OC's Burnley are second bottom in the Championship with 1 goal in 4 games and no wins*. I have to admit that when he got the job there I was shocked, I thought that for all he had St Johnstone playing some good football and gave them some great cup results that he lacked the cynical mentality to get them into the SPL.

So is this him being found out, is he out of his depth?

*Just like St Mirren, before anyone else points it out

the man is a LEGEND

He's definetly finding it tough, he's brought in a few players over the summe though and seems to have the backing of fans and board alike (well, according to Alistair Campbell on Soccer AM yesterday - and we all know how he likes to spin the truth).

We'll have a better idea of Coyle's position around Christmas time.

Hope Anderson does well down there.

How dare everyone speak bad about the new shankly

The Championship is a funny league, there are so many games that no wins in 4 isn't cause for hitting the panic button.

Coyle's St Johnstone were also "slow starters" for various reasons. I don't imagine Burnley would be seen as promotion candidates but they're also relatively established at that level.

The pressure is on them to make that step from being established to being a promotion contender in the next few years. Coyle's signings this summer have largely been young players with potential (McDonald, Paterson, Eagles) and as such he'll be given time as long as the team is playing decent football and obvious stay clear of relegation, which like you've acknowledged was never a problem for him up here. One of the major problems with Cotterill was the football was pretty dire even though he had them mid-table.

The suggestion he's be found out is a bit strange, especially when you later acknowledge in the above post that there sheer volume of games means no wins in four isn't a crisis.

I think he'll find it hard to meet the expectations of the board as Burnley will always be a club who lose their better players. For all Coyle has a couple of seasons to take them on, if Paterson does well this season, they'll lose him in the summer. It's similar to the situation he faced with us whereby he lost some of his best players at the end of each season (Glennon, Scotland, Mensing).

True to OC form, they are doing well in the Carling Cup and Fulham should be a good test for them in the next round.

He always delivered a big signing for us on deadline day (Scotland, McLaren (!), Deuchar/Quinn) so it'll be interesting to see what he has up his sleeve for tomorrow. I expect he'll be on the lookout for a big striker.

It's to invite debate. On the face of it they look to be struggling. I'm merely acknowledging that that might not be the case.

Four games without a win and only one goal isn't a crisis, but if that becomes five and then six.....

I agree with that, but Sunderland lost their first four games in the Championship before they appointed Roy Keane as their manager and they went on to win it.

It's ludicrous to suggest that the knives are out for him after four games.

A God, actually !

burnley had a very good pre-season and have been very unfortunate with their start to the season. you cant base a manager of their opening four games. personally i think that they will come good eventually, although you never know in a league as unpredictable as the championship

Some of us saw this coming a while ago

A terrible appointment from Burnley - I have absolutely no idea what they were thinking of. I think he will take them down. And to be fair this isn't hindsight talking, I said as much before a ball was kicked.

BUMP

Quite interesting to see that Burnley are actually now sitting very comfortable in the Championship after a good wee run of wins, as well as having progressed in the Carling Cup. Well done Owen Coyle, perhaps the doubters spoke too soon

yeah i did

Still?

Burnley are playing the best football i've seen them play in the last 6 or 7 years.

Im not suprised at all Coyle had us playing great football when he was here the best football I've seen in this division from any side since we've been back down.

Unfortunatly this wasn't enough for some of our fans

Crystal ball work from H_B there!

3-1 win at Coventry for Burnley.

Coyle and Sturrock are doing really well after bad starts this season.

I'm not letting him near my Lottery tickets, whatever happens

Watching 'The Championship' this morning and Burnley v Norwich was the featured game.

Burnley destroyed Norwich and if Steven Thompson could finish it would have been about 4 or 5.

Owen Coyle also tried to brush off any talk of Burnley being 'The real deal.'

He seems on the face of it, to be doing a decent job down there now but a very difficult week ahead.

I know I bumped this before, but still, its a classic!

Burnley will be nowhere near promotion this season, though relegation is looking unlikely as well. There is a lot of total shite in the Championship.

Credit to him though for dumping the shite that is Kyle Laugherty on Ranegrs and getting 3.5 million for his troubles. Kudos.

I love how that post is still dredged up after every decent Burnley result. I knew it would be there this morning after their win at Chelsea last night.

Classic! Post of the year for me

He also seems to think Gary Caldwell is better than "rancid" "horrible" Richard Dunne!

Manifestly, his entire football knowledge could comfortably be scribbled on the reverse of a stamp.

But this season he has been. Every game he plays Richard Dunne seems to either:

1. Score an own goal,
2. Get himself sent off or
3. Give away a penalty

Apart from being Oirish what other qualities do you see in fat Richard Dunne that you can say makes him a better player than Caldwell who has, by all means, been very impressive this season?

On the English equivalent of pie and bovril, the footballforum.co.uk, they were listing their finishing position predictions for that league. I thought I'd have a bash. I went for Birmingham and Wolves automatic (think Reading will be one of them now tbh), and in the play offs I had QPR, Ipswich(on a great run), Cardiff and Burnley. Coyle turned them around last season and they had some superb away wins. Good to see three or four Scots playing regularly too.

Well lets say I've watched both players over the course of their careers and it speaks volumes that Dunne has established himself in the Premiership while Caldwell found himself shunted out from Newcastle on loan before finding his level at Hibs.

While Dunney has won the MC player of the year umpteen years on the trot, Caldwell has precious little business being at a club like Celtic.



