Burnley v Newcastle - Player Ratings

[PhiladelphiaChris]

Pope 8
Lowton 8
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Ward 7
JBG 8
Defour 8
Cork 9
Brady 6
Hendrick 6
Barnes 6

[KateR]

Pope 8
Lowton 6
Tarkowski 8
Mee 9
Ward 7
JBG 6
Cork 9*
Defour 7
Brady 5
Hendrick 6 (1 extra for goal or it would have been 5)
Barnes 5

most people seem to have scored Barnes more than I have, did not think he got much out of the defense and seemed if anything a little rusty, but then again he has not played that much. Thought Westwood was a useful addition and was thinking he should have come on earlier for JBG which just shows what I know as JBG made the goal look easy for Hendrick.

[claretsmart]

Pope 8
Lowton 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Ward 8
JBG 6
Cork 8*
Defour 7
Brady 5
Hendrick 5
Barnes 5

[claretspice]

In the end, a pretty decent night’s work. There’s still loads more to come from this team, but if the first half was slightly worryingly similar to the home frustrations of earlier in the season, the improved tempo and fluidity of the second half performance – at least until we sat back in the final 10-15 minutes – augured really well for the future. And to say there is loads more to come from a Burnley team which is 7th in the league after a relatively tough first 10 games is a big old statement in itself.

Pope – 8 – Barring one or two slightly dodgy kicks, extremely composed and commanding, and really beginning to look like the real deal. A couple of fine saves, even if they were possibly made flashier than they needed to be for the cameras, and his handling around the box was extremely assured.

Lowton – 7 – Caught a couple of times, but a good outlet going forwards and reasonably solid defensively.

Ward – 6 – things tended to get unnecessarily complicated when we went forward down the left, partly a consequence of some slightly slow distribution, but solid enough.

Tarkowski – 8 – Not greatly troubled, but looked assured and in control and his distribution was good, even if he should use his ability to switch play quickly more often.

Mee – 7 – Caught under the ball a couple of times, but generally solid enough.

Cork – 8 – The most impressive player on the pitch, and used his greater licence to thrust forward to good effect, including for the goal.

Defour – 7 – Involved in most of our better moves, but it was his ability to read the game and put him in the right place that was most impressive. If the biggest criticism of the team was that at times we moved the ball a bit too slowly, as our orchestrator in chief Defour needs to take some of the blame for that.

Hendrick – 7 – Some remarkably low marks for him above. Scored the goal, created our second best attempt for Barnes, and was involved in a few of our other better chances. We’re never going to get the best out of him using him as a second striker, and the two or three times he was needlessly offside reflect his discomfort in that role, but it was no coincidence that in the minutes before the goal, he and Defour in particular had begun to rotate round in midfield and we became more fluid and threatening as a result.

Brady – 5 – In and out of the game, and like Ward, things occasionally became unnecessarily complicated down that side of the pitch.

JBG – 7 – Good for the goal, and generally a really good outlet and a decent threat during the game.

Barnes – 6 – Did everything that could be expected of him, but himself about, won us free kicks and throw ins to get us up the pitch and got himself into a couple of goalscoring positions, but didn’t entirely shake the notion of him as a Championship forward leading the line for a Premier League team.

Westwood – 6 – Never got fully up to the pace of the game, but got stuck in and did the basics as we saw the game out well enough (if without some of our usual composure at times).


For the most part this was a fairly even battle between two well drilled teams who are better defensively than they are going forwards, and it was never likely to be a goal fest. For long periods both teams lacked the willingness to move the ball with the speed or ambition necessary to beat the other’s stubborn defensive shape, and in Burnley’s case it was frustrating that we didn’t move the ball quicker on occasions. All the midfield quintet, plus the centre halves, were guilty of playing safe at times rather than committing defenders or taking them out of the game. We also still looked stilted with Hendrick shoe-horned into a forward role that doesn’t entirely suit him in a shape looking more like a 4-4-2 than it ought to have done.

But our goal was reward for a spell when Burnley did play with more tempo, and in which we saw more rotation from the central midfield 3 with Defour popping up wider and Hendrick deeper, and generally the second half was much improved. We got a little ragged towards the end – perhaps the players felt that getting a second home win under their belts was a big deal – but on balance we just about deserved to win.

These really are great times.

[brunlea99]

Pope 8
Lowton 9*
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Ward 7
JBG 7
Cork 8
Defour 8
Brady 7
Hendrick 7
Barnes 7

[Top Claret]

Pope 7
Lowton 7
Mee 8
Tark 8
Ward 7
Jbg 6
Defour 8
Cork 9
Hendrick 5
Brady 5
Barnes 8

[andyh]

Pope 8
Lowton 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Ward 6
JBG 6
Defour 6
Cork 8 MOM
Brady 6
Hendrick 4
Barnes 5

A very flat performance with a great result.

[Barry_Chuckle]

Pope 7
Lowton 6
Mee 8
Tark 8
Ward 7
Jbg 6
Defour 8
Cork 8
Hendrick 5
Brady 5
Barnes 6

[ICL]

Two teams both weakened in attack but well drilled in defensive and mid-field. We shaded it on chances created.
Pope is proving an excellent replacement for Tom.

Pope 8
Lowton 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Ward 7
Cork 9
Defour 7
Brady 5
JBG 6
Hendrick 5
Barnes 5

[IanMcL]

Pope 7
Lowton 7
Tarkowski 8
Mee 8
Ward 7
JBG 7
Cork 8 mom
Defour 7
Brady 7 
Hendrick 7
Barnes 7

Great team performance as usual.

[MACCA]

Pope 7 saves looked comfortable
Lowton 7
Tarkowski 7
Mee 7
Ward 6 him and Brady had a off day, unusual for Ward
JBG 8 everything he did seemed positive
Cork 7 decent
Defour 7 decent
Brady 5 can't think of a positive, every cross was over or under hit. Needs a goal or something.
Hendrick 6 plus 1 for the goal
Barnes 6 rusty, but to be expected. Did a job.