How hopeful are you of an instant PL return

[Lambo]

Can’t believe the pessimism of some of our fans, automatic promotion is the only target we should have. Yes, we’re a team in transition but we’ve removed a large number of ageing players and replaced them with young, keen lads who will be desperate to do well. Couple that with a manager with the reputation of VK who undoubtedly has the standing in the footballing world to attract players and the future looks bright. The Championship is not a league full of quality, for gods sake our local neighbours who shall not be named were in 2nd place at the turn of the year and look how sh**e they are…we will be fine and at last we’ll see high tempo fast attacking football….fully expect a good start from us on Friday and looking forward to a great campaign….UTC

[Down_Rover]

Can’t believe the pessimism of some of our fans, automatic promotion is the only target we should have. Yes, we’re a team in transition but we’ve removed a large number of ageing players and replaced them with young, keen lads who will be desperate to do well. Couple that with a manager with the reputation of VK who undoubtedly has the standing in the footballing world to attract players and the future looks bright. The Championship is not a league full of quality, for gods sake our local neighbours who shall not be named were in 2nd place at the turn of the year and look how sh**e they are…we will be fine and at last we’ll see high tempo fast attacking football….fully expect a good start from us on Friday and looking forward to a great campaign….UTC

Well said.

I think the point is that we all express ourselves differently.

Everyone on this board has promotion as the target this year because we want our team to succeed. It is just some are more conservative than others when making predictions

[Top Claret]

Don't see how anyone can be optimistic, if so they must be very young and have little knowledge of football and experience the ups and downs like I have.

Complete rebuild New manager, coaches and a host of players from abroad and lower leagues who have no championship experience so what is there to be optimistic about?

[RVclaret]

Don't see how anyone can be optimistic, if so they must be very young and have little knowledge of football and experience the ups and downs like I have.

Complete rebuild New manager, coaches and a host of players from abroad and lower leagues who have no championship experience so what is there to be optimistic about?

Notts forest had 7 new players in their 11 last season, New manager, took 1 point from the first 7, changed managers, and still won promotion.

What is there to be optimistic about? We have an exciting, modern manager who has achieved solid results at Anderlecht given what he went into, we have a very talented squad with a mix of experience and youth and still haven’t finished our business, which so far, has been excellent IMO.

[Stayingup]

Last season Nottingham Forest had a relatively poor start. Then Cooper got them organized and playing well. I watched tthem tear Leicester apart in the FA cup and rest is history. They have some seasoned defenders. We don't but can we emulate their achievement?

[Top Claret]

Notts forest had 7 new players in their 11 last season, New manager, took 1 point from the first 7, changed managers, and still won promotion.

What is there to be optimistic about? We have an exciting, modern manager who has achieved solid results at Anderlecht given what he went into, we have a very talented squad with a mix of experience and youth and still haven’t finished our business, which so far, has been excellent IMO.

I would be confident if we were Watford or Norwich who have retained most of there squad. Both clubs will finish higher than Burnley.

I am going Huddersfield but dreading it as I honestly expect them to take us to the cleaners by a minimum of 3 goals

[RVclaret]

Just to add on Forest - their best player, Brennan Johnson, who bagged 19 goals, was on loan in League one the season before, where he did well (but nowhere near as well Twine) - he seemed to make the huge ‘step up’ pretty easily in the end.

[RVclaret]

I would be confident if we were Watford or Norwich who have retained most of there squad. Both clubs will finish higher than Burnley.

I am going Huddersfield but dreading it as I honestly expect them to take us to the cleaners by a minimum of 3 goals

Watford are losing more of their squad. They’ve already lost their two main midfielders in Sissoko and Cucho Hernandez. Dennis and Sarr are linked with moves and their best centre half is rumoured to be on his way.

Norwich may have retained most of their squad but they finished way below us last season as it is. Not entirely convinced with Dean Smith either, he scraped Villa up through the play offs with Grealish et al.

