Left open-mouthed by some whingeing idiots

Let’s face it, as football fans we get quite accustomed to disappointment. Most of us have been force-fed enough of it over the years to know exactly what it tastes like.
BURNLEY FANS: Never forget how much you have had to cheer about this seasonBURNLEY FANS: Never forget how much you have had to cheer about this season
BURNLEY FANS: Never forget how much you have had to cheer about this season

Some of my best football-watching friends have seen so much go wrong over the years that they actually don’t really know what to do with themselves when things go right.

And I do know a few who actually prefer to whinge their way through a football match rather than get on with enjoying it.

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My own football-watching, Burnley-supporting journey actually shows a negative balance at the moment.

But that will all change next month when Burnley return to the top-flight they were a member of when I started watching 44 seasons ago.

That is not the same for any fan under the age of 40 or so, unless they are very young and started watching during the 2009-10 Premier League campaign.

They are all currently in profit, so to speak.

In fact, and I have thought about this long and hard and will explain why I have reached this conclusion once the season is finished, unless you can remember Burnley in the 1960s, this is the best team you have ever seen proudly wearing our Claret and Blue.

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A huge chunk of the current fan-base was blooded on Fourth Division fare and have watched the rise of the Clarets since then.

For most of that crop of fans their account is actually in the black as they have seen much more success than failure.

But, and I am sorry to say this, some of them really are stupid.

I accept that you “pays your money and you takes your choice” and that everyone is entitled to an opinion.

But this is mine about some of Burnley’s current fans.

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On the one hand, they glory in a tiny squad battling against the odds, defying all pundits, even making Steve Claridge say nice things about Burnley and heading back to the top flight.

And on the other they whinge, and whinge very hard, when the Clarets lose a game for the first time in over three months, and that against a team with one hand on the title.

While watching that game against Leicester, I actually had to turn Twitter off – the rubbish tweeted by some of these less-than-intellectual fans was driving me mad.

Anyone who knows me will know that I am actually, in usual circumstances, a big fan of Twitter.

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After all, you can usually get a fairly grown-up conversation, even if it is only in 140 character snatches.

But that was not the case that Leicester came to town.

I was incensed to see criticism of Sean Dyche for not having a Plan B when Sam Vokes so cruelly saw his season ended.

That particular #idiot, when I checked through his previous tweets was in fact one of the many happy to praise the Burnley boss for doing so well with such a small squad on such a small budget. There is a flip-side to every coin and sometimes you just have to grin and bear it.

Attacking the manager for not having a Plan B in those circumstances was a bit like criticising Derek Redmond for not having a Plan B when his hamstring went pop in the Barcelona Olympics of 1992!

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I was incredulous to read posting to the Twittersphere stating that, at 1-0 down to the champions-elect, we would be lucky to make the play-offs. That particular #idiot clearly has not a single maths qualification to his name.

I was amazed to see criticism of Burnley’s defence. It has been one of the bedrocks of the success we have revelled in this season.

I wrote this column before the weekend trip to Watford and I would like to point out to the #idiot concerned with this remark that Burnley’s goals against column could not be bettered by anyone in the Championship and by only four teams anywhere else in the top four divisons.

I am big enough, old enough and grown-up enough to admit that Burnley were second-best on the day.

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But, let’s face it, by the time the final whistle blows on this campaign everyone in the Championship will have been second-best to the Foxes.

Having said that, by the middle of the afternoon on the first Saturday in May, everyone else in the Championship will have to admit that they were third-best as the Clarets go up as runners-up from a very tough and very competitive division.

The last twitter-whinge and the one that showed how daft some fans really are was this. In a nutshell this #idiot conceded the title to Leicester while suggesting that we could easily be overhauled.

Strange logic when the gap at the time was bigger between third and second than it was between us and Leicester!

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The job may not be finished, but having said that it’s not meant to be.

So keep the faith, Up The Clarets and stop whingeing ... there has been absolutely nothing to complain about this season.