Wednesday, 13 January 2010

Brian Laws Is A Wan.... Premier League Manger?!


Anyone for chicken?

The football world was stunned today when Brian Laws was appointed Burnley mangager. It looks a baffling appointment to the outsider and to most Burnley fans too, I'd imagine. A BBC poll taken today shows that 65% of those polled felt that Laws was the wrong man to preserve the Clarets' Premier League status, with only 16% backing the former Scunny boss. Having taken Shefield Wednesday into a releagtion fight Laws was sacked on the 13th of December last year, but a month later finds himself in the hotseat at Turf Moor. This is definitely a leftfield appointment but perhaps, when looked at a little closer. it's not as confusing as first appears. Laws did a fantastic job at Scunthorpe United, leading them to promotion from the Football League's basement division twice, with relegation in between. He left the Iron in a good position in League One to manage Wednesday and although Laws tenure saw the club slide back towards the Championship relegation zone this season, he was hampered by massive debts. Having proved himself able to work within the constraints of a small budget at Scunthorpe, Laws has been asked to do the same at Burnley. It's also a prudent appointment on Burnley's part. Clearly, Laws impressed their board otherwise he would not have been given the job but it's a low risk appointment as Laws will not command the same wages as other big name managers linked with the job. Having signed a two and a half year deal, should the need arise to sack Laws, Burnley will not be worried about the financial implications of his departure. But the Premier League is a whole different animal to the lower leagues and it remains to be seen whether or not he will be successful. Personally, I think it's only a matter of time before the man not-so-affectionately referred to as Pissy Pants by some City fans leads Burnley back to the Championship. Needless to say I can't wait to see how many food fights he instigates between now and May, and of course the chance to chant "BRIAN LAWS IS A WANKER" at the KC again is something I'm looking forward to greatly.

Incidentally, the BBC's Paul Fletcher has posted a blog concerning Laws's appointment that is well worth your time. You can read it here.

African Cup Of Nations Roundup
So the first round of group fixtures in the ACN has come and gone and it's time to look at how the City contingent has fared in their nation's opening games.
Seyi Olofinjana was an unused substitute as Nigeria limped to a 3-1 defeat to defending champions Egypt and outcast striker Daniel Cousin scored Gabon's winner in an unlikely victory against highly rated Cameroon, in an entertaining and open game. Cousin's goal brought Gabon only their second ever victory in the tournament's finals and guarantees Cousin hero status in his homeland. Unless of course he follows up his heroics with a year's worth of lazy display and only showing occasional flashes of his undoubted talent a la last season, post Arsenal. Then his international repution might be a bit more like the one he has at the KC.

That's it today. I wasn't panning on blogging until after the Tottenham game so it might be that I'm back unexpectedly tomorrow or it might be next week. It just depends on what stories break between now and the weekend! Thanks for reading, and please leave a comment if you feel that you have anything to add. It'd be nice to get a discussion going on some of the stories I've written about so far!

Soundtrack for this post:
'New Brains for Everyone' by The Brokedowns

(THICK Records) (2007)
Rating: 7/10

1 comment:

  1. Laws' appointment has ruined an up until now competitive relegation fight. Burnley join Pompy as certainties to go down, leaving one of Hull, Wolves or West Ham to join them. I'm betting it's Hull, although many fans won't have the opportunity! http://cli.gs/n1Mm9a

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