Burnley News 24/7Writer: turfmanphil 
Date:Monday April 19 2010
Time: 1:25PM
UK time is: 13:35:23
Vital Login
Social Login
Choose your club
Other Sites
Network Navigation
Vital Partners
'If It's Football, It's Vital'
Nixon Now Stirs It Over Blake
Robbie Blake is stalling on signing a new contract until he finds out what chance he has of playing first-team football according to Alan Nixon in the Mirror.
Blake is out of contract in the summer and it is understood he has been offered a new deal at Turf Moor but is waiting to see how things develop.
The Clarets look virtually certain of playing Championship football next season barring a miracle and achieving nine points from our remaining three games.
Nixon suggests Blake, now 34 does not want to commit until he can be assured of more regular first team football next season.
He also mischievously suggests that Blake is also waiting to see whether Brian Laws will still be the manager should we be relegated. This obviously plays on the rumoured speculation that Laws and Blake have not seen eye-to-eye recently following the Manchester City match at Turf Moor earlier this month when Blake was substituted at half-time with the Clarets already 5-0 down.
Blake has struggled to make the starting eleven this season, especially the second half and Laws seems to prefer him on the bench.
The truth is that probably Blake is now passed his best and at most he will be an impact sub next season should he sign a new contract.
The question is would any Championship club offer him a more regular place. He certainly seems to find it hard to play a full 90 minutes these days. One does wonder if the problem is more the manager than the playing side at the moment and only time will tell.
Use your social login to comment on front page articles. Login using you Facebook, Twitter, Google or LinkedIn accounts and have your say!
Your Comments
I wish it was August !!
turfmanphil
We can discuss what the problems are or who is the problem, whether Its the players, Laws or the board but until some clarification comes from Burnley Football Club as to the future plans for next season, whether we stick with Laws or what players are going to still be at the club tossers like Nixon will stir the S*** and I don't think we will get a statement from the Club until the season has finished.
Fedupclaret
Amuses me greatly stories like this because at Christmas it was all about why are we not offering him a contract, yet now its about him not signing the contract! Pure tosh, I like Robbie and would give him a contract for next season in the Championship as he is well capable in that league of 70+ minutes from the start and a better free kick taker than Mears and Fox.......almost got me on a rant...dont start me on dead ball situations!
VinRogue
In regard to is the problem the manager rather than the playing side. IMO it is the manager, and while he may be a nice guy, I don't think he is the right guy for the job. Lets face it we are all but relegated lets get rid of him now and let ALexander be the caretaker player manager until a suitable replacement can be found. I know you are all going to have a go at me but it is only my opionion and I am a woman after all!! So what do I know!! But we need someone with drive passion and ambition and somebody people want to play for.
sheclaret
We will see what happens at the end of the season - I do like Robbie and he made a real difference when he came on at the SOL - but as a general rule I dont think he has been on his game this season. Maybe this is because this level has come to late for him? I am not sure.
Claretdale
Whether Alan Nixon is right or not doesn't really matter. What counts is what Blake and the club agree between themselves and he may have to face facts that Premier League football might be too much for him now.
By the way SheC- I don't share your admiration of the Grezzameister but you're entitled to your opinion on here as much as anyone else.
RickersTwickers
Everyone must know by now that I am a big admirer of Blake and would like him to stay - especially in the Championship. He can easily go 70 minutes, especially when we get rid of those disgusting shorts that restrict his little legs!! As for him not being good enough, I think that the Premier league has been too much for all our players - hence our relegation. I'm not saying this in a nasty, negative way - I think they battled hard nearly every week, gave us some great days and played good football at times but we just weren't strong enough in the end to keep going. This is no shame, there are only 17 teams a year in the whole country strong enough and we did bloody well to get our shot at it. I think we need to keep as many players as we can for our first season back, for stability reasons and then build from there. I think some of the young reserves look good too -saw them play Manu reserves on TV and they looked to have some great prospects.
ozjean
Great post ozjean, agree re Robbie and the 17 teams is a a great way of looking at it especially when you can list teams not in that 17 who think they have a right to be.....Leeds, Newcastle, Charlton, Southampton, Norwich, WBA, Sheffield both, Middlesborough, Derby County and I am sure there are more that think the club they support should be in the top 17.......Portsmough Hull and WHU!
