The worst game of football I have ever watched

[Colburn_Claret]

You can see why Parker has a horrific PL record, if he’s scared of a poor Leeds side at home then god help him (and us) next year if we go up.

He was scared of a poor Stoke side, a poor Derby side, a poor QPR side..........
.There's no excuse imo, for the way we've played at home the last 3 months.
That said the tactics he is using would be understandable, and better suited, to fighting to stay up in the Prem. Then there will be occasions when we need 11 men behind the ball, but definitely not now.
The sad thing is if we don't change we'll never get to find out, because I doubt very much we'll get promoted.

[burnley007]

He was scared of a poor Stoke side, a poor Derby side, a poor QPR side..........
.There's no excuse imo, for the way we've played at home the last 3 months.
That said the tactics he is using would be understandable, and better suited, to fighting to stay up in the Prem. Then there will be occasions when we need 11 men behind the ball, but definitely not now.
The sad thing is if we don't change we'll never get to find out, because I doubt very much we'll get promoted.

I definitely can't see this team getting promoted, but we are going to find out either way, cos nowt is gonna change between now and the end of the season.

[Juan Tanamera]

But we are really unlikely to have this team if we go up? Some will go some will stay and we’ll buy some

Now cut that out with the common sense talk.

[dsr]

Parker has put together a team with few outstanding players. Most of them are just above average Championship players.

Trafford, Esteve, Egan Riley, Roberts, Brownhill, Cullen, Flemming, Anthony - by definition, you say that at least three of those are no better than "just above average Championship players". Which three?

(And that's accepting Humphries, Laurent, Foster fitting your criterion.)

[Im_not_Robbie_Blake]

I couldn't go last night through illness bit watched via a stream. I felt sorry for those who were there, particularly for enduring that turgid second half.

Yes, the teams cancelled each other out and Burnley were set up to defend all over the pitch, but I felt that if we had a decent attacking players we would always be dangerous on the break – that didn’t happen because we just don’t have those payers. We have known that all season, but it was made clear to everyone last night, that Foster and Flemming (and Anthony to some extent) just don’t have the attributes needed for a counter attack, particularly when the defensively set-up midfield gave them no support. Two or three proper strikers/wingers could make such a massive difference when we play good sides like Leeds. Against Plymouth we were set up to play attacking football and, because our players have so much more skill than them, it was possible to score goals.

Time is running out to sign those players. Do they exist? (I see a move for Tella being reported by someone at BBC but that could be yet another false dawn.)

I’m, critical of Parker for a couple of things last night. Firstly, as I have said a few times, Foster just can’t play that left sided role and it’s not fair for him to be asked to do so. Secondly, Flemming never stopped running and cannot be criticised for effort, but he must have been shattered and even a maybe-not-completely-fit Barnes could have come on and held the ball with the aim of getting support round him or just keeping the play in the Leeds half.

Esteve was absolutely magnificent!

[Dassey]

The only good thing is that sky might stop televising us due to our lack of entertaining the tv viewers and we might get a few Saturday games again cos these ridiculous week games don't help player prep and certainly ignores the needs of all fans involved. All that happens is the tv revenue money is frittered away on player wages. Look at 2 of our last 3 signings, 2 over the hill players that will be drawing decent pay packets and meanwhile beer etc prices go up. And concessions are slowly eroded. The Leeds fan on the podcast for turfcast had a great idea that he explains in his book. It would be great if it ever happened but it won't sadly

[Claret Till I Die]

Screenshot_20250128_121915_Facebook.jpg (238.01 KiB) Viewed 1678 times

Maybe not the worst game they've ever watched...

[Colburn_Claret]

I couldn't go last night through illness bit watched via a stream. I felt sorry for those who were there, particularly for enduring that turgid second half.

Yes, the teams cancelled each other out and Burnley were set up to defend all over the pitch, but I felt that if we had a decent attacking players we would always be dangerous on the break – that didn’t happen because we just don’t have those payers. We have known that all season, but it was made clear to everyone last night, that Foster and Flemming (and Anthony to some extent) just don’t have the attributes needed for a counter attack, particularly when the defensively set-up midfield gave them no support. Two or three proper strikers/wingers could make such a massive difference when we play good sides like Leeds. Against Plymouth we were set up to play attacking football and, because our players have so much more skill than them, it was possible to score goals.

Time is running out to sign those players. Do they exist? (I see a move for Tella being reported by someone at BBC but that could be yet another false dawn.)

