"ROVERS fans sleep soundly at night, reassured by the knowledge that in footballing terms the Clarets remain as inconsequential as they have been for 17 out of the last 18 seasons." So wrote my fellow columnist seven days ago in an hilarious fit of pique which will have brought a smile to the faces of Burnley fans everywhere.
It's interesting that Simon describes the Clarets as "inconsequential" are you sure about that, Simon? I mean absolutely sure? The Pocket Oxford Dictionary variously defines inconsequential as, "irrelevant... not worth considering."
If that truly is the case, then one has to wonder why my fellow scribe spends roughly half his column getting terribly steamed up about something so, so, what's the word? "inconsequential."
Yet, it should be noted that Mr Leigh is not alone in worrying about how irrelevant we are.
One only has to take a cursory glance at the Sport Letters page every Tuesday evening for evidence of that.
So unworthy of Rovers fans consideration are we that our blue and white counterparts bother to take the time to read a column about Burnley written by a supporter of Burnley.
Not only that, they are then considerate enough to sit down and write a letter detailing the myriad ways in which we do not matter to them (for the record, I am genuinely touched by the concern shown by these correspondents).
Maybe they're right. Maybe we are inconsequential. That would certainly explain why Blackburn fans fail to snap up their full allocation of tickets for last season's Derby game at Turf Moor.
Come off it. They are fooling no one. Antipathy between rival sets of supporters is one of the joys of being a fan, one of the supporting pillars on which fandom is based.
Tell me they didn't laugh when we were knocked out of the Worthington Cup by Rushton and Diamonds.
We certainly revel in their misfortunes (£6.5million for Ciccio Grabbi, anyone)?
If however, Rovers fans genuinely do feel they are above all this, then frankly, they are to be pitied rather than laughed at. Not that I would suggest that we just stop laughing at them all together.
As for Saturday the only thing more frustrating than Burnley being denied all three points was the no-show of Robert Prosnecki.
The Croatian was supposed to bring glitter and glamour to proceedings. Instead he skulked around Turf Moor like an old trout. His performance was, how can I put it, "inconsequential."
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