Pope’s fields of dreams
By BURNLEY KEEPER’S DAD IS A FARMER WHO PUTS RELEGATION STRESS INTO PERSPECTIVE ...AS CLARETS PLOUGH ON FOR VITAL POINTS
LIKELY TEAMS TOTTENHAM: Dier, Davies, Lloris, Sanchez, Emerson, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Sessegnon, Kane Kulusevski, Son, BURNLEY: Tarkowski, Pope, Roberts, Lennon, Collins, Taylor, Mcneil, Brownhill, Cork, Cornet, Weghorst REFEREE: Kevin Friend
WHEN it comes to ploughing his way through stress, Burnley keeper Nick Pope takes a leaf out of his old man’s book.
As Burnley look to harvest a vital point or three at Tottenham today, the Turf Moor keeper can thank his farmer dad David for helping him keep calm as the relegation pressure ramps up.
“My dad’s a farmer so it’s a different life to mine,” said 30-year-old Pope. “We have different pressures.
“A lot of the thing about pressure is your own view on it. When you are younger you can feel the world is on your shoulders and everything is the ‘most important’.
“When you get more mature, you realise there are more important things in life.
“My dad has a natural demeanour that is probably where I get it from.
“He never seems to stress, that is a nice trait he has given me, one of the few!
“I’d help him when I was younger but once I went to Charlton that was it, even though he would sometimes ask me when I’d go home.
“I can drive a tractor but I’ve had a few close calls.
“I’d do a few bits when I was younger but not much, the starts were too early!
“It sounds horrific looking back now but I probably wasn’t much help to him. I’ve got an older brother who was more help than me but I’ve got a lot to thank Dad for.”
Survival fights separate the wheat from chaff – and Pope knows Burnley will reap what they sow as they bid to finish above fellow relegation candidates Everton and Leeds.
Taking 10 points in five games under caretaker manager Mike Jackson has revived the Clarets’ bid but their drop rivals have bigger histories and bigger resources than Burnley – and Pope knows neutrals might not want them to stay up anyway.
“Maybe Liverpool fans will,” he laughed. “But I’m not sure about neutrals. For me as a neutral fan when I’ve watched things in the past, you watch for entertainment.
“You want it to go to the last minute of the last game.
“I’m not too sure about the neutrals’ point of view, but it certainly motivates us that we are in it with two big teams and we are the underdogs.
“The stature and history of those other clubs would see us as underdogs but our players enjoy that.” Pope is hoping Three Lions skipper Harry Kane does not continue his run of success against Burnley, with the Spurs striker scoring three goals in heavy 4-0 and 5-0 defeats on their last two visits to the Tottenham Stadium.
Although he knows him well from England camps, Pope believes giving advice to his defenders to try to stop the Spurs striker is futile.
“Working with Harry isn’t much help as his decent goal record against me suggests,” said Pope. “He is someone I have seen closer than most people.
“He’s a top player. He is someone we will have to deal with properly to get a result, for sure. But if you tell the defenders one thing, I am sure Harry will find something else.
“You can talk about a player’s strength but that is part of the usual build-up.
“As a goalkeeper you have to be prepared for anything but if I have a quiet game then ‘happy days’, I will be delighted. Anything else, I will be ready.”
The stature and history of Leeds and Everton make us underdogs ...but I think we enjoy that