[Top Claret]

I would love to hear the honest thoughts of Cork, Rodriguez and Barnes on the new set up it would be very interesting.

Lets hope we get a better response from the old pros than Brian Laws and Eddie Howe did

[RVclaret]

I would love to hear the honest thoughts of Cork, Rodriguez and Barnes on the new set up it would be very interesting.

Lets hope we get a better response from the old pros than Brian Laws and Eddie Howe did

I’ve heard through a source connected to one of those players that training is very different (in a good way) and ‘class’.

[Pickles]

I would be confident if we were Watford or Norwich who have retained most of there squad. Both clubs will finish higher than Burnley.

I am going Huddersfield but dreading it as I honestly expect them to take us to the cleaners by a minimum of 3 goals

Dreading it? Good grief. I'll have your ticket.

[JohnDearyMe]

I remember watching the Sunderland Til I Die documentary covering the season after they got relegated from the top flight & how quickly all their optimism drained away...

I don't think things will be as bad for us but it was a salutary reminder of what could happen.

[Ampth7]

Can’t believe the pessimism of some of our fans, automatic promotion is the only target we should have. Yes, we’re a team in transition but we’ve removed a large number of ageing players and replaced them with young, keen lads who will be desperate to do well. Couple that with a manager with the reputation of VK who undoubtedly has the standing in the footballing world to attract players and the future looks bright. The Championship is not a league full of quality, for gods sake our local neighbours who shall not be named were in 2nd place at the turn of the year and look how sh**e they are…we will be fine and at last we’ll see high tempo fast attacking football….fully expect a good start from us on Friday and looking forward to a great campaign….UTC

I’m sure I speak for every Burnley fan when I say bring on the new season and let’s get fully behind the team from day 1 and throughout the whole season, no matter what! I am personally delighted with our signings so far; promotion is without a doubt a genuine possibility for us this season and many teams who drop from the prem often bounce back quickly.

However, I personally don’t believe that this league is lacking quality and promotion is certainly not guaranteed. An experienced and good-quality centre half and a goal scorer would, in my opinion, make us one of the favourites for the league, assuming we don’t lose any/many more players.

As for this Friday - COME ON YOU CLARETS!!!

[Top Claret]

Dreading it? Good grief. I'll have your ticket.

I am allowed to complain as I am a loyal supporter.

I have been a season ticket holder for over 50 years and supported the club home and away through the troubled times of the 80s and 90s.

I have never sulked off into the twilight like some have and the come back later in the good times , I have been loyal to the core

[California Colner]

If placed with a UK bookmaker then almost certainly the bet will require Burnley to win the Championship at odds quoted of 12/1 not just to get promoted.

You are correct
Just confirmed with her
I asked her to put it on getting promotion but she put it on to win the Championship

[claretonthecoast1882]

You are correct
Just confirmed with her
I asked her to put it on getting promotion but she put it on to win the Championship

Just think how pleased you will be if we finished 2nd

[Spijed]

I would be confident if we were Watford or Norwich who have retained most of there squad. Both clubs will finish higher than Burnley.

I am going Huddersfield but dreading it as I honestly expect them to take us to the cleaners by a minimum of 3 goals

Watford have Rob Edwards as their manager. And like VK, is completely new to managing in the Championship.

[2 Bee Holed]

I'll let you know at half time in game 46.

[California Colner]

Just think how pleased you will be if we finished 2nd

Ohh I don’t won’t to go there

[NRC]

I'm full of hope for an instant PL return, the alternate being to hope to not to?

As for confidence, it's too early to form an opinion, none of us have the data. I expect us to be top half, bemoaning "if only we'd got a better start." This league is full of clubs that have been in the PL. We have no divine right to be there.

I'm excited for the project, though I fear it will not start well on Friday. We require a mindset that allows for learnings, development, and growth

[jdrobbo]

CD? How about a DVD?