I’m, critical of Parker for a couple of things last night. Firstly, as I have said a few times, Foster just can’t play that left sided role and it’s not fair for him to be asked to do so. Secondly, Flemming never stopped running and cannot be criticised for effort, but he must have been shattered and even a maybe-not-completely-fit Barnes could have come on and held the ball with the aim of getting support round him or just keeping the play in the Leeds half.

Esteve was absolutely magnificent!

Only the 2 or 3 proper strikers you talk about would be expected to sit on the edge of our box, everytime we lose possession. It's a hell of a long way from there to the opposition penalty box.
It's the tactics that are crippling us, the same tactic that has given us 20 clean sheets.
There will always be times and clubs where we will need those tactics, but not in this league, not even to Leeds.
You don't win games with clean sheets, you do it by outscoring the opposition. If we ever needed a lesson for that, this season is it.

[Spijed]

There are only four teams that can get automatic promotion.

Aside from Leeds our nearest rivals aren't doing as well, or ourselves doing as badly, as some on here would suggest.

Based on current form Sheff United look in a bit of trouble, and Sunderland are very hit and miss:

[pureclaret]

Dont get all the negativity and obviously the OP is a recent follower of the Mighty Clarets Im thinking Cambridge at home April 1987 ,1900 fans lost 0-2 there are others that can get worst match ever.
Im also thinking why go for it and lose against Leeds and have the team deflated (another throw back to Fa Cup 1997 Adrian Heath the manager Liverpool v Burnley lost 1-0 all the pundits called him for playing so defensively , His reply was why so we could get beat 4 or 5 and you would have enjoyed the game but id have had a bunch of players who were all down and may not have recovered form the beating as it was we ended up 9th in the league, but according to Heath we would have lost more games had we been beaten in more games. So for me not losing last night was the number one thing this was achieved by both teams and explained a very cagey game.

[Goliath]

It didn't though, using what ifs to make a point doesn't work.

It shows that we are allowing ourselves to be put at risk of losing due to variance. A deflected shot going in the top corner, a bad penalty decision etc etc. Every team concedes unlucky goals every now and again and if we don't attempt to attack then we put ourselves at risk of that costing us.

We've had the luck in the last 2 games, especially V Sunderland. They missed an absolute sitter when they hit the post and missed 2 penalty's. I'd say 99 times out of 100 we lose that game.
I hope Parker realises that and doesnt just thinks everything's OK by just looking at the results which is what the majority on here are doing.

I think he's smarter than that and will make sure we become more of an attacking threat for the rest of the season by bringing 1 or 2 in.

[dougcollins]

Dont get all the negativity and obviously the OP is a recent follower of the Mighty Clarets Im thinking Cambridge at home April 1987 ,1900 fans lost 0-2 there are others that can get worst match ever.
Im also thinking why go for it and lose against Leeds and have the team deflated (another throw back to Fa Cup 1997 Adrian Heath the manager Liverpool v Burnley lost 1-0 all the pundits called him for playing so defensively , His reply was why so we could get beat 4 or 5 and you would have enjoyed the game but id have had a bunch of players who were all down and may not have recovered form the beating as it was we ended up 9th in the league, but according to Heath we would have lost more games had we been beaten in more games. So for me not losing last night was the number one thing this was achieved by both teams and explained a very cagey game.

I was at that Cambridge game and it's far from the worst game I've ever seen.

Just saying.

[sjb]

It can't be all bad. To take 4 points this season from the biggest & best supported club in the world isn't to be sneezed at.

[pureclaret]

I was at that Cambridge game and it's far from the worst game I've ever seen.

Just saying.

I agree it wasn't the worst, but for me it was a pretty low point with you me and my partner making up .2% of the crowd we were on the Long side the support was low, but not poor as most were still cheering on the Clarets as we always have done and always will , I guess the worst game to attend in my life was the Orient game that same season but ended up with the best feeling ever (still not the worst game ive seen )

[dsr]

It shows that we are allowing ourselves to be put at risk of losing due to variance. A deflected shot going in the top corner, a bad penalty decision etc etc. Every team concedes unlucky goals every now and again and if we don't attempt to attack then we put ourselves at risk of that costing us.

We've had the luck in the last 2 games, especially V Sunderland. They missed an absolute sitter when they hit the post and missed 2 penalty's. I'd say 99 times out of 100 we lose that game.
I hope Parker realises that and doesnt just thinks everything's OK by just looking at the results which is what the majority on here are doing.