VinRogue
It's about time people thought Burnley should have the right to be there too and stop accepting second-best all the time! Sorry I couldn't give one fig about these other teams, most of which will come back into the Premier League eventually despite in some cases having suffered administration. 33 years for us to get back, all the other clubs mentioned above have been there in the last ten years or so. Some folk I think need a reality check and ask themselves why Coyle left and why we couldn't do better than Laws. Former Reading boss Steve Coppell will be named as Bristol City's new manager this week, BBC Radio Bristol understands. Christ what the hell have they got that we havent?
turfmanphil
Not sure I agree with keeping most of the squad ozjean, some yes by all means but my problem is that the players are either unproven at Championship level or that level is their limit. Fine if we want to be midtable or avoid relegation but not good if we mean business and want to get promoted and more importantly try and stay up. We know to our cost that to do that we will need players with Prem potential or if not be prepared to spend the dosh to get them if we get promoted.
A lot will depend next season on how much money the manager gets in the close season to rebuild the squad but I would like to see a significantly refreshed squad and we might be forced to do this anyway with Mears, Fletcher, Eagles etc probably not staying. We certainly also need to get rid of any players who have shown disloyalty to Laws and any deadwood
turfmanphil
TMP A rumour I have heard is that Coppell does not want to move to the north. If this is true, that is where you have the answer as to what Bristol have that Burnley dont. I do agree that, if he would have taken the job, he would have been a good appointment.
As for Burnley having the right to be in the Prem - We earned our right to be there. But I think sometimes we all have to accept that certain things are always going to be more difficult for some than for others due to the hand you are dealt. If I wanted to be a jockey for example, it will always have been difficult because I am comfortably oversize. For a town like Burnley to compete with clubs who can bring in 2-3-4-5 ( maybe more) time the turnover than we can is ALWAYS going to be an incredibly difficult task. This is increasingly more difficult due to the fact that money is continuing to be such a major factor in success!
Claretdale
You know my thoughts on that score. There seems to be two types of Clarets fans in the main, those that are happy with our lot no matter what happens and those that want more. I put myself firmly in the latter category and I also believe unless we change our mindset and stop missing opportunities we always will be that little provincial town club punching above its weight. He who dares wins etc.
turfmanphil
Wherever we are next season the priority must be to have the right manager, without that we are going nowhere. Either an experienced Prem manager or a young upstart with vision and enthusiasm, either of which will have a chance of attracting the players we obviously will need to stay in the Prem or get an early return. Also the board must play ther part, have some optimism and provide the necessary funding. I have this awful feeling that unless something positive and possibly drastic is attempted we are doomed to another long spell in the backwaters of football.
cornwallclaret
Very well said CC,totally agree although I suspect Laws will still be given the task to prove everybody wrong
turfmanphil
Sadly TMP I think you are right. Mind you, if it was my money on the line, what would I do? probably would never have got into football club ownership anyway so don't have to answer that question and just have to rely on those that have taken the plunge. Good luck to them, they need it in bucketfulls.
cornwallclaret
Agree TMP, their are two types of Clarets fans as you mentioned above and probably all spread at varying degrees. But is that not what we need? Could you not Argue that out board contains Brendan Flood - wanting to spend more, wanting to push on etc etc and Barry Kilby - concerned about losing the ranch, what will happen if it doesnt pay off. I think this is a good balance and that really is the key. Finding the balance between the two differing outlooks.
