Turf Moor Beat

DAMIEN Matthew watched Burnley's dismal defeat at Reading on Tuesday night and admitted: "Stan was right to have a go at the players."

The former midfield favourite is now a regular radio summariser when Burnley play down south and he confessed that he did not have many positive things to say on air.

"I thought in the last 20 minutes Burnley were as poor as I have seen recently," he explained. "I felt they showed a lack of character and there is no way the manager will stand for that."

Although he left Turf Moor in the summer of 1998, the time that Stan Ternent took over as manager, Matthew, pictured right, knows him from the time he was a coach at Chelsea under boss Ian Porterfield.

And he is backing Ternent to turn things around at Turf Moor despite the dreadful start to the season.

"He will be okay because he has been in worse situations before," he claimed.

"He is a good motivator but it is also down to the players to stand up and be counted.

"I know Ian Cox and he did well at Reading but he will have been bitterly disappointed with the two late goals.

"But the team is packed full of good honest professionals and that is why I believe they have a good chance of bouncing back.

"It does not matter too much about formations, team shape and tactics. The players have to go out and do their bit.

"I left just before the success started to come to Burnley under Stan and I sometimes regret that I missed it. But I always like to see how they are doing and I hope the next time I see them, things will be a lot better.

"I saw Stan just before the start of the season and he was very relaxed because he had come to terms with the fact that he would have no money available.

"He was not moping and he certainly won't let his players mope. That was obvious as he had them out on the training pitch on Wednesday, and rightly so."

Despite the fact he left Turf Moor for a better offer at Northampton Town, Matthew admitted he loved his time at the club and he claimed: "Along with Chelsea, Burnley has got the best fans I ever played in front of.

"I loved it there and I still like to go back. I am actually due to do the half time draw at Turf when they play Rotherham in December and I am really looking forward to it.

"To be fair to the club, they offered me a new deal before I left but I had a better offer elsewhere. I had enjoyed two good years but my wife was pregnant and it was a chance to move south again."

Matthew, who was born in Islington, is now at Stamford Bridge where he does his day job, coaching at the club's academy, and it is a role he is relishing.

"In may ways London is a big area to get kids from but with all the clubs that there are down here it is not as big as you would think," he said.

"But I enjoy the coaching because I have worked under a lot of good people, including Stan. I have played for Dave Sexton, John Ward, Ray Harford, Don Howe and David Webb and you learn from all of them."

"As coaches we have to be careful because you get youngsters coming in from the age of nine and expectations can very quickly become high. The one down side is you can create false hope."

In many ways that is part of the current problem at Turf Moor as recent successes have meant that expectations have grown.

But one thing Matthew does expect is for Burnley's time at the foot of the table to be short.

Adrian picks out the best

HAVING agreed with Burnley boss Stan Ternent about the best Burnley goals last season, Clarets fan Adrian Ashworth picked up his prize of a signed shirt before last weekend's game against Sheffield United.

Now all he hopes is that the side will start picking up some points.

Mr Ashworth, from Colne, has been a regular at Turf Moor since the 1961-1962 season, although he missed out on a trip to Wembley for the FA Cup Final at the end of that campaign.

Before today's game against Palace everyone had to agree on the best Burnley goal so far this season as only Lee Briscoe has scored. Mr Ashworth is pictured receiving his prize from Burnley writer Matt Horn before the match against the Blades.

Prepare to part with some cash

IPSWICH Town may have been relegated from the top flight but Clarets fans are furious that they will still be charging Premiership prices.

Not only must the supporters travel to Suffolk for a Tuesday night fixture later this month, they will be charged £23 for the pleasure of sitting in Portman Road.

And anyone who is feeling really flush can fork out an extra fiver and get a seat on the halfway line.

At a time when football is in financial crisis, surely it is only a matter of time before the clubs realise that pricing supporters out of the game is short-sighted.

Oasis pay a tribute to Glen

THEY may be the most famous Manchester City fans in the country but it is nice to see that the Gallagher brothers have paid tribute to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's newest columnist Glen Little.

The Clarets star is giving the inside track at Turf Moor in the paper every Thursday and Oasis have marked the event by releasing their latest single "Little By Little".

Clearly they have not been told that his favourite Premier League side happens to play at Old Trafford!

Buses heading for County

THE Claret and Blues Supporters' Club will be running coaches to Derby County on September 7.

The trip to Pride Park will see pick-ups starting at the Trafalgar, Nelson 9.45, Queensgate 10.00, Park View 10.10, Bull and Butcher 10.20 and finally Rawtenstall at 10.30.

There will be a stop on the way and the cost to members is £8.50 and non members £11.00.

For full details ring Dave on 01282 454669.

Beaten by the best

NIK Michopoulos may have made a shaky start to the season but there is one goal that he would appear to be blameless over.

The stunning free-kick from Denis Irwin for Wolves at Molineux turned out to be the hardest shot of that weekend according to Sky Sports statistics.

He ripped the ball into the net off the underside of the bar at an incredible 81mph, a speed that no Burnley fan travelling to Reading in midweek was ever in danger of reaching on the world's longest car park, the M6.

It is a question of Pride

BURNLEY'S trip to Pride Park next weekend looks certain to go ahead and is already guaranteed to leave manager Stan Ternent with a selection headache.

His already limited resources will be depleted still further following the international call-ups for strikers Gareth Taylor and Dimitri Papadopoulos.

Taylor will be on duty with Wales in Finland while Papadopoulos is back with the Greece Under-21 side.

As the Rams are also only likely to have two players away with their country that means both clubs will be one short of the three required to have a game called off.

Keeper Mart Poom is expected to be in the Estonian squad named this weekend while the experienced midfielder Georgi Kinkladze should be away with Georgia, despite the fact that Derby are trying to move him on from the club.

Last season both Malcolm Christie and Chris Riggott were involved in the England Under-21 side but they are now too old for selection by David Platt according to a spokesman for the FA.