Burnley may remain the enemy but Sean Dyche and his crew deserve promotion

I suppose congratulations are in order.  As a Blackburn Rovers’ diehard, it is through gritted teeth that I say ‘well done’ to Burnley on wrapping up promotion to the English Premier League.  The 2-0 home win by our former nemesis over Wigan Athletic  finally sealed a most unlikely happening.  At the start of the season,  the bookies’ odds were  favouring Burnley to be involved in a relegation dogfight rather than be pushing for a promotion place. So fair play to Sean Dyche and his tight-knit squad. The so-called “Ginger Mourinho”  has pulled off a minor miracle with a group  of players who were not even well known in Burnley last August. When they hit the top two in September, I mocked – as did many others – and felt it would be a temporary thing. The squad seemed too threadbare and it appeared inevitable that they would fall back into the pack once injuries started to bite. But that never happened and they just kept going. However, to my Claret chums back home such as Pete Stevenson, Malc Heyworth, Col Hollis, Richard Bennett (ex-drummer with The Wind) and the late great Adrian “Flec” Fletcher (who will  have been watching from above), I say enjoy it while you can. Those same bookies won’t get it wrong again next season. I should suspect they already have you locked in as relegation favourites.  Even as Danny Ings, the bloke who looks like Robbie Williams, and Sam Vokes kept scoring, there were signs of what may lie ahead. Dyche’s squad is so thin that he had to play a full-strength team against West Ham at Turf Moor in the League Cup.  Result – big Sam Allardyce’s “reserves” helped themselves to a 2-0 success. There may be more of that to come next season. But promotion has been earned on merit, galling as it has been for me to look on. Along the way you even managed to beat us at Ewood after umpteen years of failure.  How many of you have ever witnessed that before?  So it seems like it was all meant to be. Next season, unless Rovers achieve a far-fetched elevation via the play-offs,  we will kick off a term in a division below Burnley for the first time since 1975-76. That is 39 years. A virtual lifetime.  1976 – jeez, I was still a student then, the Sex Pistols were on the verge of discovery and the long, hot summer of that year in the UK is still talked about now  as if it was a major event. Anybody born in those years would now be approaching middle age. It’s like some mind-bending Doctor Who script which has all gone wrong. Again, it’s very tough to take.  Next season will also mark 20 years since Rovers’ Premiership triumph at the zenith of the Jack Walker era. As Kenny Dalglish, Alan Shearer and the rest were cavorting around Anfield with the trophy, bereft Burnley were on their way to being consigned to third tier football.  In many Rovers fans’ eyes, the Claret half of the great East Lancashire divide had become an irrelevance.  Where have those two decades disappeared to?  And how has the footballing landscape along the M65 changed so dramatically? Even with the chasm between the clubs, the lingering loathing remained.  Rovers fans would still sing anti-Burnley songs in such majestic footballing citadels as Old Trafford and Highbury.  A Kiwi mate of mine from the Daily Telegraph, Rod Carr, adopted Rovers as his team, probably cos of my constant prattling. At one away game –  Norwich City, if I recall correctly, – the usual Claret jibes  were being voiced.  Rod looked at me and simply said: “Relevance?”.   Rod now lives in Brazil so maybe he picked up the awful  Turf Moor tidings overnight and can reflect on how things can change.  I had to put up with watching a bit of the game on Setanta. When Burnley took the lead, it was time for kip for me. Then this morning I woke for Gabs’ early shift to find the promotion story on mainstream Aussie TV sports feeds.  I’m afraid 7am is a bit early for me. The sight of the infantile mascot Bertie Bee and Claret ne’re-do-wells  invading the pitch made me feel nauseous. I bought Setanta to watch the odd Rovers game after our Premiership demise. Yet this season, we have been on precisely twice, both times against Burnley. In recent weeks, the channel has virtually turned into Clarets TV.  They  have had games on against Leicester City, Middlesbrough (both losses, ha, ha), Blackpool and then Wigan. They are even gonna be featured again against Ipswich Town on Saturday. I have watched the games fleetingly but the situation has become insufferable. Up until last night, though, there seemed to be plenty of empty seats for the Turf Moor clashes. Not a good look. The derby at Blackpool was dire. But there is nothing wrong with winning ugly when promotion is your aim. To escape from the Championship, where everybody can beat everybody else,  is like trying to free yourself from a cunningly constructed spider’s web.  So those from the dark side of Pendle Hill, the witch country of Demdike and Chattox centuries ago, are back in the limelight. For now…  I will be sneaking a peek to check on the fortunes of the Anti-Christs aka the Claret clowns.  After all, Burnley’s result has always been the next one I look for after either walking off a Rovers game live or finding the outcome while living in Oz. A lot can happen over the summer months.  If Dyche is so revered, maybe bigger clubs will come calling. Remember Owen Coyle? And there is suddenly a vacancy at Old Trafford. Only kiddin’ . Enjoy the moment you lot of the Claret persuasion.  Last time you reached the promised land of the Premiership, it all ended in tears. So at least you should  know what to expect.  Be seeing you…