How is big Kevin McDonald getting on? Linked with Celtic once upon a time IIRC.

Also they have Garry Caldwell's crapper brother *shudders*

Having said that I've just noticed that Steve Caldwell actually got a game for Newcastle, unlike Garry.

I've been following Burnley all season and plan on going down for a match at the beginning of next year, mainly to see Jay Rodriguez who was on loan at us last year but also to see how the Scottish contingent are playing and Chrissy Eagles who IMO is far too good for the championship. They fuck1ng love Coyle down there and rightly so. Alexander, Caldwell and Thompson are all regulars in the team. Kev Mcdonald is only out of the team due to his injury and can't get back in, rightly so, nae point in changing a winning team. Russell Anderson will prob get a permanent move there as well. They also have a young Scottish midfielder called Alex Macdonald who they have high hopes for. Was an unuseb sub last night.

Make sure to compliment them on their club shop.

IMO Joey Gudjohnsen was man of the match last night, couldn't believe when they took him off, although he had taken aa knock a few minutes earlier.

To think that Alex Rae nearly did as good a job for Dundee as Coyle did for St. Johnstone...

Nevertheless, he is doing a good job at Burnley.

Kevin McDonald was indeed linked with Celtic. A truly brilliant player, who will turn out be Celtic's loss.

In your opinion, don't show bias, is he good enough for the Premiership? Burnley fans are having right old chugs over him at the minute and say he is deffo one for the future and say if they don't get into the premiership in the next few years some other team will snap him up.

IMO, he's not good enough at the moment for the premiership, although in saying that, I can think of a few inferior players who play in the premiership.

He's aggressive, strong, quick, agile, technically sound, - He is a top player and one who I have no doubt he will go and become a Scotland International in the next few years.

To compare him to Dundee United's Scott Robertson - Scott Robertson is also a fantastic player who is recieving some glowing reports this season, and by all accounts was unlucky not to be included in the Scotland squad this week. Kevin McDonald is younger by a few years and a class apart.

Sure, he has weaknesses but if Burnley give him a run in the side, he wont last a season at Turf-Moor, before a premiership club come calling.

In your opinion, is he a similar type of player to Tom Huddlestone? I may be a bit wide off the mark but they are a similar build and whenever I've saw Mcdonald play for the under 21's he is always sound in possession by never losing the ball but was also a superb passer of the ball. Maybe Huddlestone is a sh1t comparison but that is the 1 player I had in mind when I've watched Mcdonald in the past.

Erm, Huddlestone certainly possesses more of an endomorphic frame than McDonald, unless McDonald has really built himself up. There is a similarity, but I think Huddlestone is a more complete player at the moment. Passing wise they are probably similar, but I think McDonald enjoys to run more with the ball at times, and get forward, whereas Huddlestone seems to like to sit deeper and spray the ball about, or have a dig at goal from long-range. There are definitely similarities though, yes.

Alex Rae (Dundee) - two nearly attempts at promotion to the SPL; beat Motherwell in the Scottish Cup

Owen Coyle (St Johnstone) - three nearly attempts at promotion to the SPL, one of which he was pipped in the last MINUTE; three/four cup semi finals; beat Rangers in the League Cup

Yeah it's "as good a job"

I said "nearly did"!

You've just about clarified my point. Dundee also reached the quarter finals of the CIS & Scottish Cup, losing to Q.O.S. at Palmerston with half a squad in the Scottish cup, and losing 2-1 against Celtic in the CIS cup.

All I'm saying is, Owen Coyle did ok at St. Johnstone, but he didn't do great. Likewise, Alex Rae didn't do great, but he certainly didn't do a lot worse than Owen Coyle did.

I think beating Motherwell at Fir Park was as much an achievement as St. Johnstone beating Paul Le Guen's Rangers.

Also, Dundee finished last season with 69 points, more than St. Johnstone did the season they were pipped at the last minute. A points tally which would have taken us up most seasons.

Agreed

I love Owen Coyle. So much

Owen Coyle did a terrible job at St Johnstone. That part is fact.

If Derek McInnes had taken over before last summer St Johnstone might well have won the division. As it was Coyle handed him a shite start and beetled off.

As has been shown by this season, Derek McInnes has done a far far better job with St Johnstone than Owen Coyle did, as St Johnstone are going to walk the division.

Queen's would have beat you anyway, just like we bitched you about the whole of last season. Don't see it continuing this weekend though.

Possibly, but the fact remains we had a severely under-strenghted team, as we will tomorrow. It will be close though.

We were linked with Rodriguez and Alex MacDonald. Supposedly atleast one of them is coming in January on loan.

And his performance so far at Burnley?

Are you being serious here son? Ive read some daft things on this forum, but thats got to be the worst i have seen. Can someone phone me an ambulance, i think ive broke a rib from laughing so much!

You talk some pish. You obviously didn't see how St Johnstone started this season, 4 points from 15 I think including a 4-0 defeat off a team that struggles to score goals. Coyle would have turned it around just like McInnes has done. You are being made to look a fud because Coyle is doing well at Burnley so now have to attack his record at St Johnstone. He was a last minute goal away from promotion and had countless cup runs, in what way does that mean he did a terrible job? Especially considering Grenta's wage bill would have been far higher.

Are we talking about the Rangers who couldn't muster a win? Yes, it was a good result, and better than us defeating Motherwell, but at that time it wasn't a much bigger achivement.