Burnley finally living up to Poland's standards?

Young duo sweep aside West Ham

Before Saturday's match, Burnley had 'enjoyed' a topsy-turvy season. They have been flitting between victories, losses, and mind-numbing draws, and have had no consistency whatsoever to speak of. This time, Burnley manager Hazr Poland decided to mix things up. 

Multiple first teamers, including Pato, Castro, N'koulou, Prieto and Turan were all rested, and many suggested that this was in fact Burnleys 'second string', and would be an easy victory for West Ham. However, Burnley youngsters Tolgay Arslan, Nicola Murru and Facundo Ferreyra, have been impressing massively in training, and Poland decided to give them both a chance in this match in front of the Burnley faithful.

From the kick-off it was clear that the Burnley side were playing with a renewed vigour that reeked of a young team wanting to prove itself to its manager, and chances were being created left, right and centre. Just before the half-hour mark, Antoine Griezmann played a lovely ball into an advanced Savic, who headed home to open up the scoring. Shortly after, it was provider turned profiteer as Griezmann recieved a lovely cross from Ferreyra and headed home from 6-yards to make the score 2-0. As they trooped in for half-time the Burnley team were full of smiles and joviality, and it was clear that this was a team finally enjoying their football.

Just past the hour mark, and on his full debut for the side, Facundo Ferreyra slotted home a lovely finish to open up his Burnley account for his loan spell, and he doubled his account just four minutes later when he headed home a Quagmire delivery. One minor blip saw Handanovic conceding a goal to Oscar Cardozo, before the young Turk, Arslan, made it five for the home side.

The importance of this victory to Burnley's season should not be underestimated. They have been playing ugly football so far, and have been struggling to grind out results against lesser teams. With a morale boosting demolition like this, the Clarets players may now be able to build upon it, and begin to build a consistent run of comfortable victories, like they were expected to from the beginning of the season.

Burnley relieved of early season woes

On Saturday afternoon, Burnley manager Hazr Poland strode into the away dressing room at Huish Park with a stern, determined face, and surveyed his motley crew with a look that would make Winston Churchill quake in his boots. He proceeded to fire down a tirade of grim encouragement upon his players, leaving them with no delusions that if they were to slip up again, heads would roll. The players understandably looked terrified, veterans Prieto and Quagmire exchanged a look that left the rest of the team shocked, for they had seen it all with Poland, but even they had not seen him like this before. They knew this was important, and that the ground was slipping away beneath their feet.

Mr Poland was understandably aggrieved, his team had stumbled to frustrating defeats in their first two games of the season, and neither of which were games they should have lost. The club were sitting third from bottom, and not one of the players that had performed so well in pre-season had shone at all in these games. It was time for their fortunes to change, and as Poland always says, it was time for them to make their own luck.

The players trooped out onto the pitch at Huish Park in their usual strip of Claret and Blue, and the entire stadium could see that something was different about the Lancashire outfit this time round. There was no quiet, arrogant confidence. No lacklustre skulking out onto the pitch. No nonchalant banter with the opposing team. This time they were determined. This time they were here to win. 

From the kick-off, possession was all Burnley's. Their midfield trio of Castro, Turan and Prieto were dominating the midfield, and Savic and N'Koulou looked assured at the back. However, no matter how hard they tried, the team just couldn't find a breakthrough. However, come the 24th minute, N'Koulou popped up with something special. Antoine Griezmann was on the ball just outside the penalty area, and played a square ball to an unusually highly positioned N'Koulou, who struck the ball with all the power of a freight train, and it soared into the top corner. Things were looking up.

The first half continued in this way, but no more goals were scored. Then, almost from the kick-off, Savic headed the ball out to the wing from a goal kick, club legend Fabio Quagliarella took the ball down, and struck a crisp strike from the edge of the area that just passed the ailing Yeovil keeper and tore into the goal. 2-0. From there everything was great, Prieto had a couple of lovely striked saved, before Quagliarella was taken off the the rapid Spaniard Jose Callejon. Just 10 minutes after being introduced, Callejon made a dart down the wing, and swung in a lovely ball into the penalty area, which Xabi Prieto latched onto and struck in off the post. The game ended 3-0.

