By Turfmanphil
November 20 2005

What the Sunday Papers Say!

Luton 2:3 Clarets 5.11.05

Well as is the normal situation, we fail to get a full report in any of the papers reviewed here! I start therefore with a general moan. Surely yesterday for a neutral would have been one of the most exciting and eventful games possible. How else can you describe a game that had five goals, a goalkeeper sent off, an hat-trick, a penalty and the drama of seeing a team with 10 men defend a one goal lead for most of the second half with no recognised goalkeeper between the sticks?

'Unfashionable Burnley Syndrome' I guess prevents the press informing the general public of one of the most amazing games I have seen for sometime in any greater detail than a short snapshot. This is even against a club riding high in 4th place. Having said that I dont think any paper no matter how large the report could have captured the passion, grit and determination shown by our boys nor the emotion of the day as the team hugged at the end of the game and Steve Cotterill throughout urged on the fans! Look at the respect even the Luton fans gave us, applauding our guys off the pitch ! These subtle observations and the emotions we fans go through are things that make the game and yet they are very rarely captured in the papers unless they happen at Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United.

Oh well, so what do they say about us?

Lets start with the 'Sunday Times'

' Burnley's goalkeeping crisis increased when Brian Jensen was sent off for handling outside the box. First-choice Danny Coyne is already out for the season.Ade Akinbiyi was the star of Burnley's third successive win with a hat-trick, the first two before Jensen's dismissal. Steve Howard headed in for Luton, but Akinbiyi scored his third from the spot.Warren Feeney claimed Luton's second'

Well OK at least its accurate but where is the mention of Spicer, where is the mention that we fought for most of the game with Spicer in goal and a determined defence protecting him? Why mention Danny and not Spicer? For once we got over half of the paragraph but even so it says nothing new for a Clarets fan and there is no flavour of the excitement of the game for the neutral. Well OK call me biased but that second goal of Ade's surely deserved a description of its own! Like bloody amazing!

So then can 'The Observer' do any better?

Here at least we get two mentions, one about Ade in particular in a short Championship Review Section plus a small article of the Manager's Comments and a view from Patrick O'Neill of London Clarets.

' The once much-maligned Ade Akinbiyi pushed himself to the top of this season's Championship scorer's list with a hat-trick-his first in six years-in Burnley's 3-2 win at Luton...'

Full marks to this paper for at last giving us some useful information that probably a few of us Clarets didnt even know!

The paper goes on to say:

'...It was just as well that Akinbiyi was in that sort of mood because after he had given Burnley a 2-0 lead, their keeper Brian Jenson was sent off. The big Dane was shown the red card as a result of his rashness in racing off his line and catching the ball a couple of yards outside his penalty area. With no reserve keeper on the their bench, Burnley were forced to hand Jensen's job to midfielder John Spicer, who was then beaten by Steve Howard. However,Luton's hopes of at least maintaining their unbeaten record became somewhat weaker when a typically powerful Akinbiyi run into their box was halted illegally by leon Barrett and the striker converted the resulting penalty-his twelfh goal of the season and his tenth in league'

This is actually not a bad  report and is summarised very well albeit without any passion and drama. Surprisingly its all about Burnley and the Luton readers today could well be legitimately asking who scored their second goal!

Onto the other section in this paper quoting first of all the manager's comments

Mike Newell

'The red card for deliberate hand ball was hard, but its a silly rule -its not the refs fault, he's just applying the law. The people who have made the rules have obviously never played the game [TMP's Comments: Well said mate and how gracious of the bloke to say this] The result want good for us but we lost three in a row last season and Ill be looking for the same response from the players to what we had then'

Steve Cotterill

'People raised some eyebrows when we signed Ade but they'll have their eyes shut now [TMPs Comments: Another gem from Steve and how true!] The kid is an absolute gem. I love him. the players love him and I think a few girls in the office love him. This result was superb-given the circumstances,its the best win I have ever had!'

Finally for a review of this paper's coverage here are some comments reported from Patrick O' Neill of London Clarets

Was it a Good Match?

'It was fantastic for a Burnley fan. We had our keeper sent off, then they scored just before half-time and it looked like the writing on the wall, but we won against all the odds after a sterling defensive display. John Spicer the makeshift goallie, didnt have a save to make. Its on days like these you realise why you're a football fan'

Who played well/who had a nightmare?

'Akinbiyi was brilliant and scored a wonderful hat-trick.We didnt have a bad player.Luton looked very average'

So there you go, it always takes a fan to put across the emotion and passion rather than a reporter

Right that leaves the 'Sunday Independent'

'Ade Akinbiyi's hat-trick took his season's tally to 12 as the Clarets won despite having their keeper sent off for deliberate [??] handball after 39 minutes. With no substitute keeper,John Spicer went in goal but Luton could only beat him twice'

Dont know why they bother and thank god for our Longside Match Reports

Sorry no players ratings given in any of the papers and no predictions either for the next game as this is two weeks away!

Oh well hope you liked this first attempt and found it interesting. Lets see what the Sunday Papers will say after our Leicester game

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Forever Claret has since provided me with a review of the match report from 'The Mail on Sunday'

Cotterill salutes best win ever.

'Steve Cotterill has enjoyed a few shock results in his time as both a player and manager- but he put yesterday's win at the top of his list.

The Burnley manager, whose side knocked Liverpool out of last season's FA Cup, saw Ade Akinbiyi's hat-trick secure three points at Luton despite having goalkeeper Brian Jensen sent off for deliberate hand ball.

Cotterill said: 'I have been involved in a few good wins in my time as a manager, including at Wembley, but today's was the best victory Iv'e ever had, given the circumstances. Luton had been expected to bounce back quickly after their midweek mauling at Sheffield United, but instead found themselves two goals down after 31 minutes.

They were both superb strikes by Akinbiyi, with a 40 yard run followed by a clinical finish for his first before beating Beresford with a scorching first-time shot from 20 yards.

But then Burnley appeared to hit the self destruct button when Jensen raced out of his area and was dismissed in the 38th minute.

Cotterill had no reserve goalkeeper on the bench because Wales international Danny Coyne is a long-term absentee with ligament damage, leaving midfielder John Spicer to don the jersey.

Cotterill feared the worst when Steve Howard pulled a goal back for Luton just before the interval.
But Akinbiyi, in inspired form, won a penalty just after the restart which he coolly converted to complete his hat-trick.

Warren Feeney replied for the home side in the 60th minute but Burnley's 10 men defied Luton in heroic fashion.

Luton boss Mike Newell said : 'It was a missed opportunity.'

Reviewed by Turfmanphil