Reporting this latest defeat is somewhat different than the previous seven. In each of those seven we've played poorly and fully deserved the defeats, even the Reading defeat which came with a goal in the ninth minute of stoppage time.
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| Jay Rodriguez - fourth league goal of the season |
This defeat, however, was not just avoidable. This defeat should not have happened after a much better performance from the Clarets but once again serious questions have to be asked about our defending both individually and collectively as we managed to concede two more very soft goals.
We don't keep clean sheets, but other than that in the back of my mind, I never felt Leeds were going to get back into this game despite only holding a one goal lead, and it really was hard to take as we simply threw away the points with shocking defending, the sort of which will surely see us competing for a place in League One next season if we don't arrest it.
I'm not convinced we are set up well enough defensively, but it doesn't help when players, who really aren't good enough at this level, repeatedly make mistakes that cost us soft goals. This has to be dealt with, and quickly, if we are going to start recovering from this very worrying 21st place we find ourselves in.
We haven't been this low in the table so far into a season since 2003 and if it is not ringing that padlocked Premier bell in the Jimmy McIlroy Stand then it should surely be ringing some alarm bells in the corridors of Turf Moor.
For well over three quarters of this game we looked to be the only winners but it all went sadly wrong with those errors.
I wasn't particularly confident ahead of the game. We'd been awful last time out at Bristol City and add that to Leeds' exceptionally good record at Turf Moor it was a concern. It became a bigger concern for me with the news that Ross Wallace, undoubtedly our best player over the last few weeks, had been ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Keith Treacy came in. He's come in for some criticism recently but in fairness he's had few opportunities, most of his appearances have been from the bench, and at times I've felt the criticism has been a bit unfair.
The only other change was the expected one with Michael Duff returning from injury. Also expected was that Ben Mee would be the one to drop out which he did, not even making the bench which did include new loan signing Sam Vokes who was to get into the action a lot earlier than he could have envisaged.
Ahead of kick off came the tribute to Jimmy Adamson. I think everyone knows my personal views on this and I still insist this should have been a minute's silence. I noticed a number of people in the crowd with heads bowed throughout the minute, standing in total silence.
The applause from the Leeds fans, ahead of the minute, was spontaneous when their club was mentioned during the announcement, and they, like the home supporters on the other three sides of Turf Moor showed Adamson great respect as a line up of former team mates and players he'd managed stood along the touchline.
Burnley v Leeds and Adamson. That reminded me of the battles in the 1970s; of our 4-1 win at Elland Road when Frank Casper was cruelly put out of the game by Norman Hunter and of the home game in the following season when both Ray Hankin and Gordon McQueen were sent off on the day the Bob Lord Stand was officially opened.
Games like that just wouldn't happen today. Had we had a referee such as Darren Deadman back then we'd have ended with 5-a-side at best.
This time it was Scott Mathieson in charge and when he got the game going it was Burnley who started the better. I'd go as far as to say I felt this was our best start in a game all season, Nottingham Forest apart, as we took the game to Leeds.
We came close to scoring with not much over 60 seconds on the clock but a defender just got in to head a Treacy cross over the bar ahead of Jay Rod at the expense of a corner.
Good starts need early goals, and that's just what we got in the tenth minute. Chris McCann, who had his best game of the season, got the ball out wide to Treacy who was unceremoniously fouled by Paul Connolly.
The ball run loose, was played across the pitch via Junior Stanislas to Kieran Trippier with referee Mathieson frantically waving his arms to indicate he was giving us the advantage. Trippier moved forward in acres of space and then delivered the perfect cross for Jay Rod who headed down perfectly giving Leeds' loan goalkeeper Alex McCarthy his first opportunity to pick the ball out of the net since arriving from Reading.
It was just his fourth league goal of the season, but his ninth in total, hard to imagine that I had to read someone describing him as 'hideously out of form' just a day earlier after the news of the Vokes signing.
If McCarthy had no chance with that one he went on to be Leeds' best player in a first half that was all but dominated by Burnley and he had a running battle with Treacy all game in which he came out on top.
He saved with his legs to deny the Clarets' left winger after he'd come through two defenders on the left hand side of the box and close to half time he saved brilliantly down by his right hand post to deny him.
It wasn't all one way traffic although Lee Grant, making his 50th Burnley appearance, was largely untroubled in front of the Jimmy Mac Stand in the first half. Even so, he was a fortunate man to see out the half after coming out and clearly handling the ball outside the penalty box in an almost rare opportunity for the visitors.