I think he's smarter than that and will make sure we become more of an attacking threat for the rest of the season by bringing 1 or 2 in.

It's a stretch to say that Sunderland were unlucky not to score from a penalty for a foul so far outside the area.

[JohnMac]

When we get promoted we won't change this playing squad and simply bumble along playing the same way.

Or probably not!

[RVclaret]

It shows that we are allowing ourselves to be put at risk of losing due to variance. A deflected shot going in the top corner, a bad penalty decision etc etc. Every team concedes unlucky goals every now and again and if we don't attempt to attack then we put ourselves at risk of that costing us.

We've had the luck in the last 2 games, especially V Sunderland. They missed an absolute sitter when they hit the post and missed 2 penalty's. I'd say 99 times out of 100 we lose that game.
I hope Parker realises that and doesnt just thinks everything's OK by just looking at the results which is what the majority on here are doing.

I think he's smarter than that and will make sure we become more of an attacking threat for the rest of the season by bringing 1 or 2 in.

We had the two best chances of the game yesterday so I’m not sure how we ‘don’t attempt to attack’. Flemming also skied one over the bar when a simple control had us 2 on 1 near the penalty area. It’s a shame the second half was genuinely painful with both teams taking zero risk. Against Sunderland we also missed 2 reasonable chances before the one they hit the post with. Obv missing 2 penalties is rare albeit one could argue 1 or neither were pens and we should have had one at the other end, making us unlucky. I think both points were deserved in the end and fair results. You are right regarding some variance and we are an odd team in that sense, as we are currently 16 unbeaten, 7 clean sheets in a row and have played all our toughest games!

[Goliath]

It's a stretch to say that Sunderland were unlucky not to score from a penalty for a foul so far outside the area.

It sort of reinforces my point about variance and luck.

[Ampth7]

In fairness to the OP, last night was a woeful game of football to watch, and I don’t think anyone could argue otherwise from an entertainment point of view! Both sides played with a do not lose mentality, so it’s not all on us to be fair.

Equally, we are well placed in the league for a promotion push, so here’s hoping to a better performance away at Pompey. However, I am still in the camp of expecting more from us in attack……. but it is what it is!

[KRBFC]

He was scared of a poor Stoke side, a poor Derby side, a poor QPR side..........
.There's no excuse imo, for the way we've played at home the last 3 months.
That said the tactics he is using would be understandable, and better suited, to fighting to stay up in the Prem. Then there will be occasions when we need 11 men behind the ball, but definitely not now.
The sad thing is if we don't change we'll never get to find out, because I doubt very much we'll get promoted.

I don’t know why he’s so scared of taking the handbrake off when we’ve got such talented central defenders,
Esteve and Egan Riley don’t need 3 defensive midfielders infront of them (or 2 if you want to pretend Brownhill is a number 10).

I’m convinced Esteve and Egan Riley are THAT good, we could play at this level with just Cullen sat infront of them and put an extra striker on.

[KRBFC]

Dont get all the negativity and obviously the OP is a recent follower of the Mighty Clarets Im thinking Cambridge at home April 1987 ,1900 fans lost 0-2 there are others that can get worst match ever.
Im also thinking why go for it and lose against Leeds and have the team deflated (another throw back to Fa Cup 1997 Adrian Heath the manager Liverpool v Burnley lost 1-0 all the pundits called him for playing so defensively , His reply was why so we could get beat 4 or 5 and you would have enjoyed the game but id have had a bunch of players who were all down and may not have recovered form the beating as it was we ended up 9th in the league, but according to Heath we would have lost more games had we been beaten in more games. So for me not losing last night was the number one thing this was achieved by both teams and explained a very cagey game.

You don’t get the negativity because you’re completely missing the point, if last night was the first time we’ve played like that because we didn’t want to lose then fair enough but it’s almost every single home game.

[Newcastleclaret93]

I don’t know why he’s so scared of taking the handbrake off when we’ve got such talented central defenders,
Esteve and Egan Riley don’t need 3 defensive midfielders infront of them (or 2 if you want to pretend Brownhill is a number 10).

I’m convinced Esteve and Egan Riley are THAT good, we could play at this level with just Cullen sat infront of them and put an extra striker on.

Not necessarily disagreeing with you.

But potentially this system is why they look so good? And Parker thinks they would struggle?

[KRBFC]

Not necessarily disagreeing with you.

But potentially this system is why they look so good? And Parker thinks they would struggle?

