Clarets host must-win game with West Ham on Saturday but face a third demotion in three Premier League seasons
“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 second time in two years. 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 their 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 defeat 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.