We got away with that, but there was some really bad news for us when Charlie Austin went down just before the half hour with another shoulder injury. Television pictures show him in real pain, and he himself has tweeted today to report that the pain has prevented him getting much sleep overnight.
There's been no prognosis as yet but it is looking like another dislocation that could keep our leading scorer out for some time.
Thankfully the Vokes move did go through and he got his debut and impressed overall. He's certainly no slouch and he offers something different up front, particularly with his aerial ability.
Apart from Treacy, McCann came close with a shot on the turn from just outside the box and then, right on half time, Jay Rod did really well to get onto the ball but his shot lacked power and was easy for McCarthy.
I don't think anyone could have been dissatisfied with the first half, not from the Burnley angle, and in any case Jimmy Mac said it was the best we'd played and when Jimmy says it, that's good enough for me.
The only concern was that the lead was only one goal when we could so easily have gone in with a virtual match winning lead.
Just for a few minutes at the start of the second half it looked as though Leeds might be getting back into it, but that soon came to an end and we had the return of McCarthy v Treacy with the goalkeeper doing well to save from a free kick.
There was nothing he could do the next time when Treacy let fly with his right foot. It looked to be going well wide but curled in before hitting the bar with the goalkeeper nowhere near.
Between those two incidents Simon Grayson had switched his strikers but the changes didn't have any effect. We were nothing like as progressive in the second half but looked in total control of the situation.
We thought we'd got a penalty too when Marvin Bartley, who had a subdued day, went down in the box. It looks as though the defender has just got a touch on the ball thus vindicating the referee's decision to wave play on.
Burnley struggle to keep clean sheets and we joked about what time their goal might come. It was 76 minutes; it was out of the blue and it was another one handed to them on a plate.
It was no more than a routine cross into the box but Brian Easton, who had played so much better in this game, got it all wrong. He was badly positioned, and that allowed Robert Snodgrass to get past him unseen at the back post to poke the ball home.
It was unacceptable defending but at least for some Burnley fans it was missed. It came just at the time of a disturbance in the crowd and some, including one home fan sat close to me, was so busy watching that he didn't see the goal.
Absolutely ridiculous goal, it really was. We'd gifted it to them but we were almost back in front very quickly when Vokes headed down for Jay Rod but he couldn't keep his shot down.
From there it got worse, and with just around two minutes of normal time remaining we conceded again. Zavon Hines, on for Stanislas who had endured a nightmare performance, gave a free kick away. It could have also cost him personally with a card of either colour.
The free kick was deflected for a corner on the right. It came in, went beyond the far post, was headed back across for Snodgrass, who had taken the corner, to come in and get his second and Leeds' winner.
Hines was positioned on the post but by then had moved out beyond the six yard line. Other defenders were doing nothing and that total lack of organisation from a set piece was there for all to see again.
Our defending had cost us again. The 'slow motion' football that has been far too evident this season was gone. We played well for at least 70 minutes of the game and were the better side.
Jay Rod and McCann were very much back to form and Treacy gave us the sort of performance that, if offered regularly, would turn him into a real Turf Moor favourite.
We'd done enough to win this game. Had we just got one more goal we'd have done more than enough. But then, predictably, the mistakes came at the back and Leeds were simply allowed to steal the points.
It can't carry on; it's game after game that we surrender goals far too easily. We have to be better organised at the back and we have to bring in better players in key positions. It really is as simple as that. Had we done that, this game would have been won.
It now leaves us hovering just above the bottom three, thankfully with a few points right now as a cushion. That cushion will be very quickly removed unless we take the necessary action.
The teams were;
Burnley: Lee Grant, Kieran Trippier, Michael Duff, David Edgar, Brian Easton, Junior Stanislas (Zavon Hines 65), Marvin Bartley, Chris McCann, Keith Treacy, Charlie Austin (Sam Vokes 29), Jay Rodriguez. Subs not used: Jon Stewart, Andre Amougou, Dean Marney.
Yellow Card: Kieran Trippier.
Leeds: Alex McCarthy, Paul Connolly, Patrick Kisnorbo, Darren O'Dea (Tom Lees 82), Aiden White, Robert Snodgrass, Jonny Howson, Adam Clayton, Lloyd Sam, Ross McCormack (Ramon Nunez 59), Andy Keogh (Luciano Becchio 59). Subs not used: Alex Cairns, Michael Brown.
Yellow Card: Darren O'Dea.
Referee: Scott Mathieson (Stockport).
Attendance: 17,226.