Burnley away match thread

[Mr Popodopolous]

11 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

The fixtures come out as they do. There will be other games this season where we have the advantage I’d imagine 

The across the board postponement last week compounded it.

Burnley also had Norwich at home last Friday and that would have taken it out of them in the sense of hard graft and out of Norwich too both travel wise and hard graft wise.

Still the would be schedule leaves a bit to be desired:

1) Us...Bristol-Norwich-Burnley in 8 days.

2) Norwich...Burnley-Norwich-Norwich in 9 days.

3) Burnley...Burnley-Preston-Burnley in 9 days.

Ours was worse by a country mile.

Yes I know games were off but check both the mileage and the extra day of rest that both Burnley and Norwich would have had!

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[And Its Smith]

12 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

I'm torn on whether we can launch a playoff push.

On the one hand, there is no truly standout side this year though perhaps Sheffield United are emerging as such. We also are scoring just shy of 2 goals a game.

On the other hand, yeah Naismith risk and reward is a common debate but are we conceding not so much goals but chances to sustain one IMO.

Sheffield United, Norwich, Burnley and WBA will be in the top 6. Personally I think Boro will sort themselves out and get there as well but that’s not a given after their start. But probably 2 spaces up for grabs and us along with 6-7 others will be in that mix. Long way to go yet and clubs will make changes to playing and management personnel if they need to in order to improve 

[Mr Popodopolous]

3 minutes ago, Brann-red said:

Completely agree . Bringing Williams on for Scott slowed that down and they dominated possession.. think massengo could have been a better option of taking Scott off . Ah well- only a 4-5 hour journey back .. 

Was he risking a 2nd yellow though? Problem...dilemma anyway.

[Andy082005]

16 minutes ago, Sheltons Army said:

Have you ever seen any positive in anything City post Millenium ?

I’ve actually been posting a lot of positive things lately, and I still am. I’m simply stating the fact that these ‘defenders’ (I use the term loosely) are not doing the absolute basics right. That first goal today was disgraceful 

Going forward we look absolutely outstanding. I’d be pretty pissed off if I was one of the forwards and I’m watching the muppet show at the back week in week out 
 

[Curr Avon]

4 minutes ago, Brann-red said:

Completely agree . Bringing Williams on for Scott slowed that down and they dominated possession.. think massengo could have been a better option of taking Scott off . Ah well- only a 4-5 hour journey back .. 

Unfortunately, the diplomatic take on Massengo would be to say that he didn't adjust to the pace of the game.

[Gazred]

Disappointing week but not disappointed.

Keep the performances 7/10+ all round, ease off the soft goals and we'll have a good season. 

[Northern Red]

16 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Even after two losses this week I am amazed anyone is moaning really

I'm not, not in the slightest.

[Curr Avon]

Here are October's fixtures. Nothing to be afraid of.

[firstdivision]

11 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

The fixtures come out as they do. There will be other games this season where we have the advantage I’d imagine 

They actually have quite a sophisticated algorithm that tries to give the fixtures some fairness. So they don't just 'come out as they do'.

Please, though, point me in the direction of a fixture configuration this season where we play 25 miles away from home on a Tuesday and home on a Saturday, while our opponents have 440-mile round trips on both Wednesday and Saturday. I'll be surprised if you can find one but I'm happy to hear about it. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

Sheffield United, Norwich, Burnley and WBA will be in the top 6. Personally I think Boro will sort themselves out and get there as well but that’s not a given after their start. But probably 2 spaces up for grabs and us along with 6-7 others will be in that mix. Long way to go yet and clubs will make changes to playing and management personnel if they need to in order to improve 

Unsure how much we will be able to strengthen without fresh income but that's another debate...

Don't see us getting top 6, maybe a tilt for a while, perhaps in the mix.

Otoh Kalas when he returns fit will.be another option, fully fit Semenyo likewise and we must be due a few penalties for!

[cidercity1987]

1 minute ago, firstdivision said:

They actually have quite a sophisticated algorithm that tries to give the fixtures some fairness. So they don't just 'come out as they do'.

