GREED OR AMBITION?

It was a hostile reception that greeted Chris Wood and, in particular, Charlie Taylor as they faced the side they left in the summer to play Premier League football at Turf Moor.

Taylor’s departure from the club he joined as a nine-year-old was particularly acrimonious and he was spared no grace from those visiting fans at the Cricket Field End.

The travelling support chided both for being ‘greedy’ in leaving their club, and while the patriