Welcome back. I hope you have been enjoying Football Manager 2020‘s free fortnight. Just remember – FM is for life, not just for (inter)national lockdowns.
Anyway, let’s get back to this story, where I’ve given my task of dragging Burnley off the bottom of the Premier League at Christmas and keeping them in the top flight. If you’ve not read the first chapter yet, I’d suggest you go back to that before carrying on.
Suffice to say, I’ve not had the best of starts at Turf Moor, but a new year has just begun – and so has a new transfer window. It’s the perfect time for me to inject some fresh blood into this struggling outfit and strengthen our push for survival.
NORWICH CITY vs BURNLEY (Premier League – Match 21)
New Year’s Day. A time to put a difficult 12-month period behind you and move forward with a fresh outlook. At least that was the plan at Burnley.
Following defeats in my first two matches as Clarets boss, I made some changes to our defence for the visit to 14th-placed Norwich. Our erratic captain Ben Mee handed the armband to midfielder Jack Cork, with Ben Gibson replacing him at centre-half. Meanwhile, 34-year-old Phil Bardsley came in at right-back to replace a tired Matt Lowton.
This new-look Burnley backline survived unscathed for only five minutes, before VAR ruled that midfielder Ashley Westwood had fouled Tom Trybull just inside our box. As I rued football’s most controversial invention since half-and-half scarves, Canaries midfielder Todd Cantwell sent Nick Pope the wrong way and broke the deadlock.
Cantwell was once nicknamed “the Justin Bieber of Norwich”. For Burnley fans, the rest of the first half was more painful than listening to “Yummy” on repeat for 45 minutes.
For starters, Norwich goalkeeper Ralf Fährmann thwarted several attempts to get us back level, from Ashley Barnes and Dwight McNeil. Also, Westwood gashed his leg in a tackle from right-back Max Aarons, which led to his substitution at half-time.
We went into that interval trailing 3-0, thanks to a couple of late Moritz Leitner free-kicks which were headed in by Ben Godfrey and Christoph Zimmermann respectively. It was like watching the end of the Manchester City game all over again. What happened to Burnley’s set-piece impregnability?!
The lads got some stern words from me at half-time and tightened up after the break. For half an hour, we looked alright… until Bardsley decided that he wanted to snap Onel Hernández’s ankles off. Not only did he fail miserably, but he got a straight red card.
Worse still was to follow in injury-time. Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson had the ball taken off him by Canaries left-back Philip Heise, who then squared it to Godfrey before the England Under-21s star pumped it up to Hernández. The German-Cuban cut inside from the left and stroked in City’s fourth goal to complete our misery.
We were now nine points adrift in the relegation zone. Yummy.
Phil ain’t got that yummy. He got that P45. Yeah, babe.
The good news was that we now had an FA Cup game to take our minds off our growing Premier League woes. The bad news was that we were heading to North London to face Arsenal, who were in fantastic form under Unai Emery. (As I said last time, this is a bizarre parallel universe.)
ARSENAL vs BURNLEY (FA Cup – Round 3)
I couldn’t really blame Nick Pope for our poor form, but the Burnley number 1 clearly needed a break. Taking his place in goal for this cup tie was not Joe Hart (who’d been awful in training) but third-choice keeper Bailey Peacock-Farrell. How would the young Northern Ireland international fare against an Arsenal team fronted by Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Özil and Nicolas Pépé?
Surprisingly well, in truth. I counted five Peacock-Farrell saves in the first 20 minutes alone, and he must’ve been nudging on double figures by half-time. To be fair, credit was also due to our centre-backs – a reinvigorated Mee, and perennial bench-warmer Kevin Long.
Arsenal weren’t making their ‘dominance’ count, but we weren’t making the most of our more limited scoring chances either. Matej Vydra did force a save out of Gunners goalie Emiliano Martínez, but the Czech forward otherwise did little to quash rumours that he only ever scored in the Championship.
