Everything changes, like the seasons.........

That, I suppose is football. I haven't 'blogged' since October 2009 and we're now nearing the end of June 2010. It was good to read the old blog and remember the passion on the Turf. It doesn't go away out of season, but just lies dormant for a while. It came bursting back out yesterday as England went out against Slovenia in a must win last match of the group game. At two thirty I was pacing the floor in the office. We were due to watch on the big screen in the conference room, but alas, at 14:55 the whole world logged on to the BBC live stream and that was that really. However, we ended up listening on 5Live radio which was just as good. We won, we're through, we have Germany on Sunday!.....................

The Clarets went down! It's still not an easy thing to say and took a few months to prepare for. We could see it coming as we neared it of course, but there was always that glimmer. How on earth we managed to keep watching sometimes is beyond belief. Many left. The lad next to me left one day and never came back. I was completely empty, or so i thought, of belief, support, love for the club, week in, week out losing. The rain, the match, the club, the manager, the chants. It had all gone wrong. However, week in and week out, I went. I believed, supported until the end. How can you not? You're either in it or you're not and there was no way i was leaving it!. Even when we're getting hammered, and we did a few times, I just can't bring myself to leave before the final whistle. No matter what!

It was, emotionally, a very tough season. I sat on the kirb outside the club after the Blackburn match, empty, in shock, blank, speechless. In fact I was unable to speak for 3 hours or so afterwards, so i didn't.

Owen Coyle leaving was so unfair for the lads, the club, the town and everyone associated with Burnley. There was absolutely no way of coming round from that. It was like having the oxygen turned off on the life support machine. One is useless without the other. We didn't stand a chance. It shook the club to the ground and we went down.

Now today it's all forgotten, to a certain extent. Forgotten, but not forgiven, but we move on. That, is football. It changes every season, like the seasons. That's what it's all about. Push forward, look ahead, believe. A good structure for life, I think.

Bring on the next season.