What the Sunday Papers Say!-Watford 15.12.05
By Turfmanphil
December 22 2005
Turfmanphil reviews the Sunday Papers after an amazing performance at the Turf with the Clarets beating Watford 4:1, and on a perfect day when the website had its Sponsor's Day and was asked to name the Man of the Match
What the Sunday Papers Say-Watford 17th December 2005
You are all priveleged today as I have 7 papers to review following an amazing day as the Clarets trounced Watford 4:1 at home and we celebrated our Sponsors Day with Claire Judd and were allowed to name the Man of the Match [Nathan Dyer]
The Man of the Match award did lead to some controversy and some laughable things have been said about our choice by other websites. To put the record straight we had a party of twelve and although the voting was close there was a narrow majority in favour of Dyer over McGreal with Branch and Harley getting honourable mentions.
But what do the Sunday papers say?
I have changed the style for this weeks review so please comment on the style and feedback
Daily Star
Headline: Branch Leaves Cott Beaming
'Unlikely hero,Graham Branch set the tune for Burnley's Christmas Party hitting a wonder goal to set the pace for a win against high flying Watford'
Boothroyd: 'It was only our second defeat of the season away from home, but when we get beat we will get beat!'
Players Ratings: All players other than Spicer got a rating of 7 or 8 with Spicer on 6. This simply proves how difficult it was to choose a Man of the Match and how personal preference came into it with such a good perfomance by most of the players. 8 of the players rated 7 including Dyer whilst Harley,Branch and McGreal were on 8
Observer
Headline: Watford lose way on Burnley's Branch Line
'Watford like Leeds remained 14 points behind Sheffield United but unlike Leeds their defeat at Burnley was more like a hiding!'
'Steve Cotterill then gave his team a decisive new dimension by bringing on former Watford player,Gifton Noel-Williams'
'Steve Cotterill said the key to winning the game was GNW.For the time he was on the field, he was Man of the match and I dont think he did a thing wrong. His link play was fantastic'
Independent on Sunday
Headline: Harley at the Double as Watford run ends
'Burnley revived their own own play-off hopes by moving to 8th place on the strength of two bursts of activity towards the end of each half' TMP comments: That statement is somewhat harsh in my opinion, we were pressing for most the match and only a ten minute spell in the second half at 2:0 that led to Watford's goal plus a few minutes pressurising by them afterwards would suggest otherwise!
'Ben Foster.........wandering outside the area holding the ball,escaped a booking' TMP Comment: Beast at Luton is all I would say about that! Oh well at least we scored from the free kick
'Clarets always looked the more purposeful side'
Sunday Times
Headline: There was no headline or proper match report just a small column with nothing worth noting
At least the paper predicted a Clarets win both against Sheffield Wednesday at home and QPR away
Sunday Sport
Phwor!! Oh OK back to the football bit then!
Headline: Slick Flick Branch
' Graham Branch set Burnley up for a Victory with a goal Ronaldinho would have been proud to call his own. The Clarets midfielder [TMP: ????] had the Turf Moor crowd on its feet with his first goal of the season after 32 minutes. He ran from the half-way line after cleverly flicking the ball past defender Carlisle before slotting under Foster'
Dogs Bollocks: McGreal [although not mentioned at all in match report!] and Utter Bollocks: Foster
Match Prediction: Stoke at home a draw!
News of the World
Headline: Cott's Hot: Steve sees Branch & pals spark off a party
'Clarets made it five straight home wins with stunning display'
Players Ratings: Highest were Hyde and Branch with a score of 8! Just goes to show again how we all had man of the match preferences with clearly not one person being considered an obvious candidate!
Match Prediction: Burnley v Stoke: Away win-Numpties!] and Burnley v Shef Wed : Home win
Sunday People
Headline: Harley's top gear hits Aidy
'It was short and sweet as little John Harley stole the show for the Clarets'
'Burnley also boosted by amazing return of Wayne Thomas who should have been out for the season with cruciate injury. Miraculously, the ligament seems to have reattached itself without surgery...' TMP Comment: Interesting that this was the only paper to mention Wayne and it was I thought quite informative
Players Ratings: Harley was highest this time with 8 but McGreal and Dyer were on 7 along with Branch and others! Same conclusion as before, not one outstanding Man of the Match that everybody could agree on
TMP Summary
Well what a good day and it certainly made reading the Sundays a pleasure after that dire performance against the Blades! What a way to come back continuing to show the resilience of the team
Lets be clear about one thing now! Choosing Man of the Match was not obvious with Harley, Branch, McGreal, Hyde [?] and Dyer given good ratings across the Sundays and in some cases Man of the Match. Our Sponsors Party of 12 contained experienced Clarets knowledgable in the game, the voting was close with both McGreal and Dyer getting the most votes. Dyer shaded it in our panel. I believe it unfortunate and rather petty that some rival websites should then choose to belittle Dyer for whatever reason and motive
We now know of course that Nathan Dyer has been recalled by Saints. 'The Longside' are delighted his last game with us led to him being named Man of the Match. He is a fantastic kid and we were all impressed when he chatted to us at his Man of the Match Presentation and signed our various programmes and shirts! Good luck Nathan from all at 'The Longside'
Turfmanphil