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“I still enjoy the day out, I just don’t let the results affect me any more,” says the Burnley season-ticket holder Mark Bentley. Fifteen games without a Premier League win and 11 points adrift of safety, the Clarets are facing relegation the season after promotion for a third time in a row. Sparring with the best should bring glorious enjoyment at Turf Moor but instead they have three victories from 24 games, beating the two other promoted sides and rock-bottom Wolves, with survival chances looking worse than slim.
Relegation rivals West Ham visit on Saturday, and another defeat would remove any faint hope that Burnley could turn it around and leave their record over recent seasons reading: down, up, down, up, down. Beating Sunderland in the first home game brought optimism after a summer where money was spent, notably bringing in the 96-cap Kyle Walker after eight years of success at Manchester City, but that feelgood factor has dwindled.
Scott Parker has often spoken of the “fine margins” that have caused Burnley to lose by a goal on seven occasions and draw six times. After the limp loss at Sunderland on Monday the manager questioned the players’ attitude and was clearly furious about the desperate performance, his team completing a fourth game without registering a shot on target. Relegation would be followed by another 46 matches of grind in the hope of being a small fish once more.
There was a greater bond between club and fanbase during the Sean Dyche era, when Burnley enjoyed five straight seasons in the Premier League, even qualifying for Europe. The team and club had a strong identity throughout, something lost in recent times. Dyche’s name still adorns a pub round the corner from Turf Moor, and his name was sung at the Stadium of Light. Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United were put on the canvas by Dyche during his reign.
“I was wearing my Burnley shirt on holiday in South Africa and a lad came up to me wishing us the best for the season,” says another season-ticket holder, Paddy. “We wouldn’t have got that recognition at one time. I get a buzz out of that – it’s lovely. It’s about little old Burnley being in the top league in the world. All right, we get battered every other week but I’m quite happy to do it. The Championship was good – don’t get me wrong, there are some big clubs down there – but little old Burnley being in the best league in the world, that’s great for me.”
January was a quiet month, only James Ward-Prowse joining on loan from West Ham, making him ineligible for this weekend’s critical fixture. A striker was sought but not found at a club whose joint top scorers are Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming on five. Those two were signed on permanent deals after loans last season in the Championship, a division their capabilities are more suited to.
Recruitment over the past two windows has not helped Parker, with the squad short on depth and the requisite quality. Sunderland finished 24 points behind Burnley in the Championship, before winning the playoffs, and are 21 points ahead after quickly identifying players.
Under Parker, who has 12 wins in 76 games as a Premier League manager, the football is conservative, the polar opposite of the approach under his predecessor, Vincent Kompany, who also reached a century of points in the Championship. The situation is similar to two years ago under Kompany, when Burnley were two points worse off after 24 matches, with 13. There was a feeling that Parker’s pragmatic approach might have been more suited to a relegation battle but Burnley fans find themselves in a virtually identical position without the prospect of being entertained. “I go with my brother-in-law and two nephews, and they just don’t want to go because they’re bored,” Bentley says. “I think that just says it all.”
Attendances have stayed the same at Turf Moor, dipping below 20,000, roughly a fifth of Burnley’s population, on only two occasions in the league, but there is a sense of apathy. The desperation of the efforts at Sunderland did stir stronger feelings, with chants for the manager’s sacking and a “Parker Out” sign left at the entrance to the training ground. The defeat at Brighton a month earlier also sparked fan ire. How another second-tier season under Parker would be received by the supporters would be interesting to witness.
“I do actually enjoy going back down to the Championship,” says Bentley. “You feel like you get up for the games, the atmosphere’s better. I know some people said last season was the most boring promotion, but we got promoted. It was still really good celebrating at the end of the year. So I’d definitely do it all again. You want to be playing against the best clubs, and that means being in the Premier League.”
Burnley have produced some competitive performances but Bentley says: “It’s difficult really to get anything else out of the season, given where we’re at. At least we haven’t got the lowest points total, which is always a bonus. And I guess the other one would be to make sure we don’t finish rock bottom – that’s the prize now.”
Wolves coming to Turf Moor on the final day at least adds a touch of jeopardy for the rest of the campaign.
