Gray

[3putt]

I thought Gray was having a decent game today, particularly considering the poor service. He was busy and played a few nice passes when he managed to control the lumped balls up to him. Certainly far, far more effective than Barnes.

He undoubtedly gave their defence something to think about, which wasn't the case once he was off. Can't remember a game changing in such an immediate and negative way following a poor substitution.

[Wile E Coyote]

we just do not have anyone remotely close to being dangerous, midfield just point blank refuse to to press forward, nobody can beat a man one on one.
Yes, there is a toughness about us sometimes because we are fit and play in a quite discliplined fashion, but that'syour lot.

[bfcjg]

Poor decision to take him off. We are quite predictable with him on blatantly obvious with him off.

[uptheclarets86]

we just do not have anyone remotely close to being dangerous, midfield just point blank refuse to to press forward, nobody can beat a man one on one.
Yes, there is a toughness about us sometimes because we are fit and play in a quite discliplined fashion, but that'syour lot.

That's Sean Dyche though, we all know his style of play and Framework..the same style that's got us promoted twice. I'd hope if we can survive the board will get him the targets to open up defences that we all want..but until then suck it and see

[Rileybobs]

Gray was our biggest threat today and we offered absolutely nothing once he was taken off. I rarely criticise Dyche but if that substitution was tactical then it was a terrible decision.

The fact that Vokes was warming up before the rest of the squad at half time made me think that Gray was carrying a knock and perhaps being taken off as a precaution prior to Tuesday's game - although it seems like that may not be the case. If Dyche has taken Gray off for ill-discipline, and it's a massive if, then none of us are really in a position to judge the decision.

[Burnleyareback2]

Something just isn't right with him at the moemnt, don't get me wrong I want it to be right.

When I look st some previous strikers we had (adding a clause to say it's not about signing these players on again) but how often would you see Jay Rod, Ings or Austin thinking, f""k this i will go and get the ball from midfield and sort this out for myself?

Watching Andre today he couldn't be assed to make the basic runs.

[HelloHiGoodbye]

Not sure if it's directly linked to his substitution today but his girlfriend - Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix - is in the press at the moment. On Thursday she had to miss the majority of a performance in Anaheim. When she appeared briefly, she had massive bandages on her legs, having severely burnt them.

Again - difficult to say how much if at all it's related to Gray's performance/attitude but that'd be on my mind if it was my girlfriend.

[Wile E Coyote]

think she singed a few leg hairs of her knees on some stage prop, hope our season doesnt go up in smoke because hes bothering about that.

[billyhamilton82]

One word.....Attitude.

Although Gray looked decent on the attack his closing down was non existent you could tell from the first kick Gray wasn't going to work with the rest of the team in pressuring their back line.

The fact Spurs were playing into our hands and "doing a Liverpool" playing from the back if Gray had the inclination to help out they could have capitulated. As it was they always had an out ball as Gray wasn't working with the rest of his team mates.

Mid way through the first half it seems SD got the message over and he made an extra effort and chased two defenders down but soon went back to how he had been previously.

I can only imagine what was said at half time and when there was no improvement in the defensive side of his game he was hooked.

We have lost a game we could have got something out of but SD will and must stick to his principles for the sake of the team/club for the rest of the season and beyond.

Management in any industry demands respect. What would you do?

[Bordeauxclaret]

Not sure if it's directly linked to his substitution today but his girlfriend - Leigh-Anne Pinnock of Little Mix - is in the press at the moment. On Thursday she had to miss the majority of a performance in Anaheim. When she appeared briefly, she had massive bandages on her legs, having severely burnt them.

Again - difficult to say how much if at all it's related to Gray's performance/attitude but that'd be on my mind if it was my girlfriend.

Do they think she'll survive???

Dyche got it wrong today that's all.

[claretman1]

Too many players off the boil today in our worst home performance of the season. Joey B had created 3 chances for Tot H in first 15 mins which set the tone. Andre's first touch is usually further than I can kick it. Nothing creative from both starting wide players. Hendrick was invisible except when creating chances for the opposition. Keane never an international on this display. Can't understand why Dyche is happy with a display where we constantly gift the ball to the opposition. Barnes never a threat today. Players who definitely should not start on Tuesday Gray, Hendrick and Barton but to be fair only Mee, Heaton, Vokes, Lowton and Ward were worth the shirts today.

[Spiral]

If he's ignoring instruction then he's a liability. The whole point of a manager is to ensure everyone is singing from he same hymn sheet. Dyche may have messed up tactically today but he's done more than enough with these players to earn the benefit of the doubt and their respect of his game plan.

[NRC]

Dyche admitted Gray wasn't carrying a knock: "We were seeing if we could affect it, we felt we'd tried to affect it by stretching the game, and it didn't quite work for us.......We tried to affect it by playing a bit more robust, which worked slightly.....

From the Burnley Express, quoted by Dyche.

