Opinion: Familiar tale for Burnley at Newcastle United, but somehow this felt different

Amid Burnley’s now six-game losing run, this felt like a hugely significant 45 minutes in the context of their season – and perhaps even for the future of Scott Parker, too.

Trailing by two goals and with a man down, you’re almost expecting them to fold. Their confidence battered by recent defeats, no-one would have batted an eyelid had Newcastle finished with four or five goals to their name.

But fast forward 45 minutes and Scott Parker is almost dropping to his knees in the dugout and holding his head in his hands after Burnley missed an agonising last-gasp chance to level with what was literally the last action of the game.

Ultimately, it’s another defeat. It’s another occasion where the Clarets have come so near yet so far. It’s rinse and repeat.

And yet, the feeling is different. This team didn’t fold, they showed bundles of character to take the game right until the very end. Parker described it as Burnley’s best performance of the season.

You might agree, you might disagree. But this wasn’t the performance of a side that have thrown in the towel.

Perhaps you could argue Newcastle took their foot off the gas, making numerous changes with one eye on their midweek Champions League game. But even Eddie Howe admitted it was a case of Burnley making life “uncomfortable” for the Magpies, adding he couldn't quite believe what he was witnessing.

Of course all of this means nothing if Burnley aren’t able to capitalise and beat Fulham next week, it’ll just be another defeat where they’ve been the nearly men.

But what it does do is prove the fight is very much still there. Amid growing questions over Parker’s future, played down by the Burnley boss during the week, it’s always noteworthy to see how the players react. Are they still playing for him? Does he still have the dressing room? Well, they answered that emphatically.

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In truth, that was never in doubt. Burnley haven’t been poor during this miserable run, they’ve just fallen a little short.

That can be galling for supporters to hear when the defeats continue to occur, I get that. But the Clarets aren’t a million miles away, they’re right there.

Such are the contrasting emotions of football, that wouldn’t have been the immediate takeaway from what was a shocking end to an otherwise promising first-half at St James’ Park.

In fact, as I trudged back to the press room, almost in disbelief at what had just transpired, the now infamous Mick McCarthy quote and meme immediately came to mind (it can’t get any worse, can it? It can!).

It felt like the Clarets were somehow managing to find new ways to lose football matches, because for 30 minutes they were really good.

There was a clear response to the midweek setback against Crystal Palace, coming out on the front foot and taking the game to Newcastle. They were proactive, rather than reactive, pressing well, forcing mistakes and forcing turnovers.

Armando Broja, in for a surprise first league start, led the line well. Lucas Pires made a difference at left-back, which made his dismissal later in the game all the more frustrating.

There were opportunities too and Newcastle looked genuinely unsettled at the back. But, once Burnley fail to capitalise, your mind starts to wonder…will it happen again?

Yes, yes it will. In the most frustrating way possible too - as Bruno Guimaraes scored directly from a corner.

Some will argue Martin Dubravka is pushed by Anthony Gordon, but the Burnley goalkeeper – making an emotional return to St James’ Park – has to be stronger. Gordon shouldn’t be allowed to get in front of him, either.

Que a spell of Newcastle pressure, which results in Pires being sent his marching orders on his first Premier League start after bringing down Anthony Elanga as he surged through on goal.

As if enough hadn’t gone wrong already, the Magpies were then awarded a penalty – dispatched by Gordon – after referee Stuart Attwell had been sent to the monitor.

He had no choice but to point to the spot when he saw the ball hit Lesley Ugochukwu on the arm, with the midfielder bizarrely holding both arms aloft in a crowded penalty area. He was asking for trouble.

Decisive action

The expectancy is that Burnley would fold in the second period, but far from it.

The second-half display was particularly poignant for Parker, who made some big, big calls with his team selection.

It wasn’t necessarily the fact he made four changes, I think most were supportive of that given the recent run. But there were some bold decisions in there, whether it was dropping Quilindschy Hartman, handing starts to Pires and Broja or, let’s not forget, even naming the lesser-spotted Mike Tresor on the bench.

The dropping of Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming also took some guts, given the duo had scored eight goals between them prior to kick-off. In fact, the starting XI that took to the pitch at St James’ Park only had six in total.

Runs like these call for decisive action. Instinctively when I first saw the team sheet, I suspected it might have been one last desperate roll of the dice, but the measured performance told a different story. But can you imagine the flack Parker would have taken had it really gone pear-shaped?

This mustn’t be a false dawn though. Constant talk of encouraging performances without the results to back them up will only stretch so far. Now’s the time to capitalise.

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