[FM19] Pretiumque et Causa Laboris

[willz121]

Pretiumque et Causa Laboris
"The Prize and the Cause of Our Labour"

A little break from my Coventry City / Journeyman career, I have decided that it's time for a youth only save and decided to take over at Burnley. One of the reasons I chose them was due to the European qualification last season, but also the fact that a club of Burnley's stature may struggle to bring in top quality youth.

Their location in the North West is already a hive for footballing activity, with the likes of Manchester United and City just to the south, Liverpool and Everton to the south west, and Blackburn just down the road. I have never played as Burnley before, so that adds to the challenge as it's a club I have no affinity with and know little about.

An initial look at the facilities shows:

• Excellent training facilities
• Excellent data analysis facilities
• Great Youth facilities (Youth Level 2)
• Adequate Junior Coaching
• Above average Youth Recruitment

Our immediate focus will be to improve the Junior Coaching and Youth Recruitment, whilst also improving the coaching staff to ensure they are all geared to work with youngsters. We also have a very early start in the Europa League qualifiers, so pre-season will be very different to managing in the lower leagues.

First transfer window is disabled as per usual, but it means we've got three months to assess the squad and see where we can cut some costs and try to bring some cash in to afford developing the youngsters. I already have a fair assumption of those who can make way, with Jonathan Walters, Stephen Ward, Nahki Wells, Phil Bardsley and Peter Crouch currently picking up nearly £130k per week in wages. All of them are out of contract in the summer, and all will be made available at the earliest opportunity.

Whilst I would love to cut the deadwood further, with very little coming through the youth ranks at the start of the game, I need to be sensible as relegation from the Premier League would be exceedingly costly.

Thanks for reading so far, will update monthly with screenshots!

[Hootieleece]

Good Luck!

Find an HOYD that's preferred formation is same as your primary formation, so you have less retraining to do.

[willz121]

August 2018

So here begins our journey, although Sean Dyche had played one competitive game before I took over in July as Burnley overcame Rabotnicki 8-0 at Turf Moor. My first game was a visit to Macedonia in the return leg to complete the Best Placed 2nd Qualifier Round. However, let's take a look at Board Expectations for the first season:

Obviously, minimal expectation every season at Burnley will be to avoid relegation. That's a given, and with the task ahead of me, this could become increasingly more difficult as seasons progress. However, I am more than confident about staying up, and the squad should be good enough for a mid-table finish in my opinion.

Cup competitions are always a good distraction, and we are expected to reach the Fourth and Fifth round of the Carabao Cup and FA Cup respectively. As far as our European adventure, the First Knockout Round is the goal, and hopefully if we get through the million qualifiers we need to play, we can make a go of it depending on the strength of the group.

EURO Cup Best Placed 2nd Qual. Rnd Leg 2: Rabotnicki 0 - 3 Burnley: Jeff Hendrick (12), Ben Mee (15), Chris Wood (pen 28)

My first game in charge, and whilst we didn't rack up the goals as in the first leg, we overcame mediocre opposition 11-0 on aggregate. We were done within half an hour, and I made changes at the break to essentially use this as a pre-season friendly. Job done, home to prepare for the next game.

EURO Cup Best Placed 3rd Qual. Rnd Leg 1: Ferencvaros 0 - 4 Burnley: Jack Cork (30), Dwight McNeil (36), Chris Wood (47, 89)

Frencvaros was the next destination on our early season tour, as we departed for Hungary in good form. Dwight McNeil was given his first start and netted the second goal on his full debut. Jack Cork and Chris Wood (x2) sealed an easy victory.

Premier Division: Burnley 5 - 1 Crystal Palace: Ben Mee (21), Chris Wood (32, 56, pen 90+3), Dwight McNeil (49)

With the air miles building up, it was nice to start the season at home, and we welcomed Crystal Palace. What happened next was a big surprise! We were 2-0 up at half time thanks to goals from Ben Mee and Chris Wood, with McNeil adding a third just after the break. Palace fought back to 3-1 before Wood scored his second just before the hour mark. The Kiwi wrapped his hat-trick up in injury time from the spot. I expected more of a battle from Palace, but can't moan about that result!