We continued to stand our ground against mounting pressure after the interval. Peacock-Farrell produced several more impressive stops, while Gunners midfielder Emile Smith Rowe pulled a half-chance into the side netting in the 53rd minute.
While Peacock-Farrell and Long were doing us proud, another of our Irishmen almost undid their hard work in the 81st minute. Winger Robbie Brady dived in on Reiss Nelson from behind with both feet, and this Bardsley tribute act got him sent off. Despite that, our remaining players survived to force a draw – and a replay!
The rematch at Turf Moor would be played a week-and-a-half later, after our next PL game against relegation rivals Newcastle. Before then, though, it was time for my Burnley rebuild to begin.
The Burnley board had handed me a reasonably-sized transfer budget of £22.75million. In these testing times, I thought I’d be charitable and help the aged – by giving a big chunk of that cash to Roy Hodgson.
My first January signing was right-back Joel Ward – an £8.75million buy from Crystal Palace, for whom he’d made over 200 league appearances. I love a full-back who has high attribute scores in Teamwork, Work Rate and Stamina – and that ‘Driven’ personality was another big tick for me. The 30-year-old would provide Lowton with fresh competition now that Bardsley was gone.
Another player who departed Turf Moor early in the new year was Danny Drinkwater. Chelsea refused to extend the England midfielder’s half-season loan, and I didn’t fancy paying him £125,000 per week to sign him permanently for £12million. There were far cheaper options on the market who offered better value for money, which I’ll get to later.
BURNLEY vs NEWCASTLE UNITED (Premier League – Match 22)
We HAD to get something from this match. For one thing, defeat to our fellow strugglers would potentially leave us 12 points adrift of safety. That would be a huge gap to bridge, especially with our next six league games coming against Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United, Wolves and Liverpool. That’s six of last season’s top seven.
A strong start was required, and Guðmundsson gave us exactly that in the 14th minute. Picking up the ball from Jeff Hendrick on the right flank, the Icelandic inverted winger cut past Newcastle left-back Jetro Willems and slipped in a tidy low finish.
Sadly, we couldn’t take that 1-0 lead into the break. Left-back Charlie Taylor came under question again in the 35th minute, when he lost track of DeAndre Yedlin. The American right-back’s byline cross was turned across the goal line by Miguel Almirón, drawing Newcastle level.
The Magpies could have pinched a second goal just before half-time. Westwood carelessly squandered possession, allowing Almirón to send Joelinton clean through on goal. The much-maligned Brazilian forward celebrated what he thought was just his third goal of the campaign, but he was caught fractionally offside.
Our relief lasted until the second minute of the second half. Almirón tormented us again by skipping past debutant Ward’s sliding tackle and whipping in a cross that deflected into the net off an unlucky Mee.
We spent the rest of the half battling desperately for parity. Hendrick in particular threw everything at the visitors, but he and Guðmundsson each had promising strikes saved by Martin Dubravka. It looked for all the world that Burnley were heading for a NINTH consecutive league defeat…
…until we salvaged a point in the dying seconds. Pocket rocket Aaron Lennon intercepted a wayward cross from Newcastle’s Henri Saivet and picked out McNeil on the left wing. Dwight cut the ball low across the United box, where substitute Chris Wood poked in a dramatic leveller! TWO-ALL!
After watching his team squander victory, Newcastle boss Steve Bruce moaned that they didn’t deserve to lose. I basically accused him of being a cry-baby, and he came back with this riposte:
Yeah… well… your books suck! Heck, this guy has written more believable fantasy than you!
Speaking of mediocre literature, if you’re a long-time reader of Fuller FM who’s been here since I wrote “Shades of Deep Purple” in 2018, you’ll know all about my second new signing…
Give a warm welcome back to my former Fiorentina defender, Alessandro Bastoni! The Italy Under-21s international arrived on loan from Internazionale to provide some extra central defensive cover. Bastoni can’t speak English, and my Italian’s still a bit rusty, but I’m sure he’ll get on fine here in Lancashire.