I'm utterly lost with this from several aspects.
- you had the opposite effect SD. How does playing to number nines stretch the game? It narrowed it 20 yards in our direction
- at what point did it work slightly? From what I saw we went downhill and conceded two goals because their midfield now had the license to play through us instead of in front of us
- you clearly had no thought then for how your attempt to stretch the game would work from their side as you completely missed what actually did happen
- your bizarre insistence in weakening the ability of a wide player playing him on the wrong side
- if your desire is to stretch it by havig two number nines, wouldn't that include providing them service, which you didn't afford, and when you did, you did it bizarrely

[THEWELLERNUT70]

Interesting view, I thought Andre worked hard, harried and chased 40/60 balls. I'd even go as far to say that if he'd have remained, we wouldn't have lost this afternoon.

Imo Gray was our most effective player 1st half

[Spiral]

At the risk of sounding like a zealot, yes, we were far too compact in the attacking third while Gray was on. It was like bumper cars in Spurs' box. The substitution didn't work out, obviously, (we actually looked worse after it), but the justification is sound, even before factoring in the allegation of Gray ignoring instruction.

[TVC15]

On the BBC report on the game there are several comments from Spurs fans saying that the game changed when we brought Gray off.

We played right into their hands as they were so strong at centre back. When Gray was pulling wide he was at least causing them problems - it was the only time we looked dangerous at all.

Absolutely baffling decision by Dyche. He is allowed to make the odd mistake though !

[Fretters]

I wonder if him flying to the US had anything to do with Dyche's decision. Was certainly an odd one.

[Woodleyclaret]

Poor service all game from our support players.Arfield.Barton and Hendrick were the worst they have played all year.Even Keano had a poor game.
Tactics awful Sean is being caught wanting and needs to reconsider his formations .Brady Defour a must to start v Stoke and Ageyi on the bench to come on.

[claretandy]

No wonder Dyche isn't proactive with his subs because he got this one horribly wrong, Barnes was inneffective and should have been the one to come off. The other 2 subs weren't any better, Brady is a left winger end of, stop playing him on the right. As for Defour, wasted on the left.

[Ric_C]

Too many players off the boil today in our worst home performance of the season. Joey B had created 3 chances for Tot H in first 15 mins which set the tone. Andre's first touch is usually further than I can kick it. Nothing creative from both starting wide players. Hendrick was invisible except when creating chances for the opposition. Keane never an international on this display. Can't understand why Dyche is happy with a display where we constantly gift the ball to the opposition. Barnes never a threat today. Players who definitely should not start on Tuesday Gray, Hendrick and Barton but to be fair only Mee, Heaton, Vokes, Lowton and Ward were worth the shirts today.

Can't really argue with any of that. Apart from not starting Gray. We need a big performance on Tuesday, and I hope the crowd get really up for it

[Veals]

Gray has been criticised for poor control and being frequently caught offside. I've certainly felt those are areas of his game that, if improved, could consolidate him as a very good premier league player. But credit where it's due, I don't recall him being offside against spurs and he controlled almost everything that came to him, which allowed us to get forward. Spurs certainly held a higher line when he went off, which put us under more pressure and we struggled to get out of our own half. It's not always easy to see what players can bring to a team tactically, but unfortunately this was highlighted well yesterday.

[ashtonlongsider]

Not sure of the ins and outs of the Gray substitution, it certainly appeared strange from my viewpoint and I can't say I'm a Gray fan. However taking Gray off certainly didn't improve us. Just made our approach play more predictably long ball and against defenders of the calibre Spurs have we certainly played into their hands (or feet).

[HelloHiGoodbye]

Do they think she'll survive???

Dyche got it wrong today that's all.

Yes, I imagine they think she will survive, yes.

[lucs86]

I'm a big fan of Dyche and regularly very critical of Gray, but if there's no injury then it's an awful decision from Dyche. And if it's about Gray's attitude then it's petulant from Dyche and it's cost us the game. Looking for a positive perhaps it's a lesson for Dyche and it's one that we won't see repeated. It shows that Gray "not following orders" is still far better for our game than Vokes-Barnes partnership against a good defence. I can't remember seeing a substitution that so effectively turned the game in the opponent's favour. It was painful once Gray went off.

[NRC]

At the risk of sounding like a zealot, yes, we were far too compact in the attacking third while Gray was on. It was like bumper cars in Spurs' box.

Really? I'll take us having the problem of bumpers cars in the oppo's box any given Saturday. Still, if that's perceived as a problem rather than a "nice-to-have," he certainly fixed it

[kaptin1]

Did seem an odd substitution as Spurs were pushing forwards looking for a goal and he was providing an outlet with pace. However, substitution came almost immediately after a long ball was played to him where he was isolated one on one with the defender and rather than playing the ball into space and trying to beat his man for pace, he simply stood there looking confused and doing nothing.

[Jimmymaccer]

Like Bolton away......

He'll come good when needs be..........

Tuesday to start with.......