Lancashire Telegraph Burnley only need to look at Reading for worst case scenario
12:40pm Wednesday 23rd December 2009
By Chris Flanagan »
LIFE has always appeared to be a haphazard collection of best and worst case scenarios, and Burnley need only look towards events at Reading should they ever need reminding of it.
As many fret over the failure to go to Molineux or Fratton Park and get so much as a draw, a far greater tale of woe is being played out in Berkshire.
For Burnley, things are still about as good as they can be, considering where they were before that glorious month of May. Yet it could have been so different.
Reading, you will recall, were beaten by the Clarets in the semi finals of the Championship play-offs.
That evening Steve Coppell, seen wistfully signing farewell autographs outside the Madejski at gone midnight, declared his intention to leave the Royals after six years.
Forced to survive without the steady stream of Premier League cash they hoped would be coming their way once more, their more notable players would soon depart.
Kevin Doyle and Marcus Hahnemann to Wolves, Stephen Hunt to Hull, Andre Bikey (pictured) to Turf Moor.
Brendan Rodgers was brought in as boss, but he couldn’t replace the irreplaceable Coppell.
Last week he parted company with Reading, with the club now fifth bottom of the Championship.
To suggest this would have been Burnley’s fate had they failed to win the play-offs is to overlook the considerable talent and character they possess. But it was the worst case scenario.
Burnley’s future was in some part decided not so much by Sliding Doors, but by a sliding tackle from Matt Kilgallon on Chris McCann at Wembley.
What if the ball had not rolled so perfectly into Wade Elliott’s path, giving him the opportunity to lash the ball into the net first time?
What if the chance had been lost and Sheffield United had gone on to win, perhaps with a lucky break or a controversial refereeing decision?
Would Coyle, faced with crushing disappointment and another season in the Championship, have been able to resist the already tempting lure of the Celtic job? Could anyone have replicated the success created by the man who has masterminded the incredible events of the last 18 months?
We already know that Burnley would have had to sell at least one or two of their key players in the summer, such was the financial gamble they took on promotion to the Premier League.
Gladly, the club that dared to dream saw their ambition rewarded.
Reading, who gave their place in the Intertoto Cup to Blackburn Rovers three seasons ago because they feared a run in Europe would hit their league form, have now discovered they should have lived a little while they had the chance.
This has proved a successful decade for Burnley, who find themselves two divisions higher than when they started.
Blackburn, too, are a division better off, while Accrington Stanley have ascended three tiers since the turn of the millennium.
Life is never perfect at any football club. But Burnley, of all clubs, know that things could be so much worse.
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