Manager Hazr Poland said in a post-match press conference 'I am delighted with how my men have reacted to the disappointment from the first two games of the season. I gave them a rough time this week, and they came back like the great players I know they are. I hope the rest of the league take note of this performance, because it shows what we are really made of.'

Exciting times for Burnley - Season Preview

Exciting times for Burnley - Season Preview

As season 9 is about to get under way, there have been some exciting developments coming out of the Burnley camp. Long-standing manager Hazr Poland has made some major changes to his squad, and the newly strengthened outfit have been formidable so far in pre-season. So what exactly is it that has got the fans so excited?

New Faces

Four new players have been drafted in by Mr Poland, the first of whom being Antoine Griezmann. Griezmann is an exciting, young French talent who has all the makings of a star, and Poland has a firm belief that his team at Burnley can mould him into the world beater that he clearly has the potential to become. Griezmann was bought in alongside Nicolas N'Koulou and Lucas Ocampos. N'Koulou is a solid 23-year-old Cameroonian centre back who is both fast and solid. 'It is rare to find a quality defender at such a young age, and we have done fantastically to have two in the heart of our defence'. N'Koulou is set to form a formidable partnership with Stefan Savic, one which strikers throughout the league will fear. Lucas Ocampos, the third part of the deal, is a young Argentinian attacker who is returning to his original club in 7046. Poland signed Ocampos originally in September 2011, though he left soon after in a deal that saw goalkeeper Diego Alves coming into Burnley. However, Poland has remained a fan of his ever since, and has tried to re-sign him on a regular basis, and his dream has finally become a reality. 'Ocampos is the future of Burnley' is all Hazr Poland had to say about him. Lastly, Jose Callejon has been brought in in a deal that has smashed Burnleys club transfer record - a mammoth £15million. This hefty fee does not seem so bad though when you consider what a player Jose is. He will add another dimension to Burnley's play, he provides great depth and, even at 26, he is looking like he has not yet realised his full potential. All in all, this new era at Turf Moor is giving the fans in Lancashire a great deal to shout about.

 Old Faces

Despite the influx of new faces, it is not ALL change at Burnley for the coming season. There are plenty of long-serving fans favourites that will return to action with a vengeance, proving once again why Hazr Poland places so much faith in them. Xabi Prieto, a midfield utility man has served for multiple seasons at Turf Moor, and, at 30, he is as good a player as ever. Another veteran that fans adore is newly appointed club captain - Fabio Quagliarella. He is coming into his 9th season as a Burnley player, and he is loved by everyone at the club. Its not just the veterans that are big names at the club. Alexandre Pato, the clubs top scorer last season, is as clinical as ever, and at 24 he is still a young man with plenty of places to go. Gonzalo Castro, the man at the heart of Burnleys midfield is also a big player, breaking up plays and creating goals with a gusto. The creative spark in the clarets side came mainly from Arda Turan last year. The Turkish playmaker has vision that is unrivalled by many in the world of football, and he will again make the team tick this season.

Pre Season

Pre season has been a successful affair at Burnley so far this time around. The team have enjoyed to major scalps, beating Arsenal and Liverpool. In these two wins, Alexandre Pato has been the star man, and he has shone, sweeping aside the might of the two Red's and firing home 3 goals that anyone would be proud of. 'A strong pre-season is an integral thing to a team, especially one that has so many new faces in it. They need time to gel, and to play against some of the best teams in the country is as good a way as any to do this. I am delighted with how the boys are playing, and it gives us all hope that we can finally achieve out goal of promotion this time around'.

Aims for this Season

In a recent press conference, manager Hazr Poland has spoken out about what his aims for this season will be.

'The last two seasons we have been disappointed to lose in the play-off's, and this season we are hoping to put an end to this disappointment. This season we are going to be bold. This season we are going to be better. This season, we want to win the league. Second place will be a failure, third place will be an embarrassment. We will show the league that Burnley are a name to fear, that no one will come to Turf Moor with any hope of going away with anything, and that when we travel to other teams, they will lock up their daughters and brace themselves for the rampage of devastating drive and brutality that my men will show them. We will stampede them. They will weak up the next day with trembling legs and wet beards, as we WILL show them who are men. We WILL show them how to play. We WILL make them cry, and they WILL run for the hills, for WE ARE BURNLEY and THEY ARE NOTHING'.