EURO Cup Best Placed 3rd Qual. Rnd Leg 2: Burnley 3 - 1 Ferencvaros: Aaron Lennon (53, 67), Johann Berg Gudmundsson (54)

With the first leg lead practically giving us the tie, I brought in Aaron Lennon to start on the right, and he had an amazing game. All three goals came from our wingers, with Gudmundsson being the filling of Lennon's goal sandwich. First two rounds have been straight forward, but we drew Sevilla in the next round!

Premier Division: Tottenham 2 - 1 Burnley: Chris Wood (3)

A trip to Wembley, albeit not for a final, but a trip to Tottenham. We took a fantastic early lead as Gudmundsson crossed for Wood to score after just three minutes, but we were not good enough to keep the lead and Spurs overran us as deserved winners. Disappointing, but certainly not unexpected!

EURO Cup Best Placed 4th Qual. Rnd Leg 1: Sevilla 2 - 2 Burnley: Chris Wood (9), Matej Vydra (72)

We're off to sunny sunny Spain... and came back with two away goals. Again, Wood gave us an early lead, whilst Matej Vydra scored his first goal for us. Vydra is a strange one, as he doesn't seem to be great either as a forward or a winger, but he came on up front with Wood and rescued a draw. All to play for at Turf Moor!

Premier Division: Burnley 3 - 2 Bournemouth: Jack Cork (30), Ashley Barnes (81, 84)

Back to home games, but a changed side struggled against Bournemouth. Having said that, on paper we have a fairly similar strength side, and if we can beat teams that will be around us this season, we should have nothing to worry about going forward. Cork has excelled as a box to box midfielder so far, and Ashley Barnes came in to give Wood a rest and scored twice late on to level the tie, and then grab a late winner.

EURO Cup Best Placed 4th Qual. Rnd Leg 2: Burnley 5 - 3 Sevilla: Charlie Taylor (11), Chris Wood (30, 59, 89), Tomas Vaclik o.g. (84)

All eyes were on this one, and what a tie it was! Andre Silva gave them the lead after 9 minutes before Charlie Taylor equalised after 11 (3-3 on aggregate). However, Silva grabbed his second after 28 minutes and removed the advantage we had on away goals. Wood levelled after half an hour meaning that we were now 4-4 on aggregate, tied for away goals.

Wood extended our lead on 59 minutes, before an own goal saw us take a two goal advantage on the night at 4-2  (6-4 on aggregate). Silva completed his hat-trick on 86 and lead to a very nervous last few minutes. As they pushed forward, we hit them on the counter and Wood completed his hat-trick to give us a 5-3 win, 7-5 on aggregate. Delighted with the win, and we proceed to the group stages to play Anderlecht, Legia Warsaw and Zoyra:

An amazing, if a little crazy, start to the season, and we sit fifth in the early table with 6 points. Chelsea lead the pack with 3 wins from 3, with Southampton, Manchester United and Liverpool filling the top four:

Thanks for reading, onwards to September!

[willz121]

September 2018

With the exertions of August behind us, we have six games to focus on in September, including our first taste of Europa League group stage football, and a visit from Tottenham in the cup.

Premier Division: Burnley 3 - 1 Everton: Matej Vydra (pen 2), Dwight McNeil (14), Jeff Hendrick (62)

Something isn't right at Everton this season. They've started terribly, and whilst I thought this would be a difficult game, we made very light work of it. Vydra scored on a rare start, before McNeil scored the second after 14 minutes. Hendrick rounded the game off with a nice goal from a corner, and despite their consolation goal, this was certainly an unexpected win.

Premier Division: West Ham 3 - 2 Burnley: Chris Wood (pen 1), Jeff Hendrick (86)

I can imagine that West Ham will be in and around the top half this season, and whilst we scored at either end of the game, we just weren't good enough to get the three points in the capital. Wood scored a first minute penalty before Hendrick netted his second in two games in the dying embers. Unfortunately, they were just too strong for us, and yet another defeat on the road.