Please, though, point me in the direction of a fixture configuration this season where we play 25 miles away from home on a Tuesday and home on a Saturday, while our opponents have 440-mile round trips on both Wednesday and Saturday. I'll be surprised if you can find one but I'm happy to hear about it. 

I'm sure as shit that if you look at us playing Wednesday Saturday games versus an opponent with Tuesday Saturday games. That number of games to our disadvantage is much higher than the other way around.

 

This time compounded by having two very long distance away games.

 

[MarcusX]

23 minutes ago, firstdivision said:

The scheduling was brutal. Not sure how it’s fair with Burnley playing 25 miles from home on Tuesday. We lacked much zip today. Fair play to Sunderland who nicked an 87th minute point at Watford after playing at Reading on Wednesday. Blackpool, who also played away Wednesday and Saturday, beaten at Millwall. 

Everyone does it at some point, we can’t really start saying the fixtures are unfair

[Curr Avon]

Nige on now. Some quotes.

We conceded goals which, we didn't make them work hard enough for.

We showed that we can compete, but its disappointing not to get points from either game.

We generally did pretty well and we created plenty of opportunities.

Our approach to the second half was to try to find a way to get a winner.

The players have showed a lot of endeavour today and have worked exceptionally hard again

We didn't find a way to get that equaliser.

We've given both teams this week a very.., they've been difficult games for our opponents.

Unfortunately we've come away with nothing, but have acquitted ourselves well.

We've done pretty well, we should be sitting on 17 points, 18 points, but we're not, the challenge is to get ourselves up and running in 2 weeks time.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Curr Avon

[The Swan and Cemetery]

1 minute ago, MarcusX said:

Everyone does it at some point, we can’t really start saying the fixtures are unfair

I agree, but the respective distances plus Burnley having an extra day to recover, might allow us all to pause for breath before moaning/groaning too much. Admittedly not many doing that, but there are some! 

[Rossi the Robin]

24 minutes ago, The turtle said:

It was awful .

With the sun , had issues with who was who for the whole game 

Yep Sykes I think intercepted in our box, thought it was their striker 

[Mr Popodopolous]

5 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Everyone does it at some point, we can’t really start saying the fixtures are unfair

One to keep an eye on through the season, will be interesting to see if we get the same..

[pongo88]

3 minutes ago, Andy082005 said:

I’ve actually been posting a lot of positive things lately, and I still am. I’m simply stating the fact that these ‘defenders’ (I use the term loosely) are not doing the absolute basics right. That first goal today was disgraceful 

Going forward we look absolutely outstanding. I’d be pretty pissed off if I was one of the forwards and I’m watching the muppet show at the back week in week out 
 

This sums it up. I mentioned somewhere else that Pearson knows there is a problem and wanted to sign another central defender but couldn’t because of financial constraints. Currently City have Vyner and Naismith who can do the nice stuff but, IMO, don’t look like dominant defenders. Cundy, although a bit limited, could defend particularly against crosses. He left because he thought he was way down the pecking order so wouldn’t get a game. If he had stayed, again IMO, a back 3 of Cundy, Naismith and Atkinson would have been a lot stronger. He didn’t stay so this is pure speculation, which the forum is all about 

[Mr Popodopolous]

By my early and rudimentary calculations, we have or will have had by May, back to back away games in a week period 4 or 5 times this season and back to back home games once or twice, not including Cup games of course.

Not looked at anything like distances yet.

My definition of this is Saturday followed by a Tuesday or Wednesday or a midweek followed by a Saturday. Can be either.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[ExiledAjax]

42 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

Eh? We aren't in the play offs

Right. I hadn't checked the updated table. Doesn't that just prove the point even more though?

Look, I'm not saying we're bad, I'm not saying I am disappointed with our overall performances and position across the 10 games.

I'm just saying I don't think we should expect a top 10 finish or a "play off push" based on what we've seen so far.

It's still a massive step forward compared to what we've gone through over the last 4 seasons.

Edit. To add - it's really, really fine margins as well. Slight improvements in certain areas and yes, 5th - 8th is very much on.

