Carling Cup – a chance for prominence

All people who are even a bit interested in football will clearly know that there is a huge difference in quality of the Premier League and Coca Cola Championship. There are many reasons for that and I will not lose time lining them since it would take a book to write them all and not one blog. There is one place though where that difference is not that huge – Cup contest.

Last season’s FA Cup spell saw Championship clubs hitting the spotlights since there were even three teams from the best second league in the semi-finals – Cardiff City (finalists), Barnsley (eliminated Chelsea and Liverpool on the way to semi-finals) and West Bromwich Albion who were first on the standings and on their way to the Premiership at the time. Still, the only member from Premiership among all the semi-finalists had won the title – Portsmouth.

This season, Carling Cup became the great chance for Championship clubs. Quite deservedly, semifinalists this year are Burnley and Derby County, two of the clubs that are in a mission impossible against Tottenhem Hotspur and Manchester United on their way to the finals. I have already said a lot about Derby County and their chronic problems , it would be nice to say something about Burnley.

City of buggered steel factories in Lancashire, with its 70.000 residents is one of the poorest areas in England, but this autumn, it has been a real football attraction in Championship. Clarets have done a great deal in November 2007 when they brought Owen Coyle at the helm. Before that, Coyle had been with St. Johnston. Last season was the season of consolidation for Burnley when they were leading a brave play-off fight until the end. The most important thing at the time was that Coyle saw clear there is no use of playing the “oldies” (Andy Cole, Stanislav Varga), while he also sold his best player Andy Gray to Charlton for big money in January 2008.

Barnley had a busy summer and one of the smartest transfer campaigns (along with Wolves). Coyle created a fantastic mix of youth and experience when he brought two excellent youngsters into his over-experienced team. Striker Martin Paterson, one of the best attackers in the league, came from Scunthorpe United for £1.4 million because he didn’t want to be relegated together with his former club. His 10 goals this season are speaking for themselves. Second big boost was Manchester United winger Chris Eagles who didn’t get the right chance with the Red Devils. He was paid £1.25 million. Eagles has also been fantastic this autumn and many of the Premier League outfits are lined up offering big money for him. Along with the experienced Steven Thompson who came from Cardiff, cheap but fantastic purchase was Kevin McDonald from Dundee. With the experienced defenders Caldwell, Duff and Carlisle on board, captain Graem Alexander was shifted to the defensive-midfielder position, while young Irish left-midfielder Chris McCann and the experienced Wade Elliott are dominant figures in the middle of the field. Robbie Blake and Paterson are partners in the attack, while Danish Brian Jensen, Carling cup hero this autumn is standing between the posts.

This team lost two opening games this season, on three goals margin, drawn two more and then, after the win over Forest in Nottingham, the renaissance began. Their attacking and attractive style brought them a run of only two defeats in 17 games in all competitions, while they also managed to eliminate Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal during the Carling Cup campaign. Team with such ambition and spirit as theirs is certainly one of the most pleasant surprises in the league and is deservedly in their Hotspur semifinals. They suffered an easy 4-1 loss at White Hart Lane, but they managed to show their strength in the first part of the game.

They might need a “longer bench” for greater achievements since this tough rhythm require more available players, but Coyle manages to overcome this for now, although some of the last rounds have cost his team consistency and his club fell down a bit out of the play-off zone.

Due to all of the things I mentioned here, I believe this team deserves great credit for their achievements this autumn and they also deserve a great deal of support in the future. While you are reading this, you will have known the outcome of Tottenham game. Whatever happened and although it is almost impossible for them to have qualified to the finals, I know that Clarets will not have been disappointing, and I tip them to win this game…

Popularity: 16% [?]