Like most genuine Burnley fans I am frustrated and somewhat alarmed by recent performances.

A harsh analysis might be that we simply have too many 'championship quality' players in our current squad and no amount of coaching/fitness training/framework analysis will solve the problem.

The loss of two of our most creative players at the same time has been difficult to manage and their return to full fitness will be a major boost to the whole squad.

We can't expect an instant miraculous improvement but we will definitely be a stronger team playing more attractive football.

Until then I think we should all be more patient and understand (hope/pray) that the current dip in form is likely to be temporary and will be a distant memory in a few months time.

... now where did I put that half full glass...

Question is. Do we need the creativity against city in our next game or defensive fortresses. I suggest the latter maybe more in SD mind even if they are fit after the international break.

WE may have to wait for Tarks too

Tell you what, this awful run of 3 games unbeaten and the most creative players potentially due to come back is just terrible haha
I can't wait for Brady and Defour to be back, but this basic team is playing badly and not getting beat.

They are both quality players and nothing beats quality at our level. They would both be definite starters in my starting eleven.

Vino blanco wrote:They are both quality players and nothing beats quality at our level. They would both be definite starters in my starting eleven.

Likewise. With both fit, Lennon would make an excellent impact sub if we're winning and the opposition are pushing further forward and leaving space.

And when Defour and Brady are back, 2 more players will get a serious injury unfortunately. That's football and why you need a strong squad!

Seen both Brady and Defour today, both have trained with the first team but I believe Defour is now making his way back to Belgium for his dad's funeral.

I cant see Brady or Defour starting the city game, even if we were at full strength for that one, i cant see us getting anything out of it, so surely it makes sense to keep them wrapped in cotton wool for another couple of weeks until they are fully fit and then release the beasts and watch us climb the table.

The City game may seem like a lost cause but we do have a decent record there in the PL. Without checking anything I would hazard a guess and say that in recent seasons not many will have a better record at their place than us.

Cue the 6-0 demolition that we used to see in the lower divisions.

Patience is a virtue and we've had our fair share of that over the last two months.
So a few more weeks shouldn't make too much of a difference and we can't expect much from
our next two games (City and Chelsea) even if Defour and Brady were playing.
In reality they'd probably both need at least two or three games to get up to Premiership
speed and match fit.

Possibly a few sub appearances and hopefully ready to start at West Ham, Leicester and
home to Newcastle in November. Maybe Gibson could be in contention for those too.
Those three games are ones where we should be trying to get a few points on the board.
5 for me from those three would be more than a good return.
Much less and we'll be in the mix or close to the bottom three.

Hopefully we'll remain injury free as well as we can't afford to lose one or two
others during the next month or so.

Sean Dyche must be delighted with the last three games. Not always sparkling performances to say the least, but if you can win games without being your best that’s not a bad sign. That has to be tempered against the fact our opposition were not top teams but it gives us a foothold. Defour and Brady will be a big boost, and with a bit of confidence that’ll come with that, I think we’ll start seeing more fluid attacking performances.

Before Brady got injured last year Ward, Mee, Tarks, Cork and JBG would have all been rated more important to the team by the majority of fans as would Heaton up to his injury.

We have also had two transfer windows to add some additional quality and depth to the squad and have failed miserably. I think we will stay up this season but I think we have lost a lot of momentum and wasted a great opportunity to use that momentum to really strengthen our squad and be capable of playing much more attacking football without sacrificing the results

Brady is going to change our season? I think some fans are delusional. It wasn't too long ago when we were seeing regular posts like this one http://www.uptheclarets.com/messageboar ... =2&t=13878" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yet people still think he is going to transform us? Beyond belief really

I’d say the majority of that thread were saying let him settle him to our team / system all very fair so I’m not sure what your point is? Leading up to his injury last year he was hitting somewhere near top form so people have every right to consider his return a positive.

https://www.clubcall.com/premier-league ... r-clarets/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And what do you mean by “change our season”? We’re barely in October and despite playing poorly we’re in 12th. He won’t transform the team single handedly no, but do we stand a better chance in games with him in the squad? Yep.

Don't think he will transform us immediately but if he can get back to the form he was showing
before he got injured then he will offer us more than Lennon.
He's got a good eye for a defence splitting pass, has a decent free kick
and can score the odd goal out of the blue.
The question is how long might it take before he starts producing his best?
And can he remain injury free for a reasonable period?

The same applies to Defour.

At present we're pretty one dimensional, create few chances and relying on JBG to get crosses in for Vokes.
With both Defour and Brady back in we should create more chances.

If they both do get back in and performing then it also poses the question as to who plays up front?
We may need to revert to one up front if Defour and Brady get back in.
Possibly three in midfield also.

At least we should have a few more options in the way we play.

As for Defour when he and Sean Dyche were singing off the same hymn sheet between August and January last season it was comfortably by some distance the best we have played in all our time spent in the Premier League and Defour was absolutely the catalyst for that.

ClaretTony wrote:Seen both Brady and Defour today, both have trained with the first team but I believe Defour is now making his way back to Belgium for his dad's funeral.

My thoughts are with him. At the end of the day, football is a game. The loss of your father is a heartbreaking time. Guy needs space and support.

To play better football you need the players to take the game to teams. It's good to have our grafters to play against the top sides but we almost need another team to take the game to lesser sides.

Most of our players are on the fringe of being able to play good football but tend to be let down by some poor performers with the ball.

Mee is the obvious one. He needs to be replaced by a more expansive centre half in games when we need to attack. Hopefully Gibson is that man.

Other players don't really have the highest technique, Westwood, Hendrick and Cork are more industrial and generally lack creativity.

Barnes and Wood offer very little to bring other players in to the game.

The team as a whole should play a lot better in games where we need to attack with Brady and Defour back but we need a couple of more attacking players to bolster our chances of getting results against the bottom 15 at home.

We will all be patients by the time Brady and Defour are back.

LoveCurryPies wrote:My thoughts are with him. At the end of the day, football is a game. The loss of your father is a heartbreaking time. Guy needs space and support.

Absolutely - and I'm sure he's been back with the lads this week for a couple of days just to get some normality into his life at such a difficult time.

Defour for westwood
Ward for taylor
Brady for Lennon

Vydra match fit and up front with Vokes

We will be a different proposition.

Tinribs wrote:Defour for westwood
Ward for taylor
Brady for Lennon

Vydra match fit and up front with Vokes

We will be a different proposition.

Personally I am happy to keep Taylor in. Ward has been awful when he has played this year and I don't think Taylor has done that bad. Agree with the others though. Vokes and Vydra up front being supplied by Defour, Brady and JBG and Taylor could potentially be very exciting.

Tinribs wrote:Defour for westwood
Ward for taylor
Brady for Lennon

Vydra match fit and up front with Vokes

We will be a different proposition.

I doubt you will be seeing ward anytime soon been to see a specialist about a persistent knee injury also i think this will be his last season as a regular left back

Reecey1987 wrote:I doubt you will be seeing ward anytime soon been to see a specialist about a persistent knee injury also i think this will be his last season as a regular left back

Probably explains all that speculation surrounding Joe Bryan in the close season