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Chelsea 1-1 Burnley (AET: Burnley win 5-4 on penalties)

By burnley
Published: December 11, 2008

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I have not frequented London much, and this was the first time I’d been to London to see my beloved Clarets, so there was added excitement on top of the fact we were playing the second best team in Europe for a place in the League Cup quarter finals. My dad was a bit too wound up about finding a parking space however, while me and my sister were having a bit of a bumpkin “ooh and ahh” at the Christmas lights all over Harrods, he was haranguing me to find the turn off for the car park we’d sorted out online. There were 4 hours to go before kick off at this stage though; surely London traffic isn’t that bad?

3 and a half hours later we were parked up, and after a chippy tea, endless encounters with Burnley fans all over the place, a gander at the Thames at night (very pretty), and meeting up with my uncle for a bit of pre-match craic, we were finally ready for the big match. The stadium looked beautiful from the outside and the inside and the capacity crowd contributed to an electric atmosphere (in the away end at least- Chelsea fans weren’t really excited about the visit of Burnley for some reason). What were we expecting? A goal would be brilliant to celebrate. A win was probably beyond us, though. Especially when we saw that Chelsea were playing Cudicini, Ferreira, Bridge, Deco, Alex, Belletti, Malouda and Drogba, with Terry, Lampard and Mikel on the bench if needs be. As for us, the only changes were the introduction of Michael Duff and Martin Paterson for the suspended Clarke Carlisle and the cup tied Stephen Thompson. At least we had our own internationals to bring into the team, even if it is only Northern Ireland.

The game started true to form and class, Chelsea dominating possession despite a couple of abortive Clarets attempts on the break. An Alex free kick led to a crap shot from Wayne Bridge, Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda were denied by a superb double save from Brian Jensen, and Juliano Belletti was replaced in the centre of midfield by England midfielder Frank Lampard. Within a few minutes of his introduction he had crafted the game’s first goal. A lovely through ball found Drogba, who had seemingly been refereeing the game up to this point, and he skipped past a couple of admittedly weak challenges from Duff and Caldwell and stroked home the opening goal. We all know what happened next, some braindead idiots threw coins at him, a braindead idiot gave the Clarets fans the finger and threw one back, and a braindead idiot deemed this conduct worthy of only a yellow card. Hopefully the appropriate action will be taken, and we’ll try not to ruin the Clarets’ night with this unsavoury incident, unlike all the major media outlets and some moronic “fans”. Fortunately Drogba’s attitude was limiting his influence on the game, with a couldn’t-care-less-I’m-too-big-for-this performance leading to several misplaced passes, unsuccessful tricks and the absence of any goal threat as Michael Duff beat him time and again in the air. Chelsea as a team were playing as if they were already through with that goal, and although Ivanovic hit the bar just before half time, we were holding on fairly comfortably.

However, holding on isn’t the best strategy when you’re 1-0 down, and fortunately we attacked towards the Claret-occupied Shed End in the second half with renewed vigour in the second half, Chris Eagles’ cross spilled by Cudicini just behind Wade Elliott. The atmosphere in the away end was just electric, 6,100 Clarets’ fans determined to enjoy themselves, singing non-stop and doing the club proud. The atmosphere and the respective performance of both fans was reflected on the pitch too, with Chelsea cautious to attack and eager to slow the game down, Burnley lively, hardworking and always seeking to catch the Blues on the counter attack. With Martin Paterson unable to get into the game and Chelsea’s defensive sub John Obi Mikel giving them added steel in midfield, however, a change was needed. Ade Akinbiyi replaced Paterson for his first appearance since mid September, and my sister confidently predicted “He’ll get the winner!” .I certainly didn’t share that optimism, although he was clearly going to provide more of a physical presence than Paterson.