Claretdale
Burnley might not have a Wayne Rooney in attack or a John Terry in defence ,But we have some good players in the squad and most Players are just as good as teams in lower 2/3rds of premiership have .A lot of time its just been a lack of confidence ,Kevin Macdonald lost his, he`s only a young player but he`s a very good prospect for the future.If Burnley Play to the best of their ability with confidence and controlled aggression they can get the 9 points and finish fourth from bottom,liverpool have one good player,birmingham they beat already,Tots they played off park in cup,portsmouth beat them in cup and burnley created more chances against then away before losing 2-0 that they could have won 2-10
Longtimeclaret
Their is defo two types of fans , those with a sense of perspective , and those with a delusion of gradeur !
Bernie Lee
No doubt they told Columbus he had 'delusion of grandeur', in fact anybody who dared to move out of their comfort zone and push the boundaries to new limits for the sake of improvement. A 'sense of perspective' usually leads to stagnation, stalemate and missed opportunities. The club might wants us to 'Dare to Dream' I want them to 'Dare to Do'
turfmanphil
I think we need a sense of perspective here. Burnley will never compete with any team's in the premiership on money. That's the unfortunate reality of football today.
As for Colombus being told he had "delusions of grandeur" TMP is only quoting a success there. What about those who had crazy ideas and failed (look at Clive Sinclair success with his calculator and his computer but he pushed the boat out too far and invested his electric bike / car thing and we never heard of him again). as for those if a footballing nature who dared to dream look at Bradford, Swindon these are teams that don't have big support and after their "dreams" falling apart they've been in real trouble. So sure lets break the wage cap and spend all the money and the have 3 glorious seasons of mid table mediocrity in the premiership followed by all the excitement of plummetting down the leagues and going out of business.
Billy Hamiltons Boot
Far more success than failure. Speculate to accumulate, he who dares win etc etc will always in the main win out! You are far too negative, just as much chance of plummeting down the leagues without investing as there is by trying it! Witness the last 33 years
turfmanphil
Well said TMP, this is the other side of the supporter mix. Just hope he keeps supporting, but "dare to dream" why not. I am fortunate enough to remember when the Clarets were the most feared team in football. Times change and it can happen again but it will definitely not with a negative attitude. "Better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all"
cornwallclaret
Cornwall - I cannot see ever being one of the most feared teams in football again. In the modern game - Money ( or lack of it) plays to big of a part.
Claretdale
We were only 'one of the most feared teams in football' in a totally different era with a maximum wage, no Bosman ruling, no tv coverage and no big money clubs or players. Even then we were only great for a season or two and what a lot of you 'spend, spend, spend' advocates forget is that we have never thrown money around, even when we were successful. We survived by bringing on our own youngsters and picking up young players from lower leagues, mainly in the North-East, Wales and Ireland. If they developed into good players we flogged them off to the big money clubs. If you think it was much better in those days than now then you are dead wrong - we hardly bought anyone and our favourite players were constantly being shown the door for the transfer money that kept us afloat. It costs a lot of money to run a professional football club and we are never going to break even on our gates. The only time that I can remember us splashing the cash was in the John Bond era and look how successful that was! I have no problem with being positive and thinking big but not at the expense of putting the club in a potential situation of not existing in a few years time. I know you 'don't care about other clubs' but it's stupid not to learn from other peoples examples and mistakes. Also, if you read Floods book, they tried desperately to get new investment into the club especially from the USA because he and Kilby could not afford to keep us out of administration for much longer - which is what would have happened if we hadn't been promoted. It's alright talking when it's not your money - would you all be prepared to borrow a couple of hundred thousand from the bank to give to the club to buy more players on the gamble that you would get it back if we stayed up? I bet not.
ozjean
Just read this by Hull's chairman today. Hull will go down with massive debts:
Adam Pearson, the Hull chairman, believes his predecessor, Paul Duffen, is partly responsible for the club's position. "In my personal opinion the decisions made by Mr Duffen in the summer of 2008 and, even more so, in 2009 were extremely short-sighted and lacking in business sense and specific football knowledge," wrote Pearson in the programme. "He seems to have had no understanding of the industry, Hull City AFC or the city of Hull itself."
