They did well against us and easily earned their point. They didn’t seem to tire either! Not pretty but powerful, fast and hard working. On another day they’d have beaten us.

I disagree and - I can't believe I'm saying this - it should be awarded 0-3 in your favour as that has always been the scoreline for abandoned games. It's an absolute joke of a situation and, whilst not the fault of the fans, it definitely is the fault of the club AND the football authorities who have allowed this festering situation to exist in various forms for a few years now. The schedules are always packed in this league and the world cup has exascerbated this. Those clubs impacted by Coverntry's failure to host games are put at a disadvantage.

😂😂😂 - all the fingers it would have eh.

Doesn’t matter that you said strikers, we’ve got 3 of the divisions top 15 scorers and you’ve got 1. Your point was our attack is a bit impotent despite us being the top scorers in the division so far. 100% you are only 2 points behind us because we dropped a ridiculous 12 points from winning positions - something we need to address as we still look susceptible to the sucker punch.

Such a good question. As with us all I want my team to play at the highest level. I also want to compete. Without question I enjoted our seasons at this level more than I did at the level above. For me the inevitable relegation isn't what bothers me - it's how it can lead to finacial implosion becuase though the incomes are eyewatering so are the wages players expect. So to try and answer your question, I want to go up as Champions every season but never change division 🙂 🤷‍♂️

Facebook, Twitter, not seen any fans claiming we have already won the league. I did see one of your fans on here, on the Dingles thread, tell me we were all but guaranteed to win it and if we didn't beat you guys at the Turf that would be a massive failure but the fans I know are being pretty cautious. Loving the footie, really really enjoying the season and yeah hopeful, optimistic but absolutely not expectant.

7/4? I got us at 12/1 back in July. Only 7points between us and Reading in 8th. They beat us Saturday and its down to 4 and they'd still have a game in hand. We are also only 2 points ahead of you so you must have a similar chance of winning the league as us - plus if QPR win their game in hand they go above us. Nothing is certain, especially with so many games still to play. Normally when we play you I back you in a bet, a sort of cushion to soften the blow if we lose. I bet I don't get great odds despite you trying to insist we should beat you. Most on here seem to think we are not good and that you will beat us, fairly easily in some cases.

It's funny people keep saying this yet we are currently top scorers in the division and only PNE have conceded less than us - decent stats for a team that doesn't cause a threat and has a poor defence. Narrow it all you want, the reality is Rodriguez has scored as many as Diaz & Tella and Brownhill have scored more than any other players in your team - and overall we've scored 37% more goals than you have. On our performance, were you there? I'm not sure what more we could have done, we won, had plenty of shots, dominated the ball, excellent pass accuracy. We have a tough run of games (Norwich, Reading, Rotherham, Sheff Utd, the crapico) - if we can stay in touch until the World Cup then with a bit of luck we will see Twine, Churlinov and Westwood back in the squad and see where we go. I'm feeling more confident about top 6 now though, no point me pretending otherwise but I'm not confident about our game.

Literally not one fan I know thinks that or has said that. We are though enjoying the season. We’ve already lost 2 big signings (Twine and Churlinov). Both should be back after the World Cup break. Of course we don’t know what other injuries we will pick up in the next few weeks. Is that right? I’d assumed games didn’t resume until after the final.

I think HB is 2 years younger than Van Hecke though, still not 21. I haven’t seen Van Hecke to compare but if he’s better than HB he must be a very good player and I’d imagine a lot of teams would want him on loan. The young lad we have from Gladbach is looking decent as well. Does mean our central defence pair habe an average age of 21 so definitely young and inexperienced. Mind you our full backs are only 20 and 23.

Agree on this - I rarely go away yet our system is based on points - and points are like that show from the 80’s except it’s what do pounds make, points. More you spend more you get. As a season ticket holder of years I have lots of points and often qualify for aways even though I might go to only one or 2 a season.

Rate him very highly - often forget how young he is - and how relatively inexperienced after watching Tarkowski and Mee for so long. Looks a genuine footballer to me. We’ve been blessed with some good ones over the years. This lad has the potential to go a long way - still makes mistakes of course but I think we are lucky to have him, certainly couldn’t afford him.

We've got three players in the top 15 (Rodriguez on 8, Tella on 6 and Brownhill on 5. If I read it right your next best was Gallagher on 3 in 47th on the list. As for our performance. It was overall great, we won, dominated for all but the first 8-10 minutes of the second half and the last 5 as we defended our lead. We did only have 2 shots on Target - and 7 blocked so lord knows if they were on target. If I'm being critical we really should have scored more, expecially first half. Norwich looked poor - but defended very well. They were a bit lucky to end with 11 on the pitch as well. How long since you last beat us, 7 years? Chinny reckon?

It's Derby time and a bit of barb trading is going on - & I always get far worse than I give. Not a case of masks slipping, more a case of getting overly worked up -would you expect any different? These games still matter to me - and since the run ended this one has maybe more jeopardy than usual as it could well impact who goes into the break higher up the league.