Haha

[clive40golf]

I wish I hadn’t watched the training match with Newcastle. some of the players looked really tired though.
I think we’re going to have to be really patient with this squad. Anything above a mid table finish would be a bonus. Hope I’m completely wrong though and we are in the playoffs at the finish.
Whatever the outcome, time to get behind the lads and come together and give our full support. UTC

[jos]

I’m just hoping we don’t get relegated again.

I’m serious too, Most of our best players have left or are on their way, we have a Manager who by his own admission doesn’t understand the difficulty of the Championship and a load of kids who also are new to the league, it’s going to be a hard slog.

I’m really looking forward to how VK faces this challenge though.

UTC

[JarrowClaret]

Found this podcast the other day not sure if it has been mentioned on here before anyway they gave us finishing 6th the inexperience of Kompany being the reasoning behind it.

https://twitter.com/secondtierpod/statu ... LB29S63d1w

I think I agree with much of what they say

[BabylonClaret]

I was pretty optimistic 4 weeks ago. Less so now. Its a complete overhaul - mid table would be welcome given we've lost most of our back 5

[Lowbankclaret]

When it was looking like we might have a blend of experience and kids, I was hopeful that blend would see us top half at xmas and as the kids experience increased into the group, a push into top six.

Now it’s an experiment with a manager with no experience and a bunch of kids with little or no experience of the championship, it’s could go spectacularly, good or bad.
I let you know my thoughts which way after going to Huddersfield tomorrow.

[JohnDearyMe]

I think we'll finish mid table. Expecting to concede a lot more goals than we did under Dyche but looking forward to some more exciting football

[NottsClaret]

Lower mid table most likely, looking forward to the season though.

[superdimitri]

I've progressively got more and more worried as we gradually offload more and more of our good players. My expectations are therefore drastically reduced and I wouldn't be surprised to see us in a relegation battle this year.

There's no way you can offload this many players and integrate everyone so fast. That coupled with the fact we have a squad with so little experience and staff also with very little experience or good track records makes be pessimistic.

I think we are going to have to get to grip with some shocking results this season and those that think we're in for promotion may have a big surprise on their hands.

[UpTheClaretsFCBK]

I am expecting us to make the top 10, top 6 maybe.

It's going to take a couple of months for the team to gel and get used to the new system.

Next season I would expect us to be challenging for the top 2.

[CharlieinNewMexico]

Not very, but it would be a nice surprise!
Have a feeling that once (if?) we get it together we’ll go on a ridiculous run, just will we be too far behind by then?

Kind of like when I used to back Ballyregan Bob.

(One for the Sportsnight fans)

[wbfc]

Being realistic could finish anywhere between 1-24. Which is very obvious but the only realiatic way to look at things after what has happened. Enjoy the ride be optimistic and excited. I can remember watching Joe Nennan and Joe Gallagher and Les Lawrence there was far less reasons to be optimistic then.

I would say if we do get back to a good level enjoy it and stop all the carping to beat Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs et al even once may never happen again.

The sky sports generation can think our team is s**t in the 27 minute, brilliant in the 44 minute and then c**p again at the end of the game.

I watch Burnley about twice a season so i have less right to comment than most. Within 15 minutes more often than not the game is often not the best.But I look across to the Bob Lord stand in the area of where I used to sit with my dear departed grandad and i just think that however bad they are this is my club and i love them.

I normally watch Bacup now who try and play football. Being honest i go for Debra's Prem pie as much of the football...i went to Chadderton, Golcar and as far as Holker Old Boys ... I enjoy it ...but it will never beat watching Burnley beat Millwall 4-3 when Paul Cook scored or when Ashley Barnes scored 3-2 against Palace..

i wish i could get back into watching BFC again but I prefer to stand. I think VAR has killed it for me; albeit they do not have it in the Championship (yet).

I might watch it on Sky Sports tonight but they always adopt a team or a player who they decide are going to be Real Madrid or Messi and it does not do it for me.. Peter Jones on the radio was best for me...