EURO Cup Grp J: Burnley 4 - 1 Anderlecht: Chris Wood (6), Ashley Barnes (7, 89), Charlie Taylor (83)

On paper, Anderlecht are the toughest team in our group. They were the top seeded team, and I knew a win at home would be massive if we want to progress. Well the boys certainly delivered, with a fantastic display. Again our goals came at either end with Wood and Barnes scoring early, and Taylor scoring late on with Barnes getting his second. Amazing result and gives us a lot of hope of progression.

Premier Division: Burnley 3 - 1 Huddersfield: Aaron Lennon (32), Ashley Barnes (45), Ashley Westwood (45+4)

This was a must win game, and we wrapped it up by half time. If we lose to clubs like Huddersfield, we will see ourselves dropping down the table, and that's not acceptable. Instead, Lennon, Barnes and Westwood got the job done in the first period, and three points on the board.

Carabao Cup 3rd Rnd: Burnley 1 - 3 Tottenham: Ashley Westwood (65)

Westwood scored again as we welcomed Spurs in the Carabao Cup. Unfortunately, they took this one rather seriously and named a full strength side which was just too good for us. We won't make the requested fourth round, and disappointed we went out with such a whimper.

Premier Division: Arsenal 5 - 3 Burnley: Chris Wood (3, 29), Ashley Barnes (49)

Our form in London sucks! Scoring three times at Arsenal and losing is tough to take, but we have to really shore up the back four if we ever want to get wins at places like the Emirates. Wood scored early, and doubled his tally in the first half hour, but Arsenal had already gone 3-1 up by that point. Barnes scored after half time to give us hope at 4-3 but we just weren't anywhere near good enough to keep their forwards out.

We drop down to 9th after September's fixtures, which whilst disappointing, haven't been the end of the world.The table seems to be settling a bit, with Liverpool, Chelsea, City, Arsenal and United filling the top five, whilst Bournemouth, Huddersfield and Wolves are in the bottom three. The mid-table free for all will be very interesting, as Spurs have started slowly, and Newcastle tend to turn things around.

Junior Coaching budget and Youth Recruitment both had the approval for investment, and hopefully both will be foundations for the whole point of this save!

Thanks for reading

[willz121]

October 2018

EURO Cup Grp J: Zorya 0 - 1 Burnley: Chris Wood (18)

With our hosts having beaten Legia in the first game, this was a big tie and one we came through... just! I thought we should have really scored a few more against our Ukrainian hosts, but Chris Wood's solitary strike got us three points and two wins from two.

Premier Division: Liverpool 2 - 1 Burnley: Ashley Barnes (38)

A trip to Anfield is always a highlight of managing any side, but our hosts displayed how far off the pace we are in terms of squad strength. This really could've been any score, as they poured forward and we tried to hit them on the break. It finished 2-1 with Ashley Barnes netting our only goal before half time.

Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 1 Wolves: Rui Patricio o.g. (28), Johann Berg Gudmundsson (54)

Wolves are another side seriously underperforming so far this season, and were yet to win. Cue their visit to Turf Moor. We went 1-0 down to a Diogo Jota striker, where a long ball caught out our centre backs and he netted. We looked tired, and a freak own goal levelled the tie before Gudmundsson sealed the victory in the second half.

EURO Cup Grp J: Legia 0 - 6 Burnley: Dariusz Pawlak o.g. (13), Jack Cork (20, 24, 30), Matej Vydra (43), Ashley Barnes (84)

What a fantastic win away in Poland, as Jack Cork turned on the style with a hat-trick in the first half an hour. An own goal from Pawlak set the ball rolling, before Cork scored three almost identical goals from our corners. Vydra got number five just before half time, and Barnes number six at the death. 3 wins from three in the Group Stage, got to be favourites to get through now.

Premier Division: Brighton 0 - 1 Burnley: Johann Berg Gudmundsson (59)

Back to basics, and a free kick from the edge of the box from Gudmundsson was enough for three valuable away points. Brighton looked good in spells, but our quality told over time. Frustrating performance from our strikers who couldn't hit a barn door!

No table to show this month as I seemed to have forgotten it. We are currently fifth in the league, but are yet to play many of the bigger sides. We host Manchester United in our first game next month.

We signed an affiliate agreement with Crewe, where I hope to send our young players out on loan whilst also trying to steal a couple of their youth intake.

Two changes to the backroom staff as Adi Viveash (Coventry City) comes in to replace Ian Woan as my Assistant Manager. Viveash has great attributes for working with younger players, and is more suited to the task than Woan. Steve Weaver comes in from Norwich as Head of Youth Development, and I hope he will be more competent than Jonathan Pepper who I let go.

On 15/04/2019 at 16:29, Hootieleece said:

Good Luck!

Find an HOYD that's preferred formation is same as your primary formation, so you have less retraining to do.

Very welcome advice, and I have heeded it - thanks @Hootieleece

[willz121]

November 2018

Premier Division: Burnley 0 - 1 Man Utd: None

We have struggled against the bigger sides this season, and this game was no different. This is the first time this season we have failed to score in a game, so all it took was a solitary strike for United to take 3 points. Disappointed as they weren't up to much, but we didn't trouble them at all.

EURO Cup Grp J: Burnley 3 - 0 Legia: Steven Defour (28), Ashley Westwood (73), Johann Berg Gudmundsson (81)

Back to form in the Europa, and that's four wins from four and we're through to the knockout phase. The group looked an easy one, but didn't anticipate this easy. Steven Defour finally returned from injury and scored the opener, before Westwood and Gudmundsson completed the win.

Premier Division: Burnley 3 - 1 Southampton: Johann Berg Gudmundsson (11), Robbie Brady (18), Chris Wood (89)

We were poor last time out against United, but this time we were in scintillating form. Gudmundsson, Brady and Wood all got on the scoresheet as we put in a near perfect performance. Only negative was the goal we conceded from a corner, but glad to be back to winning ways in the league.

Premier Division: Fulham 3 - 4 Burnley: Chris Wood (35), Ashley Westwood (39), Ashley Barnes (62), Aaron Lennon (77)

And finally a win in the capital! What a game this was; we were two goals down before Wood and Westwood restored parity at the break. Barnes put us ahead before Fulham levelled. Lennon secured a huge win for us with 13 minutes to go, but there was still time for Fulham to have a goal disallowed - correctly - for offside.

EURO Cup Grp J: Anderlecht 0 - 3 Burnley: Ashley Barnes (68), Chris Wood (87), Jack Cork (90+2)

My memories of Anderlecht are a physical side, with technically gifted players. They must have sold all of those since I last saw them in real life as they have been terrible. We got another fine victory here, with Barnes, Wood and Cork all scoring. Wood has been sensational this season for me, and whilst the majority of his goals have been in Europe, he has been a main stay in the side.

Sixth in the league, but still yet to play a lot of the big hitters. In December, we face Manchester City at home, before we have a New Year schedule of Newcastle away (Boxing Day), Chelsea home (29th) and Spurs home (1st Jan). If we are still in the top six by the turn of the year, I'll be very surprised.

Looking at our form, we have been amazing at home and dreadful away:

Home: 6 wins, 0 draws, 1 defeat
Away: 2 wins, 0 draws, 4 defeats

We've scored 16 goals at home, 8 away, conceding 6 at home and 12 away.

Thanks for reading.

[Hootieleece]

Very Burnley form...good at home not so much away from home.

What formation and roles are you using?

[willz121]

On 19/04/2019 at 11:35, Hootieleece said:

Very Burnley form...good at home not so much away from home.

What formation and roles are you using?

Been playing a very simple 4-4-2 as that seems to suit my squad. Rotating Barnes, Vydra and O'Neil up front alongside Wood, with either the pressing forward or advanced forward role.

Across midfield, mainly been using two wingers (Gudmundsson/Brady on the left and Lennon/Gudmundsson on the right) with Westwood, Cork and Hendrick rotating in central midfield, both roles set to box to box midfielders in games where I expect us to be on top, but one changing to deep lying playmaker or more defensive when we're away against the big boys.

Lowton and Taylor playing as wing-backs to push forward, with Mee and Tarkowski set to ball playing defender roles.

[willz121]

December 2018

So with the Easter break, I've rattled through this faster than I remembered to chronicle what had happened - so prepare yourself for a whistle stop tour... starting with a new contract!

Premier Division: Burnley 1 - 4 Man City
Premier Division: Leicester 3 - 1 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 0 Cardiff
EURO Cup Grp J: Burnley 2 - 1 Zorya
Premier Division: Watford 1 - 1 Burnley
Premier Division: Crystal Palace 1 - 2 Burnley
Premier Division: Newcastle 1 - 1 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 1 - 1 Chelsea

Lowlight of the month is definitely the defeat to Leicester. We were terrible, and I think the defeat at home to City really put pay to confidence. We managed to get something from the month, although it was way below par! Chris Wood continued his good form despite a very rocky period for the team, and rightly dedicated his award to his amazing manager!

8th in the league at the end of 2018, and cannot be too upset with how the first few months have gone at Turf Moor:

Everton really struggling in the league, and as pressure builds on Marco Silva, it would be an interesting career move if I wasn't doing a youth save. You would assume they will survive on the course of the season, but they have been woeful!

[willz121]

January 2019

Into the New Year, and our form needed a massive kick up the backside. We exited the FA Cup at Round 3 to Manchester City, but got back on track eventually!

Premier Division: Burnley 0 - 0 Tottenham
FA Cup 3rd Rnd: Manchester City 3 - 2 Burnley
Premier Division: Bournemouth 0 - 3 Burnley
Premier Division: Everton 1 - 3 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 3 - 1 West Ham

Transfer wise, obviously no incoming, but Steven Defour left for RB Salzburg for £17.5m. He has been injury ridden all season, so good riddance to him! Rob Harker and Ollie Younger have moved out on loan to Crewe Alexandra and should get ample game time for the promotion chasing League Two side.

[willz121]

February - May 2019

And it was at this point that I realised I'd f'd up! Forgot to get any screenshots during this period until the end of the season... but here we go!

February

Premier Division: Huddersfield 1 - 2 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 1 - 1 Arsenal
EURO Cup 1st Knockout Rnd Leg 1: Krasnodar 1 - 2 Burnley
EURO Cup 1st Knockout Rnd Leg 2: Burnley 2 - 1 Krasnodar
Premier Division: Burnley 0 - 0 Liverpool
Premier Division: Wolves 1 - 2 Burnley

Decent results against Arsenal and Liverpool, and a fairly straightforward tie in the Europa League with Krasnodar. Into the 2nd Knockout Round to face Besiktas!

March

Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 0 Brighton
EURO Cup 2nd Knockout Rnd Leg 1: Besiktas 1 - 2 Burnley
Premier Division: Man Utd 4 - 2 Burnley
EURO Cup 2nd Knockout Rnd Leg 2: Burnley 3 - 3 Besiktas
Premier Division: Southampton 0 - 3 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 4 - 2 Fulham

We tried our hardest to ruin a fine first leg performance in Turkey, but got through by the skin of our teeth! League form continues to be good, although not too perturbed by losing at Old Trafford.

April

Premier Division: Man City 3 - 2 Burnley
EURO Cup Qtr Final Leg 1: Real Hispalis 2 - 1 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 1 Leicester
EURO Cup Qtr Final Leg 2: Burnley 6 - 2 Real Hispalis
Premier Division: Cardiff 1 - 3 Burnley
Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 1 Watford

Manchester clubs are doing so well this season, and we lose again just down the road. Again, not disappointed by the result against City and we did rest a couple of the regular starters with our trip to Spain in mind. Whilst losing the first leg was disappointing, what a comeback in the second leg! We're down to the final four now, along with Arsenal, Chelsea and Benfica... and we drew the latter, which is probably the best of a bad bunch!

May

EURO Cup Semi Final Leg 1: SLB 2 - 5 Burnley
Premier Division: Chelsea 3 - 0 Burnley
EURO Cup Semi Final Leg 2: Burnley 1 - 2 SLB
Premier Division: Burnley 1 - 0 Newcastle

Over two legs, we did enough to knock out Benfica, but that home leg was most concerning at 2-0 down! We got through it though, and whilst it sandwiched a defeat at Chelsea, we are through to the final to play Arsenal.

Fifth placed finish, 12 points off the Champions League, but delighted that we were even in the top 10! Chelsea pip United to the title on goal difference, whilst Manchester City finished third and won the Champions League... and then promptly sacked Pep! Watford, Everton and Huddersfield are relegated, and it's so tempting to clone this save and have a go with Watford or Everton in the Championship!

Just the small matter of the Europa League Final to report on, with the winner getting a place in the Champions League:

And it wasn't us... When Aubameyang missed his penalty, I thought that fate was with us, but when Mkhitaryan scored in injury time, I felt gutted. However, what a first season!!

League form continued to mimic real life, with us winning more games at home than away:

Home: 13 wins, 4 draws, 2 defeat
Away: 9 wins, 2 draws, 8 defeats

On the goal front, we finished +17 at home (27 for, 10 against) and -4 away (20 for, 24 against). Need to improve away from home if we want to continue hitting the top half of the table, and qualifying for Europe. Our finances stood at £120m in the bank at the end of the season. Thanks for reading so far!

Again, massive apologies for missing huge chunks of the season by not getting screenshots! 

[willz121]

Summer 2019

No incoming transfers during the summer as you'd expect, but a few left the club:

• Phil Bardsley to Leeds 350k
• Stephen Ward to Sheffield United £1m
• Jonathan Walters to Sheffield United £32k
• Tom Heaton to OL £9m (£11m)
• Kevin Long to Cardiff (£7.5m)

Rob Harker, Daniel Agyei, Ollie Younger, Michael Fowler and Jaydon Major all left to go to Crewe on loan, and I am keen to see how they develop during the season.

Junior coaching budget and youth recruitment both approved for improvement, and all in all a good way to start pre-season! Jimmy Dunne, Aiden O'Neill and Kane Patterson have all been promoted to the first team squad this season, and will get some game time as we progress.

[willz121]

August 2019

So season 2 begins, and with the performance last season breaking all expectations, I was scared with what the board would want this time round.

Top half finish in the Premier League is reasonable after our exploits last season, as are the cup goals. If we get a similar group to last season, I certainly expect us to get through to the knockout phases again. Carabao Cup and FA Cup draws need to be a little kinder this season though if we are to progress!

Premier Division: Chelsea 2 - 4 Burnley: Ashley Barnes (10), Jeff Hendrick (21), Donny van de Beek o.g. (51), Jack Cork (81)
Premier Division: Burnley 5 - 5 Liverpool: Charlie Taylor (22), Matej Vydra (68, 77), James Tarkowski (88), Robbie Brady (90+1)
Premier Division: Burnley 5 - 1 Cardiff: Charlie Taylor (15), Chris Wood (23, 76, 85), Aaron Lennon (55)
Premier Division: Brighton 2 - 3 Burnley: Ashley Barnes (45+2), Johann Berg Gudmnundsson (66), Matej Vydra (70)
 

The start to this season has been nothing short of ludicrous! Teams are beating everyone, goals flying in, and for us to start the campaign with a 4-2 win at Chelsea is just very bizarre. Follow that up with a 10 goal thriller at Turf Moor against Liverpool and it was a "don't adjust your tv" moments! We've scored for fun so far, and delighted to see the goals being spread around. Chris Wood is dominating again, and if he carries on like this, it'll be tough to keep hold of him.

We're top of the league after four games, scoring a whopping 17 goals, but conceding 10! Always nice to be at the top, although such an awful long way to go lol

Familiar foes in the group stage as we face Krasnodar and Ferencvaros who we faced last season, and AEK Athens. Should be an easy group, and I fully expect us to win it.