Edited September 17, 2022 by ExiledAjax

[HappyClapper]

13 minutes ago, Curr Avon said:

Nige on now. Some quotes.

We conceded goals which, we didn't make them work hard enough for.

We showed that we can compete, but its disappointing not to get points from either game.

We generally did pretty well and we created plenty of opportunities.

Our approach to the second half was to try to find a way to get a winner.

The players have showed a lot of endeavour today and have worked exceptionally hard again

We didn't find a way to get that equaliser.

We've given both teams this week a very.., they've been difficult games for our opponents.

Unfortunately we've come away with nothing, but have acquitted ourselves well.

We've done pretty well, we should be sitting on 17 points, 18 points, but we're not, the challenge is to get ourselves up and running in 2 weeks time.

 

Pretty fair minded and accurate summary IMHO.

[firstdivision]

18 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

Everyone does it at some point, we can’t really start saying the fixtures are unfair

No, they don't. 

[And Its Smith]

24 minutes ago, firstdivision said:

They actually have quite a sophisticated algorithm that tries to give the fixtures some fairness. So they don't just 'come out as they do'.

Please, though, point me in the direction of a fixture configuration this season where we play 25 miles away from home on a Tuesday and home on a Saturday, while our opponents have 440-mile round trips on both Wednesday and Saturday. I'll be surprised if you can find one but I'm happy to hear about it. 

How can we play 25 miles from home if we don’t have a team to play against in this league that are 25 miles from home?

[Super]

We'll be good to watch this season which is great after the rubbish in the past few seasons, but we won't be close to the playoffs we won't always score 2 or 3 to get something out of games. 

[Red Army 75]

Excellent interview 

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 minutes ago, And Its Smith said:

How can we play 25 miles from home if we don’t have a team to play against in this league that are 25 miles from home?

That is a bit reductive and misses or glosses over the point.

Geography isn't necessarily on our side granted but the combination of Wednesday and Saturday with the huge distances isn't easy to defend! 25 miles sure and let's not forget the extra day, twice in Burnley' s case had fixtures not been postponed.

[firstdivision]

1 minute ago, And Its Smith said:

How can we play 25 miles from home if we don’t have a team to play against in this league that are 25 miles from home?

Exactly. We can't. But Burnley get to do that. 

How is it right that they play 25 miles from home as their away game on a Tuesday when we have to play 240 miles from home on a Wednesday.

All players should be allowed 3 days recovery. We should have been allowed to play at Norwich on Tuesday. That's all. 

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 minute ago, firstdivision said:

Exactly. We can't. But Burnley get to do that. 

How is it right that they play 25 miles from home as their away game on a Tuesday when we have to play 240 miles from home on a Wednesday.

All players should be allowed 3 days recovery. We should have been allowed to play at Norwich on Tuesday. That's all. 

Particularly as Burnley v Norwich would have been on the Friday night.

[And Its Smith]

7 minutes ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

That is a bit reductive and misses or glosses over the point.

Geography isn't necessarily on our side granted but the combination of Wednesday and Saturday with the huge distances isn't easy to defend! 25 miles sure and let's not forget the extra day, twice in Burnley' s case had fixtures not been postponed.

I was asked me to find the impossible though

Edited September 17, 2022 by And Its Smith

[joe jordans teeth]

3 minutes ago, firstdivision said:

Exactly. We can't. But Burnley get to do that. 

How is it right that they play 25 miles from home as their away game on a Tuesday when we have to play 240 miles from home on a Wednesday.

All players should be allowed 3 days recovery. We should have been allowed to play at Norwich on Tuesday. That's all. 

It’s football since the dawn of time,you can’t just start changing fixtures and we know changes are not good 

[Mr Popodopolous]

Across the two games we probably deserved a point at Norwich whereas Burnley were a bit better today...albeit in possession they were much better.

Our strikers still contributing which is good, hopefully those on International duty don't get overplayed and those not can rest up for a fortnight from now v QPR.

Wonder if Kalas will step up recovery over the next fortnight too.

Edited September 17, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous