Martin Paterson (Scunthorpe)
It was a season of change for
Burnley last time out with a new manager coming in and a new hope
for the future. Burnley were perhaps one of the teams tipped to struggle at the start of the season but they had a decent side and started the season well with a win over West Brom. Under the guidance of Steve Cotterill they were safely position in mid table in November before a shock change of manager with Cotteril leaving. It was going to be a big choice of who to replace him with and they opted to go with Owen Coyle and the young manager has made a big impression. Coyle looked ort make an impact but his side were very inconsistent occasionally flirting with the playoffs before a few defeats would send them back into mid table again. They changed their style to try
and play a more attacking passing game under Owen Coyle and in the
end a mid table finish for them was a decent reward for the way
they tried to play.
Burnley are very much an unknown package going into the new season. Owen Coyle appears to be a bright young manager who is looking to being in young players and develop his own team at Turf Moor. The departure of Kyle Lafferty is a blow but they have used the money well and Chris Eagles looks a shrewd signing whilst Martin Paterson impressed at Scunthorpe last year and could be the man to replace the goals of Andy Cole. They still have Akinbyi up front as well who can be brilliant or awful whilst Wade Elliott is a decent player in midfield. As with most sides I think they have a starting eleven to rival anyone but if they get injuries the squad looks think and over a long season I think they will struggle to mount a serious promotion challenge. A similar finish to last year
seems the most likely outcome for Burnley, they are now an established
side at this level and I think they'll be a tough side for anyone
to face this season. Prediction: 15th in the Championship
I asked Tony Scholes, Editor of the web site Clarets Mad Web Site for thoughts on the new season and here is what he had to say. How do you think Burnley will fare this season? I think this is going to be a better season than 2007/08. We've brought in some good new players and I think with a bigger squad we'll be much stronger allowing us to sustain a promotion push for longer. Who are your players to watch out for? We've made some good new signings,
Remco van der Schaaf and Chris Eagles being two of them. Wade Elliott
has had two good seasons on the right wing too but the player to
watch against us is very often Robbie Blake. He is an outstanding
player at Championship level. Owen Coyle came to Burnley in November of last year, just after we’d been refused permission to talk to Brian Laws. It isn’t possible to judge him over that period, particularly when he hadn’t signed any of the players. I believe managers need time to get the side how they want it, and I think they should be given that time. It is so far so good and there are some positive signs, but time will tell. Which three teams will be promoted this season? I can't see past Birmingham for the top spot just now. They've made the best signings of any club and had a strong squad to start with. The other promotion places will be up for grabs I suspect. Which teams will be relegated? Doncaster will struggle I think at the higher level whilst I think Blackpool could also be down there. Barnsley could be the third team to go down. How do you think QPR wil fare this season? QPR should have a good season, if you throw money at it in football today then that more often than not will succeed. And there is one hell of a lot of money to throw at it right now down at Loftus Road . I'm not sure I'd want them running my football club though.
Dave Thomas made his debut at home to Sunderland. Rangers won 3-2, but for the next four games Thomas was so ineffective that they dropped him for the Portsmouth game. Jago then brought him back for the next game at home to Oxford and played him on the left wing. As he was right footed it seemed a ridiculous thing to do. Slowly he settled down in this position. By the turn of the year he began looking like a good player and was starting to score. From February onwards he ran riot down the left flank and in a period of 16 games Rangers scored 33 goals and six of which were scored by Thomas. This helped Q.P.R to get promoted to the top division for the second time in their history. During a game at Wolves, when Parkes threw the ball to Thomas who ran the length of the field, crossed it to Stan Bowles and he put it in the back of the net. This was shown on T.V over and over again as the ball went from goal to goal in about 10 seconds. It wasn't long before he was in the England international side. In a two-year period (1975-1976) he won his 8 caps. Again had he been with a bigger club he probably would have got more. Dave Thomas was an integral part of probably Rangers best ever side. His crossing, corners, pace and his shooting from distance were all part of his all round game. Former England goalkeeper Chris Woods has played for both sides over the years. Woods joined QPR for £250,000 in 1980 although he had never played a first team game at Nottingham Forest. He had two good years at QPR before joining Norwich in 1982 and eventually going on to star for Sheffield Wednesday. He was Englands number two during the 1980's and got his chance when Peter Shilton retired. He ended his career at Burnley in 1998. Of the current sides Clarke Carlisle will line up against QPR having played for us a few years back. Clarke was a popular defender at QPR but hasn't had the best of relationships since he left due to some his antics when playing against Rangers.
In recent years the two sides met at Loftus Road in the 2000/01 season and it was a dire performance from QPR. A mistake by Lee Harper allowed Jon Mullins to score the only goal of the game. Burnley deserved the win with a hard working performance and any pre season optimism that still existed that October afternoon was all but dead by the end of that game. Rangers fans began to realise we were
in a relegation battle and the first calls for Gerry Francis to
go followed this defeat. Ian Holloway was looking for his first
win in charge that day and sadly he didn't get it. Still a lack of killer instinct up front
cost us but those few hundred of us who left Turf Moor were disappointed
with the result but saw real hope ahead with the performance. The two sides met at the start of 2006 with Mccan giving the visitors an early lead with a well taken goal. Gareth Ainsworth grabbed an equaliser but the game was possibly more memorable for the male streakers at the end of the game rather than the football. The away game was ot much better with Burnley winning a dull game 1-0 as Gary Waddock looked at different players with both sides safe from relegation. The 2006/07 season opened at Turf Moor with Gary Waddock giving several players including Nick Ward, Adam Czerkas and Damion Stewart their debuts. Rangers were pretty poor though and lost the game thanks to two goals from Steve Jones. A friend of mine who went to the game told me days later he left the game after the second goal and felt certain we would be relegated so it sounded less than impressive. The home game was a different story though as Gregory tired out his 3-4-3 formation worked a treat as Lee Cook ran riot scoring an early goal which was added to by Blackstock and Lomas in an impressive victory. The game also saw Danny Cullip and Adam Bolder make home debuts for the club and they would go on to play a big role in keeping us in the division. Last season saw Rangers grab a first win at Turf Moor since 1980. The game was due to be played in August but was called off due to the death of Ray Jones and the match was rearranged in December. Gi Gi De Canio took his side North and on a tough night his side took the lead through Damion Stewart. It looked like Burnley would grab a point near the end before a corner was cleared and with the Burnley keeper going forward Rowan Vine had a clear run on goal and passed the ball into the empty net. The return game probably ended our faint chances of the playoffs. Gavin Mahon scored his first goal for QPR to give us the lead before Patrick Agyemang made it seven goals in six games to put us 2-0 up. The game looked dead but no one told Andrew Cole who scored one before half time and went on to complete a hat trick in an amazing comeback. Click on the match for a report of the game from this web site.
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Dave
Thomas is perhaps the most famous player to have played for both
clubs. Dave joined QPR from Burnley in the early 1970's.
QPR
have a pretty dire record at Turf Moor and have won just once their
since 1980.