, Ipswich and Portsmouth next, two of the relegated clubs and the one with more money than the rest of us put together and two of them in the promotion places. We go into these games on this good run and they will provide a stern test.

The teams today were:

Burnley: Marlon Beresford, Dean West, Ian Cox, Arthur Gnohere, Graham Branch, Glen Little, Paul Weller (Brad Maylett 63), Steve Davis, Paul Cook (Tony Grant 55), Ian Moore, Robbie Blake (Lee Briscoe 83). Subs not used: Mark McGregor, Andy Payton.

Walsall: James Walker, Darren Bazeley, Danny Hay, Ian Roper, Zigor Aranalde, Darren Wrack, Martyn O’Connor (Roberto Martinez 17), Fitzroy Simpson, Steve Corica, Jorge Leitao, Junior (Gary Birch 62). Subs not used: Gavin Ward, Pedro Matias, Tony Barras.

Referee: The totally incompetent Brian Curson (Leicester).