So far so damning but the criticism became even more coruscating: "Grounding core beliefs were lost," added Pearson. "The safety valve of pragmatic realism was cut off and the club under Mr Duffen spent money it didn't have … in my personal view it is poor business sense and a lack of moral responsibility. Just under £6m spent on agent fees in two years is morally abhorrent. A wage bill of just under £40m when the club turnover is £50m in the Premier League. The maths don't add up."
ozjean
Yes,but we are not Hull nor have I suggested we spend anywhere near the amount they have. Its not being a spend,spend,spend merchant its being a spend a bit more merchant! Everybody gambles with money,most people call it a mortgage. Some who are more of a risk taker play the stockmarket rather than play it safe with building society accounts. The same principle applies to business albeit on a much bigger scale. At the end of the day, which route you follow depends on the individuals running the company and their level of entrepreneurship and willingness to move out of their comfort zone. I think over the years we have not been brave enough and especially this season have missed opportunities for getting this pleading poverty lark off our backs once and for all. The last time we spent money on players significantly was when Flood came in and released the purse strings after years of stagnation in the Championship and midtable mediocrity. Years of selling our best players in the windows and not replacing them got us nowhere despite often being within a sniff of the play offs pre-Jan window. The first time we significantly spend on players and it's hey ho promotion!
turfmanphil
I am saddened by what I am reading from whom I thought were optimitistic fans. As TMP says the suggestion is not to spend without limit but to invest in order to gain profit in the future. As to having to accept that times have changed, should we then go along meekly with what the money boys are saying and restrict the Prem to clubs with big grounds, big population, big supporter base and big money and to hell with everyone else. The root cause of all that is wrong with English football was the establishment of the Prem, it has starved the rest of the league of money, resulted in the national team being starved of experienced players. It now also seems to be intent on starving many of its own members of money by their idea of giving the biggest clubs a bigger share of the money. Fight on or get into the Conference.
cornwallclaret
Has anyone studied the Portsmouth administrators report?
According to their figures, we have been paying Portsmouth £132,000 a month for David Nugent (!!) Little wonder he plays with a constant grin on his face.
What happened to the £15k a week salary cap?
Eyresy's Left Peg
Spot on ozjean, we can never be the Burnley of the sixties in today’s climate. Your observations on the premier league are also correct Cornwall, but you’re wrong to be ‘saddened’ by the comments from fans who are optimistic but pragmatic at the same time. The best we can ever hope for these days is to be a mid table premiership side unless ground breaking changes are introduced at the highest levels in football. Perhaps Fifa can get around the Bosman ruling thereby limiting the number of foreign players at each club, but even if they managed this it would have to be applied throughout Europe to keep things on a level playing field in the Champions league. This at least would take us back to times when local talent throughout the British isles would be scouted and nurtured at whatever club discovered them. Only then will the rat race of the rich clubs be held in check giving clubs like Burnley a glimmer of a hope of achieving more than a mid table position. As for spending to speculate on hoped for success, there are too many cases of clubs facing dire economic consequences surfacing by the day. Hull are in real trouble if relegated, as now looks likely and things are still looking grim for Portsmouth next season. I don’t have a problem with the idea of investing in players for premiership survival, but ultimately it’s down to the men who have the b***s to take the risks with not only the club’s but their own money. Kilby and Flood are doing it their way, and I’m sure they’ve learnt a few things this season. Whatever they do from now on is down to them, and that’s fine by me.
WelshClaret
I hope they have learnt that had they been a bit more daring we might still be a Prem Club reaping £40 million next year plus whatever we got from higher ST sales and gate receipts! I bet both Pompey & Hull finish higher than us next season assuming we go down despite their financial predicament and I bet we soon. see Southampton,Charlton & Leeds in the top flight again despite administration etc
turfmanphil
It's hard to comment on any spending plans/no spending when we haven't seen the books tmp. The other point here is that at the time it was fair to give the team that got us here a fair shot at the prem, and up until January they were doing that. How could anyone forsee Coyle doing what he did and plunging us into the current situation? Regarding next season, I'm sure that the board will invest the parachute money to ensure we have a good go at doing a Newcastle , but I can't for the life of me see how Hull or Portsmouth will do better than us given the dire financial mess that they're in. They'll be selling to survive if they're lucky , not buying.