BURNLEY vs ARSENAL (FA Cup – Round 3 Replay)
Next up was a Tuesday ebening showdown with Emery’s Gunners. Whoever won the second running of this FA Cup tie would progress to a Round 4 home match against League Two Mansfield.
Peacock-Farrell and co picked up where they left off in the original tie, often frustrating Arsenal early on. Not even a calf muscle sustained by left-back Erik Pieters after just 10 minutes could rattle our composure.
The visitors’ frustrations grew further in the 19th minute, when we stung them on the counter. James Tarkowski‘s direct ball was knocked down by Wood to Barnes, who burst through and thundered in an impressive opener from just inside the penalty area.
We twice threatened to double our lead over the next few minutes, as Martínez turned Wood’s header over his bar before Taylor skimmed the bar. Those scares forced Arsenal to pull themselves together, and when skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 33rd-minute header bounced past Peacock-Farrell, normality was restored.
The score remained 1-1 at the break, thanks largely to Arsenal winger Reiss Nelson horrendously miscuing a sitter just before the referee called time. Nelson’s profligacy continued into the second half, as did Peacock-Farrell’s resistance. Our young goalie made a couple more big saves, including one from Gunners striker Tyreece John-Jules.
There was no sign of our defence buckling, and so another half-hour was required. Arsenal renewed their efforts for extra-time, and it almost paid off when midfielder Matteo Guendouzi hit a thunderous shot from out wide in the 105th minute. Peacock-Farrell could only watch it sail past him, but his far post saved the day before Cork removed the danger.
In the end, extra-time was not enough – and for a while, it looked like not even penalties could separate the two sides. The first six rounds of the shoot-out followed the same pattern: Arsenal emphatically took the lead, and then Burnley quickly got back level.
Then Lowton stepped forward to take our seventh penalty after Ainsley Maitland-Niles had given Arsenal a 7-6 lead. I had a bad feeling about the right-back’s prospects, and my fears were confirmed when Matt pulled his penalty inches wide. After such a valiant effort over two matches, we were out of the FA Cup.
We now had four days to prepare Turf Moor for the visit of Arsenal’s North London rivals – and the start of a very tricky run of form. In the meantime, I announced two new midfield signings.
Costing us £2.1million was Nampalys Mendy, who’d never quite managed to replace N’Golo Kanté as Leicester’s destroyer-in-chief. Nevertheless, I was a fan of the Frenchman’s endeavour and passing ability – and at 27, Papy still had plenty to give to the Premier League.
Scott McTominay would also add extra bite to our team after arriving on loan from Manchester United. The 23-year-old Scotland international was an excellent team player and had a resolute personality. Though not the most creative of box-to-box midfielders, McTominay would at least provide the star quality we lacked after Drinkwater went back to Chelsea.
BURNLEY vs TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR (Premier League – Match 23)
Hosting Tottenham gave us an opportunity to bloody one of the giants’ noses and revive our flagging survival hopes. Spurs were outside the top six and experiencing a rotten run of form. If that continued, it surely wouldn’t be long before they lost patience with Mauricio Pochettino and sent for a certain Portuguese egomaniac.
However, Dele Alli had other ideas. Four minutes into proceedings, Tottenham talisman Harry Kane chested Davinson Sánchez’s header on to the midfield magician, who dribbled towards goal before hitting a 25-yard screamer. Pope didn’t have a prayer of keeping it out.
Spurs threatened another early goal through Son Heung-Min in the 10th minute, but Pope could stand his ground that time. At the other end 10 minutes later, Cork registered our first shot on target, which Hugo Lloris just about tipped over his crossbar. The Frenchman was also tested by McTominay just before half-time.
It was a promising Burnley debut for McTominay, who was tidy on the ball throughout, and the same was true of two other new signings who came off the bench. The combative Mendy sent a vicious effort wide in the 74th minute, while Bastoni had a decent 15-minute run-out in defence after replacing Tarkowski.