And what a presence. Just after the ineffectual Drogba was hauled off (to chants of “You’re just a shit Akinbiyi”), a classy ball over the top from Robbie Blake was latched onto by Chris Eagles, and when Cudicini parried his shot, the ball seemed to take an age to spin out to Ade. A million thoughts went through my head, mainly “Don’t miss it”, but he stroked the ball confidently home to send 6,100 people absolutely bananas. I couldn’t believe it, what a feeling! We had drawn level against a team who had spent more on their goalscorer than we had on our entire team, against a side of whom some players earn more in a week than our entire squad does. The fans were going absolutely berserk and the pride and passion from the away end had multiplied tenfold. What a feeling!

The last 20 minutes of normal time were nerve-racking, with Chelsea having the better chances, particularly Drogba’s replacement Franco Di Santo, who missed a sitter before crying off with a hamstring injury. Alan Mahon, who replaced Robbie Blake, went close with a shot late on, but really we were made up to be going into extra time still level. Chelsea had a bit more urgency about them in extra time, with Lampard having a goal narrowly adjudged to be offside (what a relief that was!), and seemingly a million Chelsea free kicks going close. I was praying to all sorts of gods I don’t believe in that we could at least take them to penalties by this stage. Alex missed a sitter from four yards out, Steve Caldwell got a second booking for bringing down Malouda, and yet still we managed to defend desperately, led by the imperious Mike Duff and the magnificent Brian Jensen. It was an incredible relief just to see it through to penalties and onto a level playing field, although you can’t imagine the nerves every time somebody stepped up for a kick.

After a few final prayers, it was time to watch the penalties. Graham Alexander took the first for the Clarets; it smashed off the bar and took an age before bouncing over the line. 1-0.

Frank Lampard took a great penalty to level things up, 1-1 (shame he doesn’t do it for England).

Alan Mahon slotted home beautifully, 2-1.

Wayne Bridge stepped up...and scuffed his penalty, Jensen beating it away. 2-1!

Eagles’ penalty was magnificently struck, although Cudicini went the right way. 3-1.

Another nice penalty from Kalou. 3-2.

Extra time substitute Kevin McDonald scuffed home for the Clarets. 4-2. Surely not?

Paulo Ferreira cracked it into the top corner. 4-3.

“If Elliott scores this, we’re through!” my Dad repeatedly said, to loud protestations about jinxing it from me and my sister. We blamed him when Wade skied it too. 4-3.

Florent Malouda made it 4-4 and the tension was even worse as we went to sudden death. We all thought we’d blown our chance I think.

I was more than a little nervous to see Mike Duff step up to the spot too, he is a class defender but it could be said his ball skills leave something to be desired. Still, he smashed the ball past Cudicini to put us in front, 5-4.

Nigerian international John Obi Mikel stepped up for Chelsea; my stomach was doing cartwheels now. He struck a decent penalty towards the top corner...but Brian Jensen somehow managed to tip it onto the post and away to safety. 5-4 and we were through! I have seen photos and videos of the players running to celebrate with Jensen, but none of it registered as the away end became one seething cauldron. I shouted myself hoarse, hugged strangers and generally behaved like a complete loon. I could not believe we had actually come to Stamford Bridge and become the fourth team to win there in four years, it really was joy unconfined. When I had finally calmed down a bit it registered that 11 Chelsea players and 30-odd thousand fans had slinked (slunk?) away remarkably quickly, and the heroes in Claret were soaking up the applause at the away end. My hands and throat were raw by the time they walked down the tunnel, but the pride you feel when clapping an excellent away performance and belting out “The Claret Flag” felt especially resonant on this night.

Hearing the score on the radio every half an hour allowed it to start to sink in on the drive back home to Derby, and the camaraderie with any passing Clarets on the motorway was something you can only experience after a special win. One of the best nights of my life, one that will stay with me forever, and a night when we could all truly say we were proud to be a Claret.

