Fulham were the last team we beat on 3rd November. Since then we'd played six games, drawing four of them and losing the other two at home against Preston and at Middlesbrough. That run had not only seen us drop to fifth, but it had detached us from the top four and seen some of the clubs just below us get within one good result of going ahead of us.
There had, it seemed, been widespread panic. Outside noise is how manager Sean Dyche refers to it and he certainly didn't agree with the negativity, not as though you would expect him to do. He remained positive and, after three games without a goal, said that this was a team with goals in it.
His team proved him right with the first four goal haul since we beat York 4-0 in the Capital One Cup in August 2013 and the first in the league under his management; the last time we netted four league goals was under Terry Pashley at Bristol City in October 2012 and the last four goal league win was a 4-0 victory against Ipswich in November 2011 when Sam Vokes scored his first Burnley goal.
Any report of a Burnley game these days has to have a mention for the weather. Thankfully, it remained dry for most people to make their way to the ground and in temperatures that you would hardly associate with December, but it was a different story during and after the game as the rain poured as the wind increased, just to ensure most of us got wet.
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| Hinge & Bracket with one of their mates doing a spot of Christmas shopping |
I didn't bother with the Christmas Carnival on Harry Potts Way but I did bump into what looked like Hinge and Bracket with one of their mates on shopping trollies. They came charging round the corner by the club shop before attracting a big crowd with a performance outside the ticket office.
Then it was off to take a look at the two Jimmy Mac photographs that have been placed on the wall of his stand before getting inside before the rain came.
By then we'd got the team news which might have given Statler and Waldorf from the Middlesbrough game something to ponder on. They spent much of the game there demanding changes before complaining when they were made.
I have to say, on a personal note, I was disappointed when the news came through that David Jones had been left out. I'm a massive Jones fan; I think he's been a big, big influence since signing for us over two years ago, but I think I knew that one of him, Joey Barton and Dean Marney would be sitting this one out and I suspected it might be him. Reverting to 4-4-2, one of them had to drop out for Sam Vokes to return.
The other change was one I've been calling for now for a few weeks, at right back where Matt Lowton got his first Burnley start in place of Tendayi Darikwa.
Charlton are certainly not one of the better teams in the league so this certainly represented a good chance for us to get back to winning ways, but I thought that when I went through the turnstiles for the Preston game. This time, by the final whistle, we'd got what we wanted and what we needed to take into Christmas.
It wasn't plain sailing though and for much of the first half there was little to enthuse the crowd. Dyche described it as flat and it would be difficult to disagree with that. We started well enough but it didn't last long and against a better side than this we might have found ourselves in a more difficult situation.
Charlton weren't the best side we've played this season. They did include the wonderfully named Reza Ghoochannejhad and a striker by the name of Simon Makineok who looked some way short of being equipped to play in the Championship.
We did have a couple of opportunities. Ben Mee probably had the best one when the ball broke to him in the box but he was unable to convert and Andre Gray had a couple of chances although the one he blazed over from just inside the six-yard box wouldn't have counted anyway as the flag had gone up for offside. The assistant in front of the Longside got a couple of offside decisions badly wrong but this was undoubtedly the correct decision.
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| One of the two photographs outside the Jimmy McIlroy Stand |
Charlton had a spell but didn't really offer too much threat in front of goal. There was one situation when they looked set to fire a shot at goal before Barton got back to make the tackle of the season to win the ball back.
But they forced Tom Heaton into a save as the half was coming to a close with a long range effort from Johnnie Jackson. Heaton tipped the ball over at the expense of a corner and that brought the first goal.
We got the ball back immediately and broke quickly. Lowton got down the right hand side and his cross evaded one player, got the slightest of touches from Gray before reaching Scott Arfield. The midfielder made no mistake despite a defender desperately trying to clear the ball off the line.
So, 1-0 at half time rather than 0-0. I don't know how much that changed Dyche's discussions in the dressing room but it certainly changed the way we played in the second half. It's natural after a run of six without a win to lose some confidence, but that goal saw it all come flooding back and within ten minutes of the restart it was all over and the points were ours.
We won a corner in the 53rd minute. I'm not sure what Charlton were doing but they allowed us to play the ball in for Marney without a Charlton player anywhere near him. He saw Arfield calling for the ball on the edge of the box, found him and Arfield hit home via a deflection.
The last time he'd scored on the Turf was 10th January in the 2-1 win against QPR; he'd scored just once since and I think we all know where he got that one. He scored two in a game three times for Falkirk but this is his first brace in English football.
I reckoned a two goal lead would be enough to win this one but just 78 seconds after Arfield's shot had crossed the line, so another one did as Gray got his first goal in open play since the Fulham win.
It owed much to Marney who did so well to get the ball back. He played the ball forward for George Boyd and continued his run down the right. But Boyd slipped the ball to Gray and he made absolutely no mistake with a right foot shot from just inside the box before celebrating by taking it out of the corner flag.
It wasn't one way, and Heaton made a terrific save to deny Ghoochannejhad but there was no denying Burnley now and when Lowton crossed low into the box, Vokes steered a deft shot into the bottom corner.
We might have had more too with Rouwen Hennings, one of three players introduced from the bench in the last ten minutes, denied his first Turf Moor goal by Stephen Henderson right at the end. He turned his defender to get the ball onto his left foot and it looked to be heading for the bottom corner before Henderson got across to save.
It was so easy in the second half as that confidence came flooding back, and there were some outstanding individual performances. Lowton was exceptional in his first start but the highest praise goes to the pair in central midfield.
Marney looked as though he'd never been away. I remain convinced we'd have stayed up last season had he not been injured and we saw exactly what we've been missing yesterday. Alongside him was the only player on the pitch who I thought had played better than him and that's Barton. We ran the game from that area of the pitch. We moved the ball much quicker and, as disappointed as I was to see Jones left out, you couldn't fault the performances of those two.
It's Hull now on Boxing Day to take us to half way in the season. But for now we can all sit down for the Christmas turkey on the back of the biggest league win for over four years.
We're a good side; we just needed that confidence boost.
Enjoy Christmas, and see you at the KC.
The teams were;
Burnley: Tom Heaton, Matt Lowton, Michael Duff, Michael Keane, Ben Mee, George Boyd (Matt Taylor 82), Joey Barton, Dean Marney, Scott Arfield (Michael Kightly 82), Sam Vokes, Andre Gray (Rouwen Hennings 80). Subs not used: Matt Gilks, Tendayi Darikwa, Stephen Ward, David Jones.
Charlton: Stephen Henderson, Chris Solly, Patrick Bauer (Naby Sarr 66), Harry Lennon, Morgan Fox, Alou Diarra (Zakarya Bergdich 63), Jordan Cousins, Johnnie Jackson, Reza Ghoochannejhad, Simon Makienok, Ricardo Vaz Te (Karlan Ahearne-Grant 29). Subs not used: Nick Pope, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Regan Charles-Cook, Esri Konsa Ngoyo.
Referee: Paul Tieney (Wigan).
Attendance: 15,697 (including 234 from Charlton).