Sorry for rambling i have my fingers, toes even little b*****ks crossed...

I hope some of the older fans might empathise with me a bit...the younger ones will probably think i am irrelevant just like the oreint game .. but that will always be the best day of my life after marrying my amazing wife..UTC

[pushpinpussy]

if we survive this season it must be taken as a positive, then onwards and upwards hopefully. cant see us in the Prem for the next 5 years at least.

[AGENT_CLARET]

if we survive this season it must be taken as a positive, then onwards and upwards hopefully. cant see us in the Prem for the next 5 years at least.

If we survive

[matttheclaret]

To answer the thread question - not in the slightest.

A few weeks ago I might have said something different but the closer we've got to the start of the season, the less confident I've become.

Was always going to be a summer of change, but I think it's been way too much of a turnover. Fully expected some of the departures (Tarkowski, Weghorst, Cornet (when he goes) Pope). Mee was a tough one to take, I expected him to stay. Adding the recent departures of Collins and McNeil, with maybe more to come, that's way too many key players all leaving at once. Hopefully the players we've brought in will be able to step up, that's just blind hope though with most of these signings not having played at this level before.

Lack of pre season is a real concern. 1 genuine game and a few training matches wasn't it? I think there's a chance we could be seriously undercooked for the first few games. A slow start isn't ideal (although I guess Forest showed last season it's not the end of the world).

Having said all that - still looking forward to the season. New inexperienced manager, young squad, be interesting to see how it goes. I think the style of football will be easier on the eye, maybe at the cost of conceding more silly goals. Going to require a lot of patience, that's for sure!

Prediction: Somewhere between 12th and 16th

[Bosscat]

This thread could be one we return too regularly ... but as we all know "one swallow does not a summer make" ... can we keep last nights performance up for 45 more league matches I don't know but ... its gonna be a helluva ride

[spt_claret]

As impressive as that first half undoubtedly was, I'm still pessimistic, expecting a couple more outgoings, and see us ultimately finishing around 8-12th.
We won't have the surprise factor we had against Huddersfield, and the formation and system relies on the assumption you'll dominate every game. Physically, other teams will be stronger and likely faster than us, so I worry they will be able to bully us and drive us back, and it's an incredibly narrow system which then flexes wide at the last minute to stretch defences- we could well be vulnerable either to breaks down the flank if we lose it in midfield (and while Taylor actually impressed me more than THB at centre he'd struggle with aerial balls pumping in) or to being broken on through the middle out of the final third as we rush to reposition. Huddersfield didn't exactly threaten much 2nd half but we did lose momentum.

But my biggest concern remains the small squad size and, yes, the inexperience of the defence & keeper. Their experience largely didn't matter against Huddersfield, as we kept so much of the ball they weren't tested. I don't see that happening every game and still have concerns about what happens when teams get at us- ironically, I think a physical, pressing, "break down the wings and cross to a striker/play long through the middle to a target man" Dycheball, the sort that won us the Championship, would be the one style that would give us more problems than any other.

I am a natural pessimist so I'm hoping I'm just over-egging it, but while it was 45 minutes of brilliant football it was just 45 minutes, so don't want to get carried away with optimism either.

[tiger76]

The display at Huddersfield has given me more confidence we might actually be in for a decent season, however good as we were it's only 1 game.

Difficult to judge our new keeper or defenders as they weren't genuinely tested.

Midfield looked good mind you, and when did we last have so much composure on the ball.

Lack of a clinical finisher was also evident, as we really should have bagged 2-3 1st half, and put the game to bed.

Still short in a few positions, and I'm sure we'll conduct more business involving incomings and also outgoings, before VK is content with his squad.

But after a difficult week, particularly with Dwight going, that victory was a much needed boost.

However we will face much sterner tests in the coming weeks, and it'll be 8-10 games in before we get any real idea if we're able to expect a credible promotion challenge or not.