MY MAN OF THE MATCH: If I had to pick one I would say Michael Duff, but they all deserve it on this occasion.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Burnley

By burnley
Published: December 11, 2008
Updated: December 11, 2008

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Molineux has never been a happy hunting ground for us Clarets-I have only ever seen us get any points there on the TV, and on a personal level we can never find the ground, and the tickets cost a bomb (although the rest of the league seems to be catching up in fairness). Fortunately this year a work colleague of my Dad’s who supports Wolves (and has the same name as one of their players!) sorted us out with regards to parking this year, so a big thanks to Mr Ebanks-Blake for that (only joking, he’s called Stephen Ward). While I’m on the subject I’d like to apologise to the gentleman who I saw making a hash out of climbing out of his car, and then walking into a branch en route to the game, I didn’t mean to laugh quite so loudly. If you’re reading I’d also like to recommend you stop going to McDonalds before the game, you might find it easier to walk then!

But I digress. Wolves are a quality side and if I’m honest I wasn’t hopeful of a result here considering our record at Molineux, and it seemed I was to be vindicated after an excellent display of attacking football had us on the back foot from the word go. A combination of brave defending and crap finishing kept us in the game for a long period, however, and I began to relax a bit before Michael Kightly did the inevitable and put Wolves in front, after his initial shot came back off the post. Most people have said he handled it at some point, although in my best Arsene Wenger voice “I deed not zee eet”, and in any case they were well worth the lead at half time. The ref has had plenty of stick from our fans, and some of his yellow cards were a touch overzealous (Stephen Jordan’s in particular was a daft decision), but on the whole I didn’t think he was that bad, although a chest infection had robbed me of much of my vitriolic shouting power for this particular game.

The second half started much better for us as we had more possession and carved out a few chances, although Chris Eagles was the only one to test the shaky Carl Ikeme. Credit must go to the Wolves centre-halves Michael Mancienne and Richard Stearman who were surely the best partnership we’ve faced this season. It was one of those where we might have nicked a goal but the game was made safe on 75 minutes when Jordan bottled a header, allowing Ebanks-Blake and Kightly to break and the latter to stab home past Jensen and make the points safe for Wolves. After this the fight went out of our side, despite the efforts of Jay Rodriguez and Martin Paterson who had replaced Robbie Blake and Stephen Thompson earlier in the match.

The worst moment of our afternoon came when a crap tackle from Clarke Carlisle saw him earn a (for once deserved) booking. However, it was his second and meant that we finished on 10 men and he misses the trip to Chelsea. This was harsh, as he had certainly not made any tackles nearly as bad as that previously in the game. His broken nose certainly wasn’t followed up with a card from referee Darren Deadman, despite the somewhat close attentions of Chris Iwelumo throughout the game, so perhaps it is safe to say the ref will live up to his name next time he visits Turf Moor.

A richly deserved win for an excellent Wanderers side that will surely, along with Reading, occupy one of the top two places come May. Disappointing defeat for us, not our best performance, but at least we have a trip to Stamford Bridge to look forward to on Wednesday.

MY MAN OF THE MATCH: My Claret nominee would be skipper Steve Caldwell, but it has to be a Wolves player in the shape of Michael Mancienne. Looks like a class act.

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Burnley 2-0 Norwich City

By burnley
Published: November 17, 2008

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Burnley 1-0 Reading

By burnley
Published: November 17, 2008
Updated: November 17, 2008

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A decent away point at Charlton on the previous Saturday had kept our good run of form going after the excellent win at Coventry, but despite picking up 4 away points in a week, it was with trepidation that we welcomed Reading to Turf Moor, the only team to have beaten us since the opening two weeks of the season. Injury and illness kept out Clarke Carlisle and Michael Duff, so a makeshift back four of Graham Alexander, Steve Caldwell, Stephen Jordan and Christian Kalvenes faced probably the league’s best attackers. Reading’s poor away form was our only consolation. The only other change to the side was the reintroduction of Chris Eagles at left wing, to compensate for the gap Alexander was leaving in midfield. This gap was another cause for concern before kickoff.

