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Game of the Week - Burnley vs. Nottingham Forest
BURNLEY vs. NOTTINGHAM FOREST
3.00pm –Turf Moor, Burnley
Fans of the majority of Championship clubs see the opening day of the new season as a cause for optimism. In a league where it is said that 'anyone can beat anyone', the feeling that 'this is our year’ is as strong as ever amongst respective supporters. However, sides who will genuinely believe they can make the top two come May are far fewer, and so a clash between two of them on the opening weekend presents even more intrigue than it would otherwise. Burnley face a baptism of fire on their return to the Football League as they are faced with Nottingham Forest, comfortably the third best team in the division last season in the game of the week.
Burnley's disappointing tail end to last season, which resulted in relegation from the Premier League despite a promising start, caused some unrest amongst the Claret masses, and it is rumoured in the dressing room. Most of this invective had been directed towards their new manager, Brian Laws as their dip in form coincided with his appointment to replace Bolton-bound Owen Coyle. However, three elements have worked in their favour this summer. Firstly, the prudence of Barry Kilby has seen Burnley re-emerge in the Championship with a healthier financial bill than either Portsmouth or Hull City. Secondly, they have managed to retain the core of the squad that performed so admirably for at least half of last season. The one exception to this is Steven Fletcher, for whom the offer of £6.5 million from Wolves was too good to ignore. However, in their favour is the recruitment of ex-Spurs player Dean Marney from Hull and the £1 million signing of Ross Wallace from local rivals Preston North End. If Wallace and Chris Eagles can operate to effect on the flanks, the flow of vintage claret into opposing penalty areas could prove irrepressible. Moreover, there is a sense that the Owen Coyle era has been discarded into the scrapbook of 'loved and lost' at Turf Moor. While Laws' record thus far has not been great, it was at a higher level. With the unreasonable pressure of endless comparison ignored, this season appears to be an opportunity to be judged on the present alone which can be no bad thing.
That Forest are tipped to be amongst the front-runners is no surprise given that they spent the majority of last season anchored in third place, and two of the three relegated sides appear to have off-field distractions. While Billy Davies can call on a strong nucleus of players, there are two key issues which will require resolution for the City Ground to be staging a promotion party come the end of the season. Firstly, their schizophrenic away form last season saw no defeats in thirteen on the road, followed by a disastrous winless run which required imperious home form to prop them up. For success this season, the miserly defence which tormented opposing strikers early last season will need to return.
Another potential problem is the absence of even one signing for the Reds this summer. This has led to rumours that Davies and Chairman Nigel Doughty have had a conflict over transfer policy, with both coming out in firm denial that this is the case. Davies insists that “two or three stellar signings” will make automatic promotion a realistic aim, while Doughty is keen to stress that money is available, but that signings will not be made for the sake of appearing busy. Hopefully for their fans, this appearance of singing from the same hymn sheet is the reality, and that players considered an upgrade by both manager and board will be brought in later in the window. As long as all is well off the field, Forest will be highly competitive on it with the personnel already at Davies' disposal, while the signings he craves would make the Scots' team a solid bet for automatic promotion.
With all of this in mind, one would expect a decent game between two evenly matched sides come Saturday. While the first weekend of a new term inevitably sees the odd freak result, a low-scoring draw may well be the likeliest outcome in this one. 1-1 would be no surprise at all.
See the full list of OLBG's free Football Tips here.
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