Expect more cold, wet Tuesday nights in Burnley

Matt Holland's dejected face and body language said it all as he tramped off the pitch at Turf Moor last night while a few of the Addickted tried to raise his spirits with applause. Charlton can be expecting to play on a cold, wet windy night in Burnley next year after their 1-0 defeat there. As my Burnley supporting friend put it, neither team could or should go up. Pardoxically, they still remain 5th in the table.

Without The Valley crowd on their backs, it wasn't as bad a performance as against Preston on Saturday. Charlton struggled valiantly for an equaliser after they went down to a superb Burnley strike. But a number of players were unable to take changes. As my friend commented, Charlton are no longer a footballing side but zwang the ball around the pitch.

We were in Burnley a little over 2 hours after leaving Coventry. As we drove down the hill, we could see the whole town laid out before us. We went to the pub for some steak and ale pie and mushy peas and received the casual friendly welcome that one would not find in the south.

It is interesting to reflect on the phenomenon of Burnley Football Club. By many criteria Burnley is one of the poorest towns in England. It is also has a large population of Kashmiri extraction who do not generally go to Turf Moor. The population of Burnley is around 60,000: all right there are other places nearby like Bacup, Colne and Rawtenstall, but they not major urban centres.

Leamington has a similar population: it supports a Step 4 non-league club which on a good day can get around a thousand supporters, i.e., one person in sixty, but probably one in a hundred if you count those who come from outside the town. Estimates suggest that about half of the average home support of 12,000 at Turf Moor comes from the town itself. Even taking no account of the ethnic population, and counting the old and infirm and the very young, this means that 1 person in 10 turns out for a home match. This is a club that is punching well beyond its economic weight.

Although I took quite extensive notes last night, I have been too busy to write them up today so I will simply give my overall impressions. The first half was largely uneventful. It wasn't altogether pleasant as I had an excellent view of Palace reject Kiraly's rather ample backside, given that he was motionless much of the time. However, he does have some consideration for the public as he wears tracksuit bottoms.

The team were clearly under instructions not to concede an early goal which seemed like good sense to me. It frustrated the home crowd and my friend in the Bob Lord Stand reported that local moaners were in full flow by half time. Thomas created a couple of chances and on one occasion he put in an angled shot but it went over the bar. One other occasion Lita failed to connect with a promising cross.

I thought the match might be heading for 0-0 when Burnley scored with an excellent goal from outside the box. It was a strike of a quality we have not seen at The Valley for some time.

There was no lack of effort by Charlton to get back into the game and the home support became increasingly nervous. We created a number of opportunities, but just couldn't find the back of the net. Sodje, Lita and Ambrose all failed to put the ball away.

We also increasingly resorted to fouls, perhaps out of over enthusiasm. We were also caught on a number of occasions by the offside trap. The Burnley programme speculated that both teams might be in the play off finals, but that would be quite an odd outcome on their performances here. But then most of the other teams in the division are not much good either. This is a league in which Stoke are top by virtue of grinding out results.

Match analysis

Senior match analyst Hooch the Pooch was grumbling constantly about the effect of the weather on his joints, but managed to find time to award the Silver Bone to Chris Powell. No, he wasn't playing just to my right was a little boxed enclosure with all the squad players who were not on the bench (one of whom was somewhat worryingly wearing specs to watch the match, I thought that was reserved for referees). Chris took the time to come over and chat with the Addickted, sign programmes and pose for photos with fans. A great guy. Weaver was furious with himself for the goal, but it was a strike that no one could have stopped and he made some good saves. Sodje was on form in defence, but missed a chance to score.
I was concerned with McCarthy injured himself stretching for the ball, but he recovered and it was another solid importance. The equally solid
Thatcher was a great improvement on Youga's antics on the left. Halford has come in for a lot of stick but I thought he was ok.
Semedo was a bit disappointing and was often outwitted by the Burnley players, eventually picking up a deserved yellow card for a desperate foul.
Holland battled away as always and was gutted at the outcome.
Ambrose was again a disappointment, although I thought his corners were better than on Saturday. Thomas was perhaps the best player at prising open the Burnley defence but, as always, the end product disappointed.
Gray picked up predictable stick from the home support. I wish, instead of telling the small number of people at the EGM, the club would come clean on what is going on. I suppose it is the player's own wish as he does not want to invite sympathy. He was poor. Lita was seen by my Burnley supporting friend last year when he said that he was much sharper. He looks rusty and arrives a few seconds too late at chances. Zhi was rightly started on the bench, but when he came on he looked refreshed and made a difference.
Varney lacks that final polish that would make him a good player.
Iwelumo was predictably fouled and was not able to turn things round.

Hiss of the Match

This was given by Juneau the Soccer Cat to the weather. Yet another match where the quality of the play was affected by strong winds, plus hailstorms walking to the ground and during the match. As a consequence, the pitch was in waterlogged condition. Incidentally, if anyone wants to blame the referee, he was fussy and self-important, but in no way biased and gave us a good four minutes added on at the end.

Crowd rating: 9/10. I think the three hundred or so Addicks who turned up deserve this for making the long journey from Selkent. They also kept up a good range of chants, of which the most amusing were 'We've got more fish than you' and 'We want our fish back.' I think that a model fish was being tossed around at the back of the crowd.