The game started slowly but pre-match nerves were confirmed as Reading’s class began to show. A shot from range was spilled by Brian Jensen but just as Noel Hunt prepared to fire the rebound home, the Dane recovered with a superb second block which forced the ball behind the line. This was the first of many incredible saves from “The Beast” which kept us in the game. A thunderous shot from Kevin Doyle cannoned off a post, but Reading pressure was tailing off towards the end of the half and the Clarets even had a couple of opportunities of their own, although some brave defending denied Stephen Thompson his second goal in as many games as he attempted to force an Eagles cross over the line. Martin Paterson also panicked when given a good opportunity and fired over with just the keeper to beat.

At half time, though, we considered ourselves fortunate to be equal as Reading had controlled possession and really shown their class. The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with shots raining in on the Clarets goal, and Jensen proving equal to all of them. Particular highlights were an incredible save to deny Andre Bikey, who had powered a free header at the bottom left hand corner from 6 yards out, and a great reaction stop when a Doyle shot looped off Stephen Jordan and looked certain to find the net. Another Doyle header looped off the bar with Jensen beaten, and despite relentless Reading pressure we looked like we were going to hang on for a point.

How wrong we were. Robbie Blake, still aiming to recover his first team place from Martin Paterson, had been introduced midway through the half by Coyle, and on a rare foray forwards found the ball slipped into his feet, back to goal, with about 5 Reading players on him. Still, he somehow found the space to turn on a sixpence, steady himself and crack an excellent shot past a shellshocked Marcus Hahnemann and into the bottom corner. We couldn’t believe it and went absolutely wild. We’ve seen our side throw some silly points away many times in the past, were we actually going to steal some undeserved ones?

Yes we were! Reading’s formerly excellent football fell foul of the typical trap for Championship teams who are behind late in the game, that of resorting to a ridiculous long ball, which Jordan, Caldwell, Carlisle, and McCann, who moved to centre half after an injury to the skipper, found much easier to deal with. We saw out the game in relative comfort after this.

A very streaky 3 points which owed everything to Brian Jensen, who despite a decent defensive performance, was the difference between a clean sheet and an absolute tanking. Still, nice to have some undeserved points for a change, although we had to feel sorry for all the Reading fans who’d made the long trip to see their side get robbed.

MY MAN OF THE MATCH: Impossible to look past the unbeatable “Beast”, have seen few Burnley goalkeeping performances as good as that.

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TCAC's Case for Aidy Boothroyd

By TCAC VIII
Published: November 7, 2008
Updated: November 7, 2008

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The decision to sack Boothroyd is appaling. When he joined Watford in 2005, they were 2 points away from the relegation zone with only six games of the season left, a season later they were beating Dirty fucking Leeds in the play-offs to get promoted. It was Boothroyd's first job in football management, and as the youngest manager in the league by a considerable margin. This is a transformation of a club unprecedented in recent times with the possible exception of Paul Ince, stretching right back to the days of Brian Clough and Don Revie. Now, for the first time in three years Watford have fallen to the levels where Boothroyd picked them up and he gets insta-sacked. lol what? And while it's obviously not 100% down to Boothroyd's management, almost everything positive at the club can be linked back to Boothroyd somehow. The performances of players like Al Bangura, blooded from the youth teams by Boothroyd? The performances of players like Marlon King and Ben Foster, signed on loan deals by Boothroyd and whom he built a team and a style of play around? I mentioned Paul Ince earlier, but I was thinking more along the lines of his performance at Macclesfield than McDons, where he has been bankrolled to the heavens. In Boothroyd's first close season he lost a number of players inc. Heidar Helguson (remember him?) but still rebuilt a team to specific detail, and on a shoestring except for Darius Henderson. That's what impresses me more than anything, his vision and determination. As for his playing style, what does it actually matter? Seriously, do you think Watford fans were crying themselves to sleep after that play-off final at how their gameplan revolved around booting it to King and Henderson? This is The Championship, big physical teams have always succeeded here. Am I to presume that Glenn Hoddle is a management genius because, although he failed to get Wolves anywhere near the play-offs in that same season, we did some really pretty sideways passing on the halfway line? Adrian Boothroyd does not give a toss what you think about his style of football. And that is what a football club needs. Watford needed someone to straighten the ship and get the results, Boothroyd knew exactly how to get it done. Can you imagine Watford's resurgence if someone like Hoddle, so completly blinkered to reality by 'ideals', had taken the job? Didn't think so. The point about Boothroyd being a bad manager because he didn't keep Watford in the Premiership is laughable to any right-minded person, so I don't think I really need to go into that. As far as I can see, Boothroyd's biggest mistake in management was in the transfer market at the start of last season. Why would anyone sign Nathan Ellington any more, let alone make him your clubs record signing? Boothroyd squandered the only money he had available, though it should be noted that this money came about through the sale of Ashley Young and Hameur Bouazza. King left in January of last season which brought about the collapse of their season, as his replacements like Priskin were inadequate. And from the start of this season, Boothroyd has been royally fucked by the finances of Watford. The team he built got dismantled, and all he could do to replace players like Shittu and Henderson was bring in guys like Jon Harley and Gregorsz f'n Rasiak. Hmph. I'm biased towards Boothroyd. I was stuck in Molineux every other fucking week in 2005/06, watching the totally gutless, stale and rudderless Hoddle-Wolves whilst Watford were in the kind of position which we (in terms of infrastructure) ought to be occupying. I remember they played us at home in that season and should have won, was 1-1 in the end. Sure, we were the better footballing team, our goal was a peach. But they were faster, stronger, fitter and won the 50/50s. Well drilled, well organised, well managed. Everything that we weren't.

