Expectations away in the PL

[HiroshimaClaret]

Most sane supporters of our tremendous club would be happy, I suggest, with 4 wins and 4 draws and a return of 16 points from our away games. We are clearly nowhere near that return nor have we been in our 3 seasons in the Premier League under Dyche, the most successful manager I have known since supporting Burnley from the 80s AND a tremendous ambassador for our club. What worries me though is that after pretty much all away games, I conclude the watching experience baffled by tactics and our overall display, the polar opposite of our home games, where we all pretty much finish the games with our chests bursting with pride and a skip in our steps.

Against both Liverpool and yesterday at Sunderland, we scored and SHOULD have scored after lovely passages of play. I don`t understand why these interchanges of play (so prevalent in our first promotion season under Dyche, where we played some LOVELY stuff) are so few and far between and soon give way to, for want of a better word, hoofball. We have the personnel, it can clearly work, so why Dyche`s reticence?

It is almost as if Dyche uses the negativity of comments after away games to instill the siege `collective` into the players which then allows them to play with such verve and passion at home. We really need to play to our forwards` strengths, particularly Gray`s and Vokes` in order to get those aforementioned 16 points.

[Spijed]

Strange how we got 14 points two years ago isn't it?

[HiroshimaClaret]

Strange how we got 14 points two years ago isn't it?

You`ve got me bang to rights there, Spijed, but from recollection, 6 of those points were gained after the relegation horse had pretty much bolted.

[Colburn_Claret]

If you judge the performances, rather than the results, we have improved massively as the season has gone on.
We've played some very positive attractive football, but if you don't capitalise on it the opposition are bound to come back.
Every game we see the players in 30x15 ft box playing keep ball, practicing those little triangles so important during a game. When it comes to match situations we are pants. We miss the skills of Robbie Blake and Wade Elliott who were excellent in that way. We work hard and effectively to get into the right areas, and then the final ball is shite. Wether its lack of ability, or the pressure on the individual I don't know, but if we could sort out that one little area we would probably have comfortably an extra 8-9 pts this season.

[Spijed]

You`ve got me bang to rights there, Spijed, but from recollection, 6 of those points were gained after the relegation horse had pretty much bolted.

That's true, although we'd got a win at Stoke and drawn away at Palace, Leicester, Man City, Newcastle & Chelsea. That's fairly impressive for a relegated club.

I can't imagine SD using different tactics now if that worked.

[HiroshimaClaret]

That's true, although we'd got a win at Stoke and drawn away at Palace, Leicester, Man City, Newcastle & Chelsea. That's fairly impressive for a relegated club.

I can't imagine SD using different tactics now if that worked.

Didn`t that win away come as Ings returned from his injury? It was a really good first half performance where we played a winger on the wing (Kightly) and attacked. Possibly Ings` head being turned shortly thereafter didn`t help our season.

[Tall Paul]

Can anyone find me a thread from preseason that discussed what we expected to get away from home this season?

I doubt it, because nobody cared. The only target was to stay in the PL.

So why do we care now?

[LeadBelly]

Our overall target (rather than expectation) at the start of the season would've been to survive/finish 17th or better. Without taking things for granted, we're on course for that.
The no-win away is a bit of a monkey on our back but, overall, we're exceeding expectations so thankfully it's not decisively detrimental.
Our away performances have been trending upwards I believe (certainly Arsenal and Spurs efforts were good); hopefully we stay calm and purposeful and get a win at Borough/Palace/Bournemouth or even Everton.

[claretspice]

I think people are entitled to expect that we perform better in away games at Swansea, Hull and yesterday than we have. We're a better team than we've shown recently on the road.

We'll stay up, so we'll achieve our objective this season and that will be a triumph. But with just a bit more bravery we'd have another 6 or so points on the road. 10-12 points on the road strikes me as a fair target for the season. It isn't much, but a bit more. I don't see any reason not to want the team to be the best it can be.

[Spijed]

I think people are entitled to expect that we perform better in away games at Swansea, Hull and yesterday than we have. We're a better team than we've shown recently on the road.

We'll stay up, so we'll achieve our objective this season and that will be a triumph. But with just a bit more bravery we'd have another 6 or so points on the road. 10-12 points on the road strikes me as a fair target for the season. It isn't much, but a bit more. I don't see any reason not to want the team to be the best it can be.

I'm a bit disappointed that we haven't come close to matching the points from two years ago.

[alicante claret]

I believe the balance on this is to consider against home form in PL in recent campaigns. We continue to progress if as I believe we will play in PL next season, I have faith in the manager to bring about further improvement. UTC.