Match Thread PNE Vs Burnley 13/9/22

Well, here it is. The first proper derby of the season (sorry Pie Eaters, you just don't count!). Living and working over in the East of the county makes me look forward to this fixture with equal amounts of excitement, anticipation and also a bit of fear. That said, to be fair to Burnley supporters, all the ones that I know, and am friends with, are significantly more knowledgeable, humble and gracious than the entitled bunch a few miles down the road. I do find that Burnley supporters overall appear to have a reputation, and a negative one, but that's not my personal experience. In fact, on Tuesday, I will be car sharing with a couple of friends who support Burnley. No point taking two cars when we can do this...

Passionate and proud? Yes - and sometimes a bit defensive and territorial, but when they get beaten, they generally accept this without making a million excuses. Anyway, onto the game.

THE OPPOSITION


It seems odd to be talking about Burnley and not be thinking of Sean Dyche as manager, but it's fair to say that Vincent Kompany has been making changes swiftly, to the personnel and the style of play. Burnley now look to pass the ball around and create chances without (using a word that a Burnley supporting friend used to me) 'playing hoofball'. To do this, Kompany has used the parachute money and his contacts well, buying nearly as many players as Nottingham Forest. In truth, many of these are players I have not heard of, but their pedigrees all look good and they appear to be starting to gel. A 5-1 away win is always a positive sign for a manager!

Key Man

I have tipped Jay Rodriguez to top the scoring charts this season in the Championship - he is an instinctive striker and playing in a team that creates chances will be good for him, but for the key man in this game, we need to look no further than our own academy graduate Josh Brownhill. After all these years, a manager has finally got him playing in the attacking midfielder role that he played so effectively in our youth team and forced his way into the first team. At Bristol, he often played wide and under Dyche? Well...they didn't have an attacking midfielder. I always rated Brownhill and his lack of opportunity was a major failing of Grayson's - which led to him running his contract down and moving on. That's water under the bridge now and it's good to see him playing well, even if it is for a team that count as rivals.

So...here's a clip of what he's capable of!



PNE

The window has closed now and I am sure the team will be desperate to do well in this one. Goals have been in short supply thus far and PNE will be hoping that the forward line of Riis and Parrott will continue to develop. Being a goalscorer is the hardest job in football as you do tend to get judged on one aspect of your game. I believe Parrott will come good in this regard, as his overall game is quality and the confidence of scoring a few on a roll will be good for him. My predicted line up:

Woodman

Storey Lindsay Hughes
Potts Whiteman Ledson Browne Brady
Riis Parrott

Did you know? Burnley Edition

I spend a lot of my time working in Burnley - it's got a fair number of challenges it is fair to say. You will have seen Pastor Mick and Father Alex on the television no doubt - I know Alex personally and he is a really good man. There's a lot more to the town than poverty and football, however. Here are some facts about Burnley - some you may know already, others are less well known.

1) The town is situated at the confluence of the Rivers Calder and Brun. The River Brun is Britain's shortest river.
2) Famously, Benedictine (bloody awful stuff) is imbibed more in Burnley than other towns. In fact, around 1/3 of all the Benedictine supped in the UK is downed in Burnley!
3) Punk-Poet John Cooper-Clarke wrote a poem called Burnley - read it here! johncooperclarke.com/poems/burnley
4) Early 90s Indie Band The Milltown Brothers are often badged as being 'from Burnley'. They weren't - and in fact were from Colne. Same is true of Working Men's Club, but they're from Todmorden. Main difference here is that Working Men's Club are great, whereas The Milltown Brothers had one half decent tune, 'Which way should I jump?'. Maybe a link to a Working Men's Club song is in order here...This is Valleys, about growing up in a one horse town.



5) The writer of TV's Shameless, Paul Abbott was brought up on the Stoops Estate in Burnley. A great deal of the show's content is based upon his experiences. He had a very tough upbringing and The South Bank Show did an episode featuring him. Really fascinating

They played for us both

Trying to make an XI of players who have played for both clubs... here goes.

GK - Anders Lindegaard
LB - Robbie Brady
RB - Graham Alexander
CH - Clark Carlisle
CH - Lee Briscoe (pushing it there!)
CM - Josh Brownhill
CM - Tony Morley
LW - David Eyres
CF - David Nugent
CF - Micky Conroy

Also Kurt Nogan, Gary Parkinson, Ross Wallace, Richard Chaplow and others. (Len Johnrose RIP)

Quirkily - Burnley and PNE have had different players who have the same names (Brian O Neill and Michael Keane)

A trip down Memory Lane

Let's have a look at what You Tube has to offer!

Up first, I think you'll like this one.


Or maybe this one...



Or going back a bit further...




There's something special about a night match at Deepdale. I'm thinking this is going to be a 5 goal thriller! 3-2 PNE. COYW