WelshClaret
I just have this theory that the greater the adversity the more they seem to come back. All the stuff Leeds,Saints and Co have been through just seems to have been a temporary blip. If has you say the Board dont penny pinch to build the squad next season then yes we should have a great chance of pushing for promotion. We should not underestimate the task though which I feel some may have done
turfmanphil
Leeds' temporary blip has lasted 5 years or so, if my memory serves me well ! I don't think anyone who remembers the championship will underestimate the task, it's a hell of a difficult league to get out of, but the parachute payment should benefit us provided most of the squad stay. And we spend wisely to strengthen of course . I'll be disappointed if we don't make the automatic spots , then strengthen again after what we've learnt defensively this year.
WelshClaret
As opposed to our temporary blip of 33 years?
turfmanphil
Two questions for either Cornwall or TMP?
1. What club would you look to as a good example to follow in terms of money spend in the Prem. Clubs with large sole benefactors not permitting (since we don't have one) ?
2. Do you think the fact Hull are just as likely to go down as us having spent the sort of figures revealed above is at all relevant to the kind of approach Burnley should, in your view, have taken ?
cubanclaret
Since Kilby took over in 98 tmp, things have slowly but gradually improved with the appointments of Ternent, Cotterill and then Coyle. Forgetting the fiasco in January, Coyle's appointment after being interviewed by Kilby, was shrewd to say the least and shows that Kilby knows his football as well as how to run this club. That's why I think the 33 years are a thing of the past and if we do go down, we'll be back hopefully next season. The case for Laws remains to be proven, but I still think and hope that he'll do well for us. Time will tell of course .
WelshClaret
I have gone through all this before CC, I was asking for a modest £10m of debt to be put towards two decent midfielders that we needed so much. (£17m had the directors not taken their loans back).Since we are likely to go down short of needing only about 3-6 points I think that investment would have likely kept us up and allowed us to reap £40m next season! Fulham,Stoke and Sunderland are probably the best clubs to hold a candle too and all are in debt to various degrees. They all are in the Prem EXCEPT Burnley! Hull have had one more season in the Prem than us and have spent far more than I would be advocating! It probably gave them one season more though before they overstepped the mark bigtime eg Bullard £40m in fee/salary etc?
turfmanphil
Yes and its the 'slowly but gradually ' thats the problem WC with this cautious approach! Like I say though if the Board give the manager ALL the parachute money and sales from players then I know they will mean business and will applaud them for trying to get out of a very difficult league getting harder every season
turfmanphil
Fulham are owned by one of the world's most notable arms dealers who has pumped considerable funds into the club we could only dream of.
Sunderland's Board are also a hugely wealthy consortium and they are boosted by 40,000 crowds.
This leaves Stoke, who I believe have survived by an uncompromising style of football more than anything else.
However, I agree they have shown what appears to be a reasonably sensible amount of outlay to maintain their Prem status. I think their finances would make interesting reading.
Our own survival strategy, however prudent, was well on course until Coyle's untimely defection. I don't see how the Board could have expected such a turn of events. We would have had Jack Wilshire for the second half of the season who I'm sure would have played every game moreorless like he has for Bolton.
cubanclaret
One of the reasons cited for Coyle leaving was the fact he wasn't being given enough dosh for players and could see the writing on the wall. Although we were playing better football at home, the fact still remains that in Coyle's last ten League games in charge we had picked up just one win.
turfmanphil
Agree CC, it was bad enough loosing the manager and support staff in January, never mind the fact that it was our first season back in the top flight with all the harsh premiership lessons to be learnt. If Coyle had stayed I think we would have beaten Portsmouth, Stoke and Wolves at home giving us 35 points by now, in other words doing ok. Stoke were the team I was thinking of with regard to your question but I've got no idea about the state of their finances. The interesting thing about Stoke is that despite some dour football which has secured their survival, they are now, albeit inconsistently, beginning to play some attractive impressive football. Probably all due to confidence as a result of their achieving a safe position , meanwhile we're struggling because we haven't.
