Was last seaon really a fluke ?

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claret59
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Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by claret59 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 4:36 pm

I constantly read on this message board how last season's 7th placed finish was a 'fluke.' This is surely nonsense. Every Club finishes a season in the place they deserve to be. What particular fact makes Burnley's season a fluke that other clubs were not affected by? Let's give the club the credit it deserves instead of continually having to find excuses for being so successful. We got through a whole season without getting one penalty decision in our favour despite having quite a few that should have been given. Perhaps, being contradictory to above, we actually 'deserve' to have been higher. You cannot finish 7th in the Pl by some kind of series of flukes.
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BigChaCha
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by BigChaCha » Thu Nov 01, 2018 4:55 pm

We fully deserved our finishing position last season.

We just haven't moved on! I along with others warned in the summer that near enough every other team in the league had strengthened their first team except us, only to get a load of personal abuse for saying it by the happy clappers.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by quoonbeatz » Thu Nov 01, 2018 4:56 pm

no but then i can't recall anyone on here saying it was a fluke.

if they did, they're nuts.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Reckoner » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:06 pm

I don't think people have said it is a fluke, in a season you finish where you deserve. it is just we shouldn't use last seasons 7th place as a realistic expectation for all future seasons which is very different. If we finish 17th or above I think it is a fantastic achievement for a club of our size operating with more than just short term goals. 7th was just anyone's imagination and probably never to be repeated, but unfortunately there are a large portion of supporters that use that success to fuel their constant misery when we aren't paying as well or achieving the same results. For everything they have achieved they deserve support now not constant negativity.
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by BennyD » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:11 pm

Yes.

kentonclaret
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by kentonclaret » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:19 pm

It was no more of a "fluke" than Leicester City winning the PL title.

However, as with Leicester City, it was an achievement that was most unlikely to be repeated or bettered the following season.
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by AlargeClaret » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:26 pm

Not a fluke , you don’t really fluke anything with 38 very testing games at the highest level . We did overexceed though and were very much on the “ peak curve “ of Dyche and his players functioning as a suberb ( and very often under strength ) disciplined unit .Add to that the seemingly “ 2 premier leagues in 1” pattern which brings ultra competitive “ championship “ style results and sequences . We were always “ best of the rest “ and fully deserved the praise . This season we’ve been out of sorts and missed terribly our creative players . Now they’re back we look decent on paper and I’d have massive respect for SD if we can turn this around. You don’t go sh1t overnight . Anyone remember b@stards post title season or Borrusia Dortmund last year ?

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by dsr » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:26 pm

More of a "perfect storm", perhaps.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by bfcmik » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:34 pm

I don't believe last season was a fluke in itself. It was one of those sadly all too rare seasons of over-achievement for a club outside the big 6. Each season has that 1 team, or occasionally 2 teams, that exceed the neutral pundits expectations with a decent placed finish - Leicester City being THE prime example a couple of years ago.

Fans of every club rightly believe that their club could, and should, be challenging the elite season after season because we have attached a part of our soul to that cause. We hide the voices of reason and reality behind our belief in, and loyalty to, our club despite every indicator to the contrary which is why we continue to offer up our hard-earned cash year in, year out when that empty voice of true logic tells us we aren't going to be up there challenging for honours every season - or even most seasons.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by theroyaldyche » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:41 pm

Yes and no

Games went our way. This seasom they arent (so far)

Spijed
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Spijed » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:47 pm

theroyaldyche wrote:Yes and no

Games went our way. This seasom they arent (so far)
I suppose the same could be said for any team that isn't expected to win, the same for Leicester City.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Healeywoodclaret » Thu Nov 01, 2018 5:53 pm

A lot of teams under estimated us last season starting with our 3-2 win at Chelsea. This season I think they are taking us more seriously. The big boys seem to want to teach us a lesson. We finished 7th that was no fluke. The Premier League, Sky, Media were never going to do anything to assist us like award a penalty. Sky don't want anyone in the Top Six except the Top Six City United Liverpool Chelsea Arsenal and Tottenham. Three from the North three from the South. Boom the door is firmly shut to anyone else. And who in the media were cheering Leicester on when they won the league besides Linekar?
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by gawthorpe_view » Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:25 pm

Not a fluke, more like a high water mark in the recent history of our beloved Clarets.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by GodIsADeeJay81 » Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:46 pm

kentonclaret wrote:It was no more of a "fluke" than Leicester City winning the PL title.

However, as with Leicester City, it was an achievement that was most unlikely to be repeated or bettered the following season.
This sums it up perfectly

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Bosscat » Thu Nov 01, 2018 6:49 pm

GodIsADeeJay81 wrote:This sums it up perfectly
Agreed

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by boatshed bill » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:35 pm

Brilliant first half of the season.
Not a fluke, strange that we only dropped three places from our amazing 4th place.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by LoveCurryPies » Thu Nov 01, 2018 7:49 pm

It was down to hard work, dedication, determination, team spirit, and players, manager, board & owners all pulling in the same direction. And some luck!

I don’t think anything has changed but a poorer start has revealed how fickle some fans are.
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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Cleveleys_claret » Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:24 pm

Read this as flake

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by RocketLawnChair » Thu Nov 01, 2018 9:51 pm

A few references to Leicester City on this thread. When Leicester’s following season was having a tough change in fortunes they sacked the manager.

If Dyche struggles to improve our fortunes and relegation is looking a real possibility could the unthinkable (to some on here) happen and he be relieved of his duties?. After all it’s all about the balance sheet and a change at the top maybe a last chance to maintain our lofty PL status come February / March.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Spijed » Thu Nov 01, 2018 10:03 pm

RocketLawnChair wrote:A few references to Leicester City on this thread. When Leicester’s following season was having a tough change in fortunes they sacked the manager.

