Fergie`s Record Breakers!
Was it Rio Ferdinand`s 400th Manchester United game? Giggs` 600th appearance? Or was it Scholes’ 700th Man Utd appearance? Sadly not. It had nothing to do with Sir Alex`s team but his son Darren`s Peterborough United side that crashed to their fifth League defeat out of five!
Burnley 5 – 2 Peterborough United
Location: Turf Moor
Date: 15th September, 2012
Attendance: 10,979 (353 Posh fans)
Posh have now made their worst start to a League campaign in their history after beating the previous record set 40 years ago!
With Burnley on a three game losing streak, something had to give and unfortunately, with more calamitous defending by Posh, it wasn`t Posh`s losing start to the season.
Burnley started the stronger and had the best part of the first five minutes which saw Charlie Austin go close when his effort struck the top of the crossbar. However, Posh then had a sustained spell of pressure which resulted in a number of corners and plenty of efforts on and off target.
Unfortunately, it was during this spell of pressure that Burnley took the lead! A cross from the Clarets left was missed completely by the inept Shaun Brisley leaving midfielder Chris McCANN with the simplest of headers to give the hosts the lead.
The game now swung in Burnleys favour with Austin having an effort saved by Olejnik before the keeper saw an effort by Paterson go wide of the goal and another save to keep out Marney this time.
If Burnley`s goal came against the run of play, so did Posh`s! Mendez-Laing pounced on the ball and as he took the ball past Shackell, the defender upended the Posh winger for a penalty which skipper Lee TOMLIN coolly slotted into the net.
Minutes later and it was 2-1 to Posh as Tomlin found Mendez-Laing in space who, surprisingly to many Posh fans, looked composed enough to take a touch before slotting the ball left-footed past the flat footed Grant in the Burnley goal.
Posh nearly got a third goal after Tomlin and Mendez-Laing again combined but the latter just couldn`t bundle the ball over the line.
With seven minutes remaining of the first half, Burnley got the equaliser. Some “powder-puff” defending by Brisley (who is becoming well known for this this season!) allowed Charlie AUSTIN to run into the box and getting a shot off which Olejnik couldn`t stop but with Brisley and Bostwick both retreating behind Olejnik, one of them should`ve stopped the ball going over the line. Brisley completely missed the ball and Bostwick could only divert the ball into the net rather than out of it.
Half-time: Burnley 2 – 2 Peterborough United
With both teams making the most out of the defensive errors in the first half, the second half started with the same 22 players looking to shore up the defences. Unfortunately, only Burnley were able to do so!
Burnley continued where they finished off in the first half by putting in an excellent cross from Mills and, luckily for Posh, Austin could only head wide.
Further chances fell Burnley`s way as Olejnik made a good save with his feet to deny Paterson before making another outstanding save to deny two Burnley players who were closing in on goal.
Defender Brisley was having yet another poor game and why Ferguson started with him instead of Zakuani is just mind-blowing. Brisley didn`t make a brilliant impact when he arrived last season but fans gave him time to adjust to life after coming from the bottom of League Two to the Championship. However, this season he has been awful and at fault for many goals. Posh probably would`ve been better off playing with 10 players than having Brisley on the pitch.
Hopefully Fergie will have finally seen the light after hauling the defender off just under the hour mark.
Brisley wasn`t the only Posh player having a poor game. Midfielder Lee Frecklington [pictured below] again went missing for large parts of the game and the normally reliable George Boyd seems to be suffering from the uncertainty surrounding his position at the club. Surely all three should be dropped for Tuesday nights visit of Bristol City?
Posh did create a few chances in the second half with attempts from Grant McCann, Mendez-Laing, and Bostwick but the second was dominated by Burnley who scored three more goals with assists from Posh as Posh have seemingly forgotten that they need to be able to defend if they are to stand any chance of gaining a point, let alone three!
Charlie AUSTIN established Burnley`s lead again through an excellent effort following poor defending.
Did I mention Posh were very poor at defending?
A foul by Olejnik gifted Burnley a penalty which AUSTIN easily put away after 80 minutes to make it 4-2 and game over.
With just five minutes remaining, Burnley made it 5 after a good save by Olejnik ended with the ball falling to Stanislav for one of the easiest goals he is likely to score.
Full-time: Burnley 5 – 2 Peterborough United
VITAL POSH VIEWPOINT
Where do I start??
Having had time to calm down, it is clear to see we have major problems with our defence this season.
Some fans questioned during the pre-season the decision to give Gaby Zakuani the captains` armband. Yes, he was one of, if not the most popular player last season but we have seen him take the armband previously and it has affected his performances. It looks like he is suffering from the same problem and to get him back to the player we know he is, we need to take the weight off his shoulders by giving the captaincy to someone else.
Craig Alcock is also suffering this season having not had a pre-season due to injury and now unable to recapture his form from last season.
During the pre-season, questions were raised as to how much we could expect from youngster Kgosi Ntlhe. The fact that he has been our best defender this season, sums up our situation and having missed the Burnley match due to all the travelling he has done with the South Africa team, everyone is looking forward to him coming back into the side.
Mark Little has also shown glimpses of his best form he showed early last season and at the moment, deserves to be in the side.
The same doesn`t apply to Shaun Brisley though. He is really showing why he was playing at relegation doomed Macclesfield last season as his defending this season has been appalling and it is just a surprise that Darren Ferguson has taken so long to see it!
Michael Bostwick has played in defence in the last two games but he must be restored to midfield. Nat Knight-Percival must also be given his chance in the starting line-up before Fergie looks to the loan window. However, we can`t keep experimenting in defence and losing week after week. We need a stable defence and if that means bringing players in on season loans then so be it.
However, we are desperately short of defensive experience so if there was a chance to get in good experienced defender on loan that was affordable then we must do it. We can`t keep expecting to find youngsters who can step straight into the Championship, we do sometimes need some experienced heads to help out and calm things down.
Make sure you don’t start your poker.betfair.com career like Peterborough have started their season. Use your signing up bonus wisely and be sure to get that first win under your belt.
DON’T FORGET YOU CAN VOTE FOR YOUR MAN OF THE MATCH.
UP THE POSH!
Follow me on Twitter: @mwl1967
Photos courtesy of www.theposhpics.com.
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