Burnley Season Preview

Burnley play football.  That's what you hear about this club who after a disastrous start to last season came on late to win promotion via the Championship playoffs.  Along the way they had an amazing Carling Cup run, knocking off FOUR Premier League clubs before falling to Spurs.

They are going to need that Cup run mentality week-in and week-out this season.  And much as they did during that run, they are going to rely on Brian "The Beast" Jensen in net to bail them out time after time.  He really is a monster in goal, but he'll have to be with that defence in front of him.  With Caldwell (formerly of Sunderland) and Mears (formerly of Derby) you have the unique combination of the two worst-ever Premier League teams.  Edgar is young and looks promising, but he too was relegated with Newcastle last season.

In attack, Burnley have wide options with Eagles, Blake, Elliott and now Guerrero.  But the onus will certainly be on Paterson and Fletcher up front to quickly form a partnership and score goals.  It remains to be seen if they ever see enough of the ball, however, or if they're ever not playing from behind, for it to matter.

Possible Starting XI:  Jensen, Mears, Caldwell, Carlisle, Edgar, Elliott, Alexander, McCann, Eagles, Paterson, Fletcher

Players to Watch:

Graham Alexander: A rare breed this year - a player lining up in front of his stated position!  So while Alexander is listed in the game as a defender, he's really Burnley's defensive midfielder.  While he likely won't be earning clean sheet points every week, every little bit helps.  And on top of that positional bonus, Alexander is Burnley's penalty kick taker, scoring nine of them last season.

Chris Eagles: Another fringe Manchester United player finding a home at a lower club, Eagles will have his chance now to prove his Premier League credentials.  Eagles is a attacker who plays primarily on the wing, but can play anywhere across the final third of the pitch. He isn't afraid to shoot when given even half a chance and he'll share in corner kick duties.  Burnley showed in last year's Carling Cup run that they can be a match for the best, and are committed to an open style of play.  They remind me a lot of last year's Championship champions West Brom in that way.  I'm afraid WBA's failure may also haunt Burnley at the end of the season, but Eagles would be my pick as this season's Chris Brunt.

Steven Fletcher: James McFadden.  Kenny Miller.  Peter Lovenkrans.  Barry Ferguson.  There is a recent legacy of players from Scotland moving to the Premier League without much success that Fletcher will be hoping to dispel this season with Burnley.  He's looked good in pre-season and seems to have an understanding with Paterson from the off.  But he's young, he's never played in the Premier League, and he'll likely be in a struggling side albeit one that should be able to create chances for him.  At best he's Kevin Doyle in Reading's debut season - knocking in double figures and being a consistently generating fantasy points.  On the downside, he's Kevin Doyle the following season.  And yes, we'll be reusing this analogy when we actually discuss Kevin Doyle and Wolves.