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Obama Wins!

By USArsnl
Published: November 5, 2008

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Barack Obama will be the next President of The United States of America. Now will you PLEASE stop throwing things at us when we go overseas?

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Thursday the 30th of October in Review

By TCAC VIII
Published: October 31, 2008
Updated: October 31, 2008

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Thursday the 30th of October in Review News: Captain Karl Henry admitted his secret joy in beating Swansea City on Tuesday night. "We felt they were a bit chirpy in winning it [The game against Wolves earlier this month] so we were delighted. I think they were 'giving it a bit' after the game, so it was a nice journey home for them after losing." My Take: Who cares if revenge drives Karl Henry, as long as something drives him? News: Wolves Reserves defender Lee Collins has expressed a desire to extend his loan spell at League Two outfit Port Vale. My Take: Yeah, give him more first team experience. Then he can probably come back as a better player than namesake Neill. News: After an encouraging performance against Swansea on Tuesday night, on-loan winger Carlos Edwards has pledged that the best is yet to come. “There’s more of this type of performance to come from Carlos Edwards. I hadn’t made the best of starts here by my own standards." My Take: Well he's come here blatantly lacking match fitness. But it's encouraging that he recognises his poor performance so far and vows to improve. And I'm fully confident that this will be the case as he continues to get match practice. One small gripe though... Talking about yourself in the third person? 1992 called and they want their gimmick back. News: Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has pledged his future to the club. "I feel really appreciated here by the club and the fans. It's a really big club and a really good set-up - everything about the place is made to go on to bigger and better things. I feel privileged to be a part of that and I want to be a part of it for as long as possible - as long as the manager will have me." My Take: I'll bet anyone a fiver that this viewpoint changes if we don't go up this season.

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The Centre-Circle Podcast

By USArsnl
Published: October 29, 2008
Updated: October 29, 2008

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As one of our goals with the new and improved Centre-Circle is to provide original content, we're pleased to announce the Centre-Circle Podcast! But we need your help! :arrow: We need ideas, for discussion topics on the show. :arrow: We need volunteers, for guests on the show. :arrow: And last but not least, we need a witty, memorable name! If you are interested in being a guest, you'll need a microphone, and you need to send us an email at podcast@centre-circle.com If you send us your idea (podcast@centre-circle.com) for a name and we choose it, you get a free Centre-Circle t-shirt of your choice! Topic ideas can be posted in the off-topic thread or emailed to us.