[willz121]

September 2019

Premier Division: Newcastle 1 - 3 Burnley: Chris Wood (14), Jack Cork (34), Robbie Brady (90)
EURO Cup Grp F: AEK 0 - 6 Burnley: Ashley Barnes (11), Robbie Brady (37), Chris Wood (45+2, 51, 59), Aiden O'Neill* (77)
Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 2 West Brom: Ben Gibson (14), Aiden O'Neill* (39)
Carabao Cup 3rd Rnd: Burnley 5 - 2 Bristol City: Jack Cork (35, 66), Robbie Brady (40), Chris Wood (56), Ashley Barnes (87)
Premier Division: Burnley 3 - 2 Wolves: Aiden O'Neill* (71), Johann Berg Gudmnundsson (80), Chris Wood (pen 90)

Goals, goals and more goals! Whilst I am loving our attacking play, our defence is terrible at the moment. Joe Hart has been our first choice goalkeeper since Nick Pope picked up an injury in pre-season, and maybe Pope will be straight back into the team at this rate.

Athens provided zero test for us, but the delight during this month is the form of youngster Aiden O'Neill.  I started him against Athens as we rotated the side, and he performed so well that I didn't feel like I should take him out... and he picked up Young Player of the Month!

And here he is, the man in question - note the * by his name is so I can keep tabs on the youngsters I want to blood into the first team this year:

Still top after seven games, although you'll agree I could've had much tougher opposition so far. Norwich have looked excellent following their promotion, although Bristol City are having a very tough time adjusting to the pace of the Premier League.

[willz121]

October 2019

October was a busy month for us, and we certainly had a bit of a wobble:

EURO Cup Grp F: Burnley 4 - 0 Krasnodar: Ashley Barnes (11, 27), Matej Vydra (pen 16), Aaron Lennon (45+1)
Premier Division: Arsenal 2 - 0 Burnley: None
Premier Division: Burnley 0 - 3 Tottenham: None
EURO Cup Grp F: Burnley 3 - 0 Ferencvaros: Matej Vydra (pen 23, 56, 69)
Premier Division: Bournemouth 2 - 1 Burnley: Robbie Brady (40)
Carabao Cup 4th Rnd: Burnley 4 - 0 Sheff Utd: Aiden O'Neill* (pen 6), Dwight McNeil (13), Mitchell George (43), Chris Wood (65)

A comfortable win against Krasnodar was followed by double defeat against Arsenal and Tottenham. They have both strengthened significantly in the summer, with Timo Werner moving to Spurs the highlight. It is difficult to do a youth only save when you see players you normally target moving clubs and you just have to sit and watch.

We bounced back against Ferencvaros in the Europa League, but then lost at Bournemouth. Our league form in October has been horrific, with our only wins coming in the cup games.

No surprise here that we've plummeted down the league, but I am more concerned with the morale drop than our position in the league at the moment. Very disappointing performances, and we really should've gotten something against Bournemouth.

[willz121]

November 2019

Our woeful league form continued into November, and we really need to shake things up a bit to get rid of this sinking feeling!

Premier Division: Burnley 2 - 2 Norwich: Jack Cork (11), Ben Gibson (57)
EURO Cup Grp F: Ferencvaros 1 - 3 Burnley: Dwight McNeil (2, 16), Ashley Barnes (86)
Premier Division: Leicester 3 - 2 Burnley: Chris Wood (43), Ashley Barnes (71)
Premier Division: Burnley 1 - 3 Man Utd: Matej Vydra (56)
EURO Cup Grp F: Burnley 7 - 0 AEK: Aaron Lennon (15), Matej Vydra (18, 53, 63), Robbie Brady (26), Dwight McNeil (39), Jack Cork (72)

We broke our losing run with a draw at home to Norwich, but then conceded three times to lose to Leicester and Manchester United. Our European adventure continues unabated, but unless we can do something in the league or cups, we might not qualify next season.

Down to 10th now in the league, and we haven't won in six league games. Our last victory was against Wolves in the final game of September, and maybe we are finally seeing the bite of not doing any transfers. Norwich currently sit just above us in the table, with Bournemouth and Brighton also flying high.

Top five looks more familiar, with Allegri finally finding his feet at City. Hopefully December can provide us with some points as we face Fulham (A), West Ham (H), Southampton (A) and Bristol City (H)... we simply must do better!

[MWE]

Great read so far

Following.

[willz121]

50 minutes ago, MWE said:

Great read so far

Following.

Thank you, it's much appreciated