Well this is what you would expect a manager to do if he thought the central defenders were a weak link and lacking pace. Crowd them with defensive runners to protect them.

These two centre halves have the attributes to play high line aggressive against one striker. They’re both quick modern defenders.

I don’t care what anybody says either, Brownhill isn’t a 10 and neither is Hannibal, it’s just Parker using them there negatively for legs to get back.

[pureclaret]

You don’t get the negativity because you’re completely missing the point, if last night was the first time we’ve played like that because we didn’t want to lose then fair enough but it’s almost every single home game.

Sorry I think you are missing the point , the post was talking about last nights game being the worst they had seen, Ive seen worse this season and previous ones.

I also feel that we have had some bad luck with what could or should be star performers being injured / unavailable , yes other teams have had similar problems and have lost games we have not ( look down the road )
Yes Id like to see free flowing attacking football but prefer not to go home with loss after loss. and still in with a chance of automatic promotion.
Ill then after promotion worry about how many times I go home disappointed with loss after loss but that's another story

[Vino blanco]

I went over to watch the game at Goodies Bar in Benalmadena last night, but Mrs Vino, who is a big Clarets fan, decided to stay home and watch it on TV. When I got home I asked her "what did you think about the game?". Her answer was "I fell asleep after about fifteen minutes, and woke up when it had finished". How many others are feeling like this?

[Hipper]

Trafford, Esteve, Egan Riley, Roberts, Brownhill, Cullen, Flemming, Anthony - by definition, you say that at least three of those are no better than "just above average Championship players". Which three?

(And that's accepting Humphries, Laurent, Foster fitting your criterion.)

Trafford and Esteve are the only players that look top Championship players. Both need more to progress - Esteve is missing some parts of the full centre back kit and Trafford still seems a bit immature to me to progress further, yet.

Not fully convinced of Egan-Riley although he is promising. As is Humphreys.

The rest are above average but not exceptional.

[dsr]

I went over to watch the game at Goodies Bar in Benalmadena last night, but Mrs Vino, who is a big Clarets fan, decided to stay home and watch it on TV. When I got home I asked her "what did you think about the game?". Her answer was "I fell asleep after about fifteen minutes, and woke up when it had finished". How many others are feeling like this?

Lucky, lucky lady.

[dsr]

Trafford and Esteve are the only players that look top Championship players. Both need more to progress - Esteve is missing some parts of the full centre back kit and Trafford still seems a bit immature to me to progress further, yet.

Not fully convinced of Egan-Riley although he is promising. As is Humphreys.

The rest are above average but not exceptional.

Genuinely, you think that Brownhill and Roberts are average Championship layers, way below Premier League level?

[jrgbfc]

Genuinely, you think that Brownhill and Roberts are average Championship layers, way below Premier League level?

I'd say they're both excellent Championship players, but Roberts in particular has looked miles off it in the Prem.

[ashtonlongsider]

Wife turned to me mid way through second half and stone faced said she wishes she'd stayed at home to watch Vera.

[ClaretPete001]

Even SP admitted it wasn't particularly entertaining. Whether it was the worst game ever is a matter of opinion but I couldn't say that anyone who said it was completely off beam.

Personally, drawing against Leeds who are top of he table can't be the worst game ever but that's because I'm a Burnley fan. If it had been Rovers v Leeds then yes it would have been up there with the worst of them.

[boatshed bill]

Exeter City, I think it was 1986.
now that was bad.

[Colburn_Claret]

I think the problem here is the yardstick you use to measure worst.
I'm sure there will have been matches where we were mullered, games were we just weren't good enough, and shown up.

BUT if you measure it by underperforming, or underwhelming, this is the season. We are underachieving at home because we vanish into a totally unnecessary shell. When you look at the opposition, there is no need for the caution Parker has instilled in this squad. Even last night we could have put up a lot better effort.

Those who think we have the defence sorted, we just need to add the attack, are living under the illusion that you can have both. IMO we won't change in attack UNTIL we change the defence.The only way the former is possible is if the FA give us dispensation to play with 15 men.

[Barn4Burn]

Absolute garbage post. No doubt topped by the endlessly negative turfcast tripe.

[Row x]

How would people have felt if it had been an 7 goal thriller, but we lost 3.4.?

[claret wizard]

The OP mentions you’d see more “quality” at Sunday league. Whatever criticism you might want to throw around, lack of “quality” isn’t one of them. That was the top quality defending on show.