Exactly this for me - don't get me wrong I really want to win but a defeat won't ruin my weekend. That isn't true for some people I know though. Just a bit of gentle ribbing all round, at least on my part. It's a derby, we are all probably a tad nervous but in the end no matter the outcome live goes on and hostilities recommence other side of the world cup. Yep - and if the Burnley who turned up first half against Sunderland and against West Brom, Birmingham, Coverntry and Stoke it isn't likely to be a great day for us - just noticed we have really struggled in the Midlands.

Aye - of money we earned, not gifted by a kindly uncle or a billionaire owner 😉 Mind you we've plenty to show for it, training facilites finally brought into the modern age, ground imporvements etc. Also sadly a leveraged buy out, all but a literal opposite to a benefactor. I know it's painful you've not beaten us in so long and we spent a few seasons above you, I've looked into that abyss and empathise, I can hear the anger in your posts, honestly let it go, it's just not good for you. Football is what it is, we will undoubtedly over time fade again and who knows where your journey will go - you've had 2 wealthy benefactors so far, I'm sure a third can't be far away.

Aye it is a funny old game - how many did you bang passed Wigan?

Because it doesn't exist. The borrowing was to buy the club, not a penny was spent on players - in fact we had to seel players to repay some of that borrowing. Shame because he is a good defender in reality - also always seems to be on a short fuse. So for this one I have literally no idea how it will play out. The Cricket club always welcome away fans - and hat is where the old bill normally advise people to go. This one is such a potential powder keg I don't know what they will do. Also being a 12:30 KO there won't be a lot of time for drinking. Rodriguez has scored as many as BBD - oh and we are top scorers in the division. Other than this your observation makes complete sense. I would agree you have the attacking players to hurt us though. I'm not sure we have a lot more experience than you - lots of young players from Europe or on loan. I can easily see where you win, even win handsomely. In Diaz you have a striker who can get you the goals and (tempered by where he's from and who he plays for) I'm excited to see Adam Wharton, he could be the match winner for you. We can definitely be got at in defence however, despite Chaddy's view, we can also hurt you. If you can either effectively high press, disprupt our play and expose our defence or low block, frustrate our attacks and take the chances when they come you have every chance - in fact surely you go into the game as favourites, after all JH Rover, Chaddy and a few others say we are a bit rubbish, can't shoot, can't defend, dodgy keeper etc - walk in the park for your lads surely 😉

Yep, built not bought. All done with money generated by the club not wealthy benefactors - and it isn't just your manager who gets November with his squad.

Thats a good question and I have no idea sorry. They have an under 12 season ticket for £65.00 but I don't know what they do about kids tickets per match - and all I can see on our website is an under 18's ticket @£18

But we lost 16 players one way or the other so we’re always going to need to spend - but we financed it by trading not PL money. Biggest money signing for us was Twine @ around 4 million, hardly huge in todays game. No you can still predict it. For me the jury is out on Pace. I think he got lucky this season with the sales and also appointing Kompany. I’m still unsure and the leveraged buyout is still a major concern. It just isn’t happening this season. The way this league has gone is allowing us to play into form and gel however it also makes it hard to asses how good the team and players are. I think the ‘half’ post World Cup will be where teams either flourish or wither.

Lol, we raised 70 million in sales and lost top players on frees (as well as some dross). We spent 23 million on players - hell we spent more paying back the loans. Many on here - and beyond - were joyfully predicting financial ruin and back to back relegations. It hasn’t happened because whatever else they got wrong they appointed the right manager who could identify and attract the right talent.

Kind of ignoring that 7 of those 16 were blocked rather than off target. So we battered them 0-0 for the first half, felt like it was just defence against attack but didn’t create nearly enough clear chances. They didn’t have a shot, a corner or anything you’d call an attack. Second half they pressed us high for maybe 10 minutes and caused us a few problems but after that it was all us but, again, not enough clear chances. After the Penalty (thanks Grant Hanley) Kompany decided to go with 5 at the back and defend and in trying to protect the score line he invited them to attack and they nearly got the equaliser. That said we thoroughly deserved to win but we really need to create and score more. I do hear that you guys don’t rate us and expect a comfortable victory. Fair enough. For me I honestly think any result is possible, from either side getting a thumping, to a dire nil nil or high scoring draw. We will see in a few weeks. For the next few days I’ll enjoy being actually top of the League rather than pretending we are ‘joint top’ when we are actually second 😉

Kompany is ambitious - he also has an absolutely clear plan for his career. It would be a big risk for Villa - though one Wolves were willing to take with Beale at QPR. After Wolves were turned down Villa would only move if they were certain he'd take the job. I doubt there is anything in it but over time, assuming he keeps delivering as he is for us, these links will only increase. Unless he bombs with us then I doubt he will be with us more than 3 seasons but I'm not sure he will be looking to move just yet.

Media suggesting Villa are sniffing around Kompany - https://www.footballinsider247.com/aston-villa-kompany-sources/ Suspect it's absolute made up b******s, no sources etc but I guess we can expect these stories if he continues doing well with us.