The verdict on Burnley’s goalless draw with Portsmouth

Given the end result - another home game without a win - Burnley fans can be forgiven for thinking this was just more of the same, despite the change in manager.

After all, we’ve been down this road before. In almost exact circumstances, in fact, just over two months ago, when Nicky Hayen - also celebrating his birthday, just as Fabio Celestini was on Saturday - saw his then Burnley side claim a creditable draw against West Ham in his first league game in charge.

But this felt a little different and, if you dig a little deeper, the underlying data is certainly encouraging. Nothing to get carried away by, of course, but encouraging all the same.

For a start, Burnley produced 18 shots on the Portsmouth goal, compared to the visitor’s five. Creating chances and scoring goals wasn’t actually Hayen’s biggest problem, it was keeping them out at the other end, but 18 is still four more than Burnley’s season average of 14 shots per game.

A good chunk of these attempts were good quality chances too, none more so than Marcus Edwards’ inexplicable miss at the back post from all of a yard out.

In his defence, the flicked on cross did come at him fast, but all he had to do was get the faintest of touches to direct it over the line.

He wasn’t the only guilty party though, Andreas Hountondji and Largie Ramazani also wasted good chances. But it just felt like one of those days where the ball wouldn’t fall for the Clarets inside the Portsmouth box. That, or a lack of quality or poor decision-making, or a combination of all of the above.

But an Expected Goals (xG) of 1.89, compared to Portsmouth’s 0.25, is clearly a step in the right direction. Perform like that on anything resembling a regular basis and the Clarets will steer themselves away from trouble in no time.

But the biggest plus for me was how well Burnley defended. Not just in isolated moments, last-ditch tackles, key interceptions, heroic blocks, because there wasn’t a great need for any of that. That’s because the overall team structure was much improved, there were no horror mistakes and the Clarets weren’t wide open whenever they lost the ball.

Restricting Portsmouth to just five shots, not a single on target and just nine touches in their box, compared to the 30 Burnley enjoyed in the opposition penalty area, demonstrates the work Celestini had overseen on the training ground over the past 48 hours.

As a quick comparison, Lincoln rained in 21 attempts on the Burnley goal during that Sincil Bank debacle last week.

Defensively, the only real blot on Burnley’s copybook was the one moment of good fortune they experienced early on, when Marlon Pack’s strike was quickly ruled out for a foul on the goalkeeper.

It was a let-off for Gregoire Coudert, who wrongly opted to punch a cross clear, rather than claim. The ball flew straight to the feet of Pack, who dinked a first-time effort over the stricken stopper and into the back of the empty net.

The referee, who had a poor game for both sides, letting his inexperience show, quickly blew for a foul, adjudging Ryan Kavuma-McQueen to have impeded the Frenchman. As I say, it was a generous one.

But equally, Pompey were fortunate not to have conceded a penalty when Kyle Walker appeared to be tripped inside the box as he cut back. But, despite taking a good look at it, the man in the middle remained unmoved.

But Walker and his defensive colleagues can reflect on a job well done. After all, this is a side that has shipped goals at an alarming average of two per game so far this season, so a rare clean sheet - just a second of the season - has to be welcomed.

There is a certain irony, however, that for as bad as it was under Hayen, his side still managed to score in every league game. Yet in Celestini’s first match in the dugout, the Clarets draw a blank.

There will also be some disappointment at how Burnley failed to maintain any sort of momentum during the second-half and, towards the end, there was no real siege to speak of.

But if we’re talking positives, the return of Josh Cullen - after an excruciating 308-day absence - has to be the biggest plus point.

The standing ovation greeting his entrance off the bench proves just how big a miss he’s been. The handing of the captain’s armband from Walker to Cullen almost felt like a symbolic passing of the torch. The main man is back and he’s here to sort this mess out.

Anel Ahmedhodzic, Aaron Ramsey and Jaydon Banel also returned to what resembled a very strong bench, also featuring the likes of Max Alleyne, Connor Roberts and Ugo Raghouber.

This isn’t an attempt to clutch at straws, we all know Burnley have the talent at their disposal. But do they have the right man at the helm to put it all together and make a good team? That’s still to be decided, but he’s given himself something to build from.