It got me thinking about the other non quantifiable term, “worst”. The worst game I’ve seen from Burnley we scored 5 goals and lost. It was diabolical from both sides, people didn’t even celebrate the final few goals as the defending was so awful. So goals don’t make a game quality, or even interesting. Rather watch last night than watch the Cod Army stumbling through a woeful defence 6 times.

[alf_resco]

I watched on tv in the comfort of my own home.
It was dire "entertainment" and had the same performance been between say Leeds and Sheff Utd (two teams I'm not remotely interested in) then even if I'd tuned in, I'd probably have switched off after about 20 mins. Because it was my team, I watched the mind-numbing stuff till the bitter end.
Yes, we got a point. Yes, we denied DL a win. Yes, we're still well in with the leading pack. But it was dross to watch.
Still, I saved myself 6 hrs up & down the sodding M6 and the thick end of £120 quid. I kept dry and warm and I was asleep in my own bed just after 10.00pm. Just saying.
Oh, and whatever folk wish Foster to be, he's simply not good enough. Time to get shut asap.

[dsr]

The OP mentions you’d see more “quality” at Sunday league. Whatever criticism you might want to throw around, lack of “quality” isn’t one of them. That was the top quality defending on show.

It got me thinking about the other non quantifiable term, “worst”. The worst game I’ve seen from Burnley we scored 5 goals and lost. It was diabolical from both sides, people didn’t even celebrate the final few goals as the defending was so awful. So goals don’t make a game quality, or even interesting. Rather watch last night than watch the Cod Army stumbling through a woeful defence 6 times.

The very fact that you can mention this game, 20-odd years later, and people know which match you mean without even mentioning the opponent - that proves it was more memorable and more interesting than the one just gone. You won't be able to make an oblique reference to this match in 2047 and people will identify it.

[Murger]

The very fact that you can mention this game, 20-odd years later, and people know which match you mean without even mentioning the opponent - that proves it was more memorable and more interesting than the one just gone. You won't be able to make an oblique reference to this match in 2047 and people will identify it.

Or the end of this season. 1 game just bleeds into the next.

[claret wizard]

The very fact that you can mention this game, 20-odd years later, and people know which match you mean without even mentioning the opponent - that proves it was more memorable and more interesting than the one just gone. You won't be able to make an oblique reference to this match in 2047 and people will identify it.

Very true, so maybe the title of the thread should be most “boring” or “most un memorable”. Or maybe “game with biggest overreaction”.

[SouthLondonexile]

Well it was a game neither team wanted to lose and what’s more we didn’t.
It was a game crying out for a substitution in the last twenty minutes - Ashley Barnes would i feel confident have changed things around.
It was a game played cautiously but with only occasional bright moments.
As for being the worst game ever we’ll i’m sorry the author had to endure it, well done for staying the distance.
I recall a game in the early noughties, where the Sun Newspaper reporter gave Man of the Match to the referee for blowing his whistle early to end a shocking game of football.

[Luppy]

I'm now very old - clearly. Easy to put an age on anyone who thinks that's the worst game of football ever watched at Turf...

Try watching a season of Leebrook, Dowell, Harris, Parker, Rodaway, Malley, Murphy, Gallagher, Devaney, Hampton, Hardy, Heesom if you think this football is bad.....

[ClaretsPadiham]

The OP is an absolute prick - little armchair dweeb that goes up the arbories for his fix cos its on his door step
Never seen the turf yet has such a high opinion every week

It’s deffo not on my door step lad,

You’re the one hiding behind a username calling people names on an internet forum, maggot

Ps we didn’t have a shot on target

[ISpeds00]

It’s deffo not on my door step lad,

You’re the one hiding behind a username calling people names on an internet forum, maggot

Ps we didn’t have a shot on target

I know who you are though -
You time your posts to a T every game, trying to provoke a reaction. even telling people who also know you, you've created the post to "stir it up"
Proper little dweeb

[JohnMac]

I can think of two worse games this season, Sunderland and Millwall away.

[Culmclaret]

I don’t know why but the 0-2 defeat at Aldershot in 86/7 sticks in my mind. They scored in the 2nd and 82nd minute and absolutely nothing happened in between.

[COBBLE]

No! There was an away game at Hull City under Clive Middlemass that made me squirm. Then another at Notts County where we lost 1-0. In the warm up Adie Heath stood on one spot for 10 minutes with his arms on his hips like a double handled teapot.