[Culmclaret]

No idea but what has surprised me is that some people seem to have gone out of their way to find the cloud for Friday’s silver lining. A few were convinced that Huddersfield would be too strong for us, but now it turns out that they were rubbish after all, there will be much stronger teams and once everyone has worked us out we will be lambs to the slaughter.

[Rileybobs]

No idea but what has surprised me is that some people seem to have gone out of their way to find the cloud for Friday’s silver lining. A few were convinced that Huddersfield would be too strong for us, but now it turns out that they were rubbish after all, there will be much stronger teams and once everyone has worked us out we will be lambs to the slaughter.

Not sure I’ve seen anyone suggest we’ll be lambs to the slaughter. But Huddersfield had 15 minutes at half time to tweak things to counter our style and we were less effective in the second half as a result. It therefore stands to reason that the more other teams see us play the more opportunity they will have to figure out a way to combat our system. On the flip side to that, we will have had more time to work on it.

[claretbob]

How any Burnley fan after that performance can’t feel a quiet confidence that we will be playing premier league football next season is beyond me. Of course injuries could derail us but what VK has done in his first 6 weeks in charge is breath taking. Why do so many of our fellow contributors think we will somehow get worse surely the evidence points to this team getting even better? The Cornet and Mcneil money will allow a further 3-4 young, hungry additions and we have that ultimate X factor the Burnley passion back in spades. Luton will not know what hits them next Saturday.

[ksrclaret]

Still way, way, way too early to properly appraise the ability of the squad to gain promotion. Despite the fabulous performance on Friday that exceeded all of our expectations, it is absolutely right that there will be tougher tests to come. That's to take nothing away from Kompany and the team who I'm still in awe of for delivering that performance.

Looking back on the previous page I rated our chances 4/10 just because I had no idea at all of what to expect from us. Had I seen the Huddersfield game first, I'd probably have given a 7.

[Darnhill Claret]

The beauty of this system is that although some players will make our team stronger, the system isn’t totally player reliant. Meaning that provided all the first team squad are comfortable with the system it is ideal for squad rotation. This should also help to keep bench players still feeling part of the first team. We seem to have enough midfield squad members to allow rotation when required for either loss of form, knocks/injuries or suspensions.

[CohibaClaret]

Quite confident the Clarets will be top 4. I have been following the EFL last season and there is not a lot of quality. And the quality has dropped further. Biggest threat will come from teams like Millwall and Sheffield who play aggressive and have big physical players who score from set pieces and then defend well. The lack of height in the team is a concern. But from a technical side there are no teams at the level shown in that first half at huddersfield.
Btw, my first post on here. I am a fan based in Belgium but not just jumping the Kompany wagon like some others. I have been following the Clarets since early nineties in league one. Felt in love with the club at an away cup tie at anfield. Burnley were fantastic and filled the complete away end, 7,000 I believe. Was an amazing night.

[tiger76]

Quite confident the Clarets will be top 4. I have been following the EFL last season and there is not a lot of quality. And the quality has dropped further. Biggest threat will come from teams like Millwall and Sheffield who play aggressive and have big physical players who score from set pieces and then defend well. The lack of height in the team is a concern. But from a technical side there are no teams at the level shown in that first half at huddersfield.
Btw, my first post on here. I am a fan based in Belgium but not just jumping the Kompany wagon like some others. I have been following the Clarets since early nineties in league one. Felt in love with the club at an away cup tie at anfield. Burnley were fantastic and filled the complete away end, 7,000 I believe. Was an amazing night.

Welcome to the forum CC, and I agree with a lot of your post, set piece defending may be an issue for us given the lack of height we now possess, and this might well explain why VK wants another CB (Hendry) has been heavily linked, and other teams will analyse our minutes at Huddersfield, and attempt to identify any possible weakness they can exploit.

Technically we should be a match for anybody in this league, but as we all know you need to have many strings to your bow to win football matches over a long Championship campaign.

An encouraging start to the Kompany tenure, but it is only a start.