Alas, we couldn’t turn the match around. Though Pope was still rock-solid in goal, our attackers continued to struggle, even after I switched from the 4-4-2 to the 4-3-3. Once again, we came up just short against stronger opposition.
The gap between us and 17th was still 12 points. We also stayed eight points adrift of second-from-bottom Watford, whose 3-1 loss at Bournemouth prompted them to sack their manager Nigel Sánchez Gracia. That was of little solace to me, as things were about to get MUCH tougher.
MANCHESTER CITY vs BURNLEY (Premier League – Match 24)
Nearly a month after I began my Burnley reign with a 3-0 home defeat to Manchester City, we arrived at the Etihad Stadium for the rematch. We were determined to put up more of a fight, and so it proved.
For starters, City didn’t open the scoring in the 24th minute this time. They opened the scoring in the 25th minute. The Sky Blues’ surprising prowess from set-pieces was evident once again when Bernardo Silva’s corner was bundled in at the far post by their silver fox in the box – Sergio Agüero.
We remained under heavy pressure from City throughout the first half and were lucky to still be only one goal down at half-time. I made my first substitution during the interval, as Mee came on at centre-half for a nervy Bastoni, who had a tendency to dive into tackles and was already on a booking.
As it turned out, Mee would help us get back into the game in the 53rd minute. After his throw deep in the Citizens half was quickly returned by Jay Rodriguez, Mee laid the ball off to the returning Brady, who crossed first-time into the box. None of the home defenders had seen Barnes get behind them to head in the delivery for his fourth goal of the season.
While Brady was back in my good books, another Burnley left-flanker was blotting his copybook. Either side of Barnes’ leveller, McNeil picked up a couple of needless yellows, and a second bookable foul on João Cancelo ended his game after an hour.
I could think of many things that are easier than trying to hold onto a point with 10 men against Manchester City at the Etihad. There’s brain surgery, rocket science, getting people to stay inside during a pandemic…
Yet we almost managed it. Then Cork got a fistful of Bernardo Silva’s shirt in the 89th minute, presenting the champions with a free-kick right on the edge of our area. Cork picked up a booking, and he could only watch on as Bernardo curled said free-kick into the top bins.
That’s been the story of our season so far. We’ve not played that badly in truth (Norwich aside), but whether it’s a silly mistake or just a stroke of bad luck, something always trips us up.
We’d now been cut even further adrift of Watford, let alone Newcastle and Sheffield United on the edges of the relegation zone. With no more matches to play until February, I could now focus on completing my rebuild.
DEADLINE DAY
Vydra was a man in demand in January. Pretty much every Championship club worth their salt – Birmingham, Middlesbrough, QPR, Reading, etc – wanted to sign the striker on loan. None of them were willing to pay even half his £35,000-per-week wages, though.
Instead, Vydra headed back home to the Czech Republic. Three Czech top-flight clubs made loan offers on deadline day, but only Jablonec offered both the wage contribution and the guaranteed first-team football I asked for.
Matej’s move left me with an attacking spot to fill. As much as I was tempted to give Arsenal legend Nicklas Bendtner a seventh opportunity to revitalise his career, I quickly realised that I would just be wasting my money on His Lordship. And besides, an old flame had just come back on the scene…
Yes, I’ve brought in another of my Fiorentina boys! French inside-forward Valentin Eysseric was my leading scorer over the course of my time in Florence, and with such solid attributes, it’s easy to see why. He’s not world-class; he just gets the job done.
‘La Viola’ were willing to let the 27-year-old move to Burnley for just £1.8million. I suspect they might come to regret that.
Can Eysseric and our other new recruits help lead us towards a great escape? You’ll have to wait until next Monday to find out!
Until next time, keep calm, stay safe – and remain indoors.
Fuller FM 
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