WelshClaret
We'd have probably beaten Blackburn as well, giving us a heady 38 points by now !
WelshClaret
There is no doubt that Coyle leaving did for us but even so had we got those extra two midfielders we would have stood a greater chance of staying up under any manager. Stoke are an interesting one, I think they have one of the lowest debts in the Prem but it's a debt none the less and they forked out £10m on Huth and Tuncay last summer
turfmanphil
Have Your Say
Log in...
with your social network OR with your Vital account
Recent Articles
Thanks Sky (Not!) For Fixture Change Already! (Thursday June 20 2013)
New Home Kit Launched-What Do We Think? (Thursday June 20 2013)
Fixtures 2013-14 (Wednesday June 19 2013)
Burnley X-Files: Lafferty for Palermo! (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Three Strikers and They Are Out? (Tuesday June 18 2013)
Special Championship Opener-Bolton at Home! (Tuesday June 18 2013)
It's York Away in Capital One Cup First Round! (Monday June 17 2013)
Vital Burnley Forums Need You!-Revamped & Ready (Sunday June 16 2013)
Burnley X-Files: What now for Cofie? (Sunday June 16 2013)
Burnley X-Files:Wes bowls Yorker t' dismiss Yeovil (Saturday June 15 2013)
Archived Articles
Vital Members League (view all)
| 1. | turfmanphil | 36 |
| 2. | Couch Potato | 18 |
| 3. | 8clarets8 | 14 |
| 4. | Claretdale | 13 |
| 5. | ruane | 4 |
| 6. | Grimsby Claret | 4 |
| 7. | VinRogue | 3 |
| 8. | ossyclaret | 3 |
| 9. | IPG | 2 |
| 10. | pmh200111 | 2 |
League Results (view all)
| Latest Results |
League Table (view table)
| Team | P | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 5. Bolton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6. Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7. Brighton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8. Burnley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9. Charlton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10. Derby County | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11. Doncaster | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Breaking League News
| Reading linked with Birmingham starlet
» Reading : 20/06/2013 12:20:00
|
| Mowbray welcomes early test
» Middlesbrough : 20/06/2013 11:16:00
|
| Owen Coyle Is 'A Bundle Of Energy'
» Wigan : 20/06/2013 11:04:00
|
| Hull Agree Fee For Blirmingham's Davies
» Birmingham : 20/06/2013 11:00:00
|
| Thanks Sky (Not!) For Fixture Change Already!
» Burnley : 20/06/2013 10:56:00
|
| Howe: There will be more quality additions
» Bournemouth : 20/06/2013 10:10:00
|
| Flahavan signs new Cherries deal
» Bournemouth : 20/06/2013 10:09:00
|
Current Site Poll (view all polls)
|
|
2 © - All content copyright Vital Network Ltd, not to be reproduced without explicit permission Copyright Issues
Please note the Editorial comments and opinions on this site are the personal views of the Editor and should not be construed in any way to be representative of those of other Clarets organisations of which he belongs e.g. Clarets Trust. This applies to both the front page articles and posts in any of the forums.
Cookie Policy
At Vital Football, we along with most other modern websites use small files called 'cookies' to create the most secure, effective and functional website possible for our users. Without these files our business model, based on advertising, breaks down and we would be unable to continue to provide the services that you are here to utilise. By continuing to use this website after seeing this message, you consent to our use of cookies on this device unless you have disabled them. For full details please read our Cookie Policy which can be found here. However, if you would like to disable cookies on this device, please view our Cookie Policy which contains an opt-out tool for disabling advertising cookies. Please also visit our information pages on 'How to manage cookies' if you would also like to block all other types of cookies. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies.