THEY’VE GONE FORABURTON
BuRTON chairman Ben Robinson stood next to the Deepdale directors’ box a little less than an hour after his players’ world had fallen in with relegation.
‘Look, I’m disappointed but I’m not gutted,’ Robinson told Sportsmail. ‘How can you be gutted? We only got promotion to the Football League in 2009 and we’ve produced some great results in the two seasons.
‘See the teams we’ve beaten, teams who have invested absolute fortunes compared to us. That’s the reality.’
If that appears blasé, it certainly was not his intention. There is something deeply refreshing about a club not suffocated by expectation. But that does not mean this did not hurt. Burton were two minutes from the most improbable escape in Championship history when disaster struck.
Bolton scored in the 87th minute. That was fine, Burton were still safe with a draw at Preston thanks to Hope Akpan’s wonder strike.
But at Bolton, the home side scored again in the 88th minute to beat Nottingham N tti h Forest. F t That Th t result lt sent Burton back down to League One, ending a two-year stay in the second tier.
Nigel Clough stood, hands on hips. Matters were made worse in stoppage time when Louis Moult added to Callum Robinson’s goal before halftime to give 10-man Preston victory on a day of the highest drama.
How cruel football can be and Clough, the Burton manager, would do well to remember what an adventure this has been. Burton are the lowest payers in the division.
‘We’ve not gone down because of today,’ Clough said. ‘It’s the draws. We’ve thrown so many points away. What have we gone down by? A point.
‘I could give you so many examples of when we could have got that point. Bolton were always going to be the problem for us. We fancied Derby to beat Barnsley. Bolton played a team who had nothing to play for. And for some reason with five minutes to go we’ve gone all over the place.’
Clough maintained he does not have the ‘luxury’ of a holiday to reflect. Meetings over budgets started weeks ago and Clough is back to work tomorrow.
He should rue missed chances before t and d after ft Akpan’s Ak ’ 30-yard 30 d strike t ik and d that Burton failed to capitalise on a man advantage following Billy Boden’s two bookings, one for handball, the other simulation. One of the daftest red cards you are likely to see.
Burton’s players — many of whom face reduced salaries next year — were crestfallen at the end. They fell to the floor, before being serenaded by colourful away support and sportingly applauded by some Preston fans.
Alex Neil, however, was perturbed by a section revelling in Burton’s misery after sealing an encouraging seventh-placed finish, pipped to the play-offs by Derby.
‘I know our fans were jumping up and down but I told the bench not to celebrate,’ the Preston manager said. ‘We can look back with some pride at what we’ve achieved this year.’
Burton hope they will not have a completely new squad in League One. One thing seems certain: their manager will remain.
‘I’ve got no reason to think we won’t be working with each other for years to come,’ Robinson said of Clough.
That may just be the real result of the day for Burton in the long run — even if they cannot see it now.