Burnley v Newcastle United: Premier League – live!

Hello world!
The weekend ends here. It is five years to the day since Sean Dyche was appointed by Burnley. In his introductory press conference he was asked about the club’s place in its community, and this is what he said:

I always knew they had a real fan-base that cared about the club and I think that’s important. I always got the feeling that the people of Burnley don’t jump on a bus and go and watch Manchester City or Manchester United. I always felt the local people supported their club and that’s a fantastic thing to have because that union and what we are trying to achieve here is very important.
There have been many press conferences since then. This is his 230th competitive game, after all. He will in that time have been asked about his side’s good form, his side’s bad form, his striker’s goalscoring exploits, his striker’s lack of goals, his side’s defensive solidity, his side’s defensive frailty. He has been asked lots of questions, lots of times. Until finally, last week, he was asked to compare his facial hair to that of Rafael Benítez.
It’s a different kind of level. Mine’s a bit trimmer, bit shorter. War of the goatees, is that what the game’s going to be about? We’ll have a goatee off! I don’t really focus on other people’s beards. I’ve had mine for a long time and I just try to keep it the best I can.
This has led to this match being trailed in some quarters as a goatee derby. But what does it say about this match – a game, I’ll remind you, being played by two teams that could end the evening in sixth place in the English Premier League, and a fixture that hasn’t ended in a goalless draw for 54 years and 45 games – that what many people seem to consider the most exciting thing about it is the hair on the managers’ faces?
Are we tired of football? Have we had enough of life? Have we no faith in these players to serve up some decent entertainment? Is there really nothing more exciting here than facial hair?
It’s up to the players now to prove that we as a nation have underestimated them. And there is but a single method of truly doing that: by serving up an hour and a half of incessant, thrilling action. It is the only way.
These teams have done it before: they played three times in the year 1928, Burnley winning 5-1 at home in March, 7-2 away in August (it was 6-1 at half-time, and Newcastle had already missed a penalty, while later Burnley’s Jack Hill so annoyed Hughie Gallacher that the Newcastle forward tried to walk off the field in disgust, which must have caused a frisson of tension when Newcastle proceeded to buy Hill a couple of months latter) and 4-3 in September. Nobody was talking about facial hair then.

SOURCE : GUARDIAN SPORTS
posted by CAMPUS94