Tactically… let’s start with the score. Burnley lost 1-2 to Wolverhampton. Jamie Vardy scored after twenty minutes, Wolverhampton equalised before the break and won it after. Six times this season Burnley have led and not won. Fifteen points gone on the way.
I got my folder out. The proper one, with the elastic band. And I copied out the six games the way I copy my team sheets on Saturday night: West Brom, Bristol City, Wrexham, Derby County, Charlton, Wolverhampton. Three defeats, three draws. Fifteen points, at my place, is staying up and a cone of chips for team spirit.
I’ve followed Nicky Hayen since Genk, which he left in early July for England. Champion with Bruges in 2025. We’re colleagues, basically. One diploma apart. Mine has been in progress since 2011.
And I know exactly this problem. Leading, at our place, is the most dangerous moment of a Sunday. We score at twenty past three, the club delegate (our volunteer in charge of the paperwork) is already putting the licence cards away, two players check their phones to see who’s collecting the kids, and the block drops ten metres without anyone asking. I run that on Tuesday. When we’ve got eleven, that is.
The second number speaks to me even more. Burnley haven’t won at Turf Moor since 18 October 2025, 2-0 against Leeds in the Premier League. Since then: eleven defeats, ten draws at home. The only side in the top four English divisions in that position. This season, four draws and two defeats at home.
At home, I have an explanation for everything: pitch 2 and its slope, known across the whole province. When we lose at home, I say it’s chucking it down. I checked the Turf Moor pitch on the telly. It’s flat. That took away my best argument, and frankly I haven’t got another.
Burnley have 8 points from 33 and sit just above the relegation zone.
Silly question, but if leading costs them points, have they tried starting behind?
I’ve written her question in the folder. On the page for intentions.
It’s true, we checked: HLN.
