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It is fair to say that events conspired against us today. We were a goal down after a minute, a man down after seven minutes and then lost a player with a facial injury after a clash of heads with a team mate. And all this played in temperatures where the Germans would be rushing out with their towels.
There were four changes from last week and Mark McGregor was surprisingly given a recall although pushed into the problem left-back position with no sign of Graham Branch who did not even make the bench. Robbie Blake took a seat for this one although it wasn’t too clear from the other side of the ground whether he was wearing his diving boots or not.
The bench was somewhat interesting in that it had cost us over £3 million in transfer fees to bring them to the club. Ian Moore, also dropped after last week, joined Blake alongside Papadopoulos, Cox and Payts there with just Steve Davis and Glen Little from the starting line up having cost money.
Four strikers on the bench but only one on the pitch as the Clarets clearly were looking to contain in a 4-5-1 system with Gareth Taylor the lone striker. That all went out of the window in the very first minute as Michopoulos failed to hold a less than powerful shot and Nathan Blake said thanks very much. Stan has said he would like two quality goalkeepers, on recent showings he is without doubt falling two short of his requirement. Michopoulos is a troubled keeper these days and the number of goals he is giving away has to be a major worry.
Not long after, and for the second successive match, we were down to ten and this time it was Paul Cook in front of his old fans. A surprise inclusion to start with but his early departure did seem harsh. The challenge was indeed reckless but surely no more than a yellow card. Later reports have suggested that he was sent of for using foul and abusive language but that doesn’t appear to be the case from the television pictures.
One down, ten against eleven, it was never going to be easy after that and to be honest we never ever threatened to get back into the game. We could be thankful that Wolves looked some distance away from their best otherwise we could have been on the end of a big hiding.
Michopoulos did redeem himself somewhat by saving a penalty, harshly given for handball, but as an attacking force the Clarets just weren’t in this one.
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That was just about it although we did shuffle things around with both Ian Cox and Steve Davis having spells in midfield and Papadopoulos came on but with the Clarets 2-0 down Andy Payton again spent the entire match on the bench. Wolves got a third in stoppage time and to be honest a 3-0 win flattered them, what was worrying was that we deserved no better.
So we get home to find the Clarets bottom of the league, a position we haven’t found ourselves in for quite some time. League tables count for nothing so early in the season but I would much prefer to be top of a league that counts for nothing than bottom. We really do need to get those first points and we need to get them soon.
We are in a bad run of form, a run that has gone on since the defeat at Maine Road. In fact the last 23 games (half a season) have yielded just 25 points. That is not much better than and is perilously close to relegation form.
The whole club seems flat, the following for the Clarets today was dreadfully small and we are in desperate need of a lift.
And one final thought. As a traditionalist I was pleased to see Wolves today playing in an old gold and black kit after two years in some strange brown colour. But why on earth did we not play in Claret and Blue? With the club having three kits this season, they will wear the amber and black kit at Reading, it looks as though we are going to have to wear these away kits unnecessarily as a marketing exercise. I happen to like the navy and sky blue kit despite it being a strange combination of colours for Burnley but under no circumstances should we have worn it today. We are the Clarets and when there is no clash we should play in Claret and Blue and be bloody well proud to.
The teams were:
Wolves: Michael Oakes, Denis Irwin, Paul Butler, Jolean Lescott, Lee Naylor, Shaun Newton, Ivar Ingimarsson, Alex Rae (Kevin Cooper 64), Colin Cameron (Paul Ince 9), Nathan Blake, Kenny Miller (Dean Sturridge 76). Subs not used: Matt Murray, Adam Proudlock.
Burnley: Nik Michopoulos, Dean West, Steve Davis, Arthur Gnohere, Mark McGregor, Glen Little (Dimitri Papadopoulos 69), Paul Weller (Ian Cox 62), Lee Briscoe, Paul Cook, Alan Moore (Ian Moore 18), Gareth Taylor. Subs not used: Robbie Blake, Andy Payton.
Referee: Jeff Winter (Stockton-on-Tees)