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BLIND, STUPID AND DESPERATE
 
04/05: Preview: Burnley
BSaD opinion
by Matt Rowson

How did they do?
"Burnley's early forays were relatively easily repelled, with Marcus Gayle and Paul Mayo participating in a private contest to see which of the two could clobber the ball the furthest. Such balls out of the back should hardly have troubled a respectable back four, but this was very far from a respectable back four. The Burnley rearguard was reminiscent of a flimsy child's mobile, blown out of shape and into nervous, spiraling chaos by the merest breeze. As soon as the quarter hour mark, Jensen was trying to slow the game down by trotting across the penalty area to change the location of his goal kicks, and also opted for a change of boots at one point, slowing the game down further."

How will they do?
All change at Turf Moor, where Stan Ternent has finally been sent on his grumbling way. Steve Cotterill built a reputation at Cheltenham but his management career has been on hold since the ill-advised decision to join Howard Wilkinson at Sunderland. He has his work cut out here; Burnley were by some distance the weakest side we saw at the end of last season and summer developments will leave the squad weaker rather than stronger. That said, John McGreal is a good capture and Mickey Duff was Cheltenham's stand-out player when we met them in the League Cup a few years back. Then there's Micah, of course. Not a lost cause then... but strong candidates for the drop.