If Dyche struggles to improve our fortunes and relegation is looking a real possibility could the unthinkable (to some on here) happen and he be relieved of his duties?. After all it’s all about the balance sheet and a change at the top maybe a last chance to maintain our lofty PL status come February / March.
Leicester also sacked the manager before the start of that season as well so it's a bit of a revolving door scenario at the club.

As for SD, remember we gave Brian Laws a new contract once we'd been relegated from the Prem. Loyalty is something our club adheres to. Anyway, with SD in charge getting promoted from the Championship should be fairly straightforward if it came to that.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by NL Claret » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:13 pm

The manager would refer to fine margins, no fluke.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Jakubclaret » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:32 pm

Wasn’t a fluke in terms of not merited more a combination of luck & an array of other factors, over the course you fully deserve to finish where you end up however the methods deployed.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by CrosspoolClarets » Fri Nov 02, 2018 12:15 am

Leicester were no anomaly - that is why sacking Ranieri was the biggest travesty in football (though I’m speaking no ill of the guy who did it, for obvious reasons). They were always going to fall short.

We aren’t one either after our (lesser) high.

In fact, nobody has successfully defended the Premier League title in a decade. It is common for a huge high to be followed by an anti climax. When our players were told in Istanbul and Athens they hadn’t even made the bench imagine the low feeling after the highs of months earlier? The real world catches up with them and it is hard to get those highs back. Even if Dyche hadn’t dropped the ball on that one, a few league losses may have done the same.

We should all expect us to fail to sustain the brilliance of last year, that is why we had to make the most of Europe, as Leicester did, knowing the league wouldn’t be the same.

Ferguson, the outlier in this, had tricks to get his teams to make so many successful defences. One was he said at the start of one season that his staff had out two names in an envelope of players who had lost their motivation due to the title win. The players would bust a gut to prove them wrong. Only after they had won the double would Fergie reveal there were no names in the envelope. Genius.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by RocketLawnChair » Fri Nov 02, 2018 8:18 am

Spijed wrote:Leicester also sacked the manager before the start of that season as well so it's a bit of a revolving door scenario at the club.

As for SD, remember we gave Brian Laws a new contract once we'd been relegated from the Prem. Loyalty is something our club adheres to. Anyway, with SD in charge getting promoted from the Championship should be fairly straightforward if it came to that.
Pearson wasn’t sacked as some sort of revolving door exercise he’d been there nearly 5 years.in his second spell with the club. And his first spell only ended due to his clash with the dynamic duo of Mandaric and Hoos.

Pearson was relieved of his duties because despite the great escape he’d gone off the rails somewhat with the press and pinning oppo players to the pitch by the throat etc.

As for Laws and latterly Dyche our two previous attempts at the PL were unexpected and unaccounted for so after both of them relegations they were both rightly afforded time to get it right again, one didn’t one did.

This time we are in the PL for a third consecutive season so the landscape as changed somewhat and the club is run according to these revenues. This is business if a change is required to try and maintain those revenues it will be made. As for promotion being straight forward I think our next relegation will be a watershed moment because we will likely need to start rebuilding almost completely due to our players ages and our better performers wanting to remain in the PL. it will be a huge job.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by houseboy » Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:53 am

The only luck involved really was that when we fell apart a bit after the new year (mainly I suppose because of the loss of Brady and Defour) the other teams never took advantage of it. Everton and Leicester were both within striking distance when we hit the wall but neither of those teams were doing much better than us. Our vital win over Leicester didn't do us any harm either. Overall though a team finishes where they deserve in a league and we deserved 7th. I have never gone with all this 'they are too good to be relegated' or 'they were lucky to win' nonesense. Over a season you get excactly what you deserve.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by BOYSIE31 » Fri Nov 02, 2018 12:22 pm

Not a fluke but because we were better than the likes of Everton and Leicester who had a poor season.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by JTClaret » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:01 pm

It wasn't a fluke...
Last night a mate said; 'but you're just where you should be now, you over-achieved last year'.

I had to defend it. I don't think we over-achieve, nor was it a fluke.
I think we 'achieved' last year, but for some reason this season the team isn't working the same way.
This time last year our defence was a joy to watch, including the work from midfield, it was a privilege to watch an aspect of football I'd never considered particularly entertaining, this season just doesn't have that same quality - but how can a player 'fluke' being really good for a season.

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by Vintage Claret » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:09 pm

Wouldn't say it was a fluke.

The table doesn't lie, we finished where we deserved to mainly through hard work, organistaion, effort and a lot of players just 'clicking into gear' at the same time.

It's true that some other teams below us at the time did underperform and not take advantage of our 12 game winless run-It must be an unusual thing for a team not to drop even a single place without a win in 12 but we were still picking up the odd draw here and there which combined with our excellent points total from the first half of the season helped keep us ahead of the chasing pack.

We then had that run of 5 wins on the bounce at just the right time (which is no mean feat for a team outside the top 6)

All in all we definitely deserved our 7th place last season but I would say it was more of a one off due to various favourable factors rather than a 'fluke'

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Re: Was last seaon really a fluke ?

Post by claretspice » Fri Nov 02, 2018 1:23 pm

Huge difference between something being a fluke, and being an overachievement based partly upon a bit of luck (although not that much luck - look at our injury record last season), a lot of positive momentum, and a lot of hard work and good practices paying off. It's the old Gary Player thing - "the harder I practice, the luckier I get".

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