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Login Issues

By Drakestone
Published: October 27, 2008

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I have heard that a few of our members have had problems with staying logged in sometimes. I know that there is a fix for this and I will have it implemented as soon as I can, until then, if you have the problem clearing your browsers Cookies will fix the problem. Nx

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Coventry City 1-3 Burnley

By burnley
Published: October 26, 2008
Updated: October 26, 2008

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After a frustrating game against Birmingham, and with only one point to show from the last two matches, Burnley supporters were hoping for a win against one of the more inconsistent sides in the division as we made the trip to Coventry City’s thoroughly modern Ricoh Arena. Coventry has traditionally been a happy hunting ground for us, and we always pay to park at a church before the game, so hopefully God smiles down upon us here.

An unchanged Clarets team started well, with Wade Elliott the standout performer going forward and Steve Caldwell a rock at the back, but the early chances were going Coventry’s way, and in particular Malta international Michael Misfud was Mal-teasing Michael Duff with his pace down the left hand side. Fortunately, Leon Best and Freddie Eastwood in the Sky Blues’ attack were rather less astute when it came to challenging our defence.

The first half fizzled out as it progressed, but its main talking point arrived on 43 minutes. Misfud again cut inside from the left, running at Graham Alexander, and Coventry’s talisman threw himself over in the box despite Alexander (for once) not leaving a trailing leg. When you watch the replay it seems very dubious, and there were some gentlemanly cries of disagreement from the travelling Clarets, but the referee, as he had done two years previously in this fixture, gave a soft penalty to the home side and Elliott Ward blasted past Brian “The Beast” Jensen to put Coventry in ahead at half time.

Conceding a late first half goal can often be said to knock a side’s confidence, but the perfect remedy is your own early second half goal, and Michael Duff made amends for his inability to keep Misfud shackled with a far post piledriver from an Elliott corner almost immediately after the restart, calming Claret nerves. Level at one, the tempo increased with the Clarets looking increasingly dangerous as the second half progressed. Owen Coyle can be commended for his bravery here, making three attacking substitutes, introducing Jay Rodriguez, Chris Eagles and Robbie Blake to the match. Despite leaving us light in midfield, our attacks increased with renewed impetus.

Although Stephen Thompson agonisingly fluffed a promising chance ten minutes from time, all was not lost, and on 88 minutes two of Coyle’s substitutes linked up with devastating effect, the sublime Chris Eagles playing in Blake to lift the ball past Coventry goalkeeper Keiren Westwood, sending the travelling Burnley fans into raptures. Blake then dropped his shorts to reveal a pair of bright red pants with the legend “BAD BEAT BOB” emblazoned on them, apparently a reference to his poor poker-playing skills. The referee humourlessly booked him, but despite the yellow card and the rather unattractive spectacle of Blake’s rotund backside, the amazing feeling of seeing that goal go in couldn’t be dampened.

The only problem was having to watch us hold onto this lead for the last five minutes, or so I thought. Immediately after the restart we kept control of the ball well, and an excellent cross field ball from Blake to Eagles saw the latter skip past a tackle and curl an absolutely unstoppable shot past a stunned Westwood and into the top corner. Cue bedlam amongst the Clarets, mercifully fully clothed on-pitch celebrations, and a thoroughly appreciative away following when the final whistle sounded.

A fantastic night for all Burnley supporters, and a fully deserved three points were secured after an emphatic second half performance. It was refreshing to see a Burnley manager go for the win when drawing 1-1 away from home, and despite this being a risky strategy, it paid off in abundance. The win sent us up to 6th in the table. One final bit of excitement to report, on the drive back home we exchanged celebratory horn beeping and light flashing with none other than Burnley Chairman Barry Kilby! An exciting (?) end to a terrific night.

MY MAN OF THE MATCH: Wade Elliott was again the focal point of our attacking before Blake and Eagles were introduced, but my vote goes to Steve Caldwell, who kept the usually lively Freddie Eastwood and perennial thorn in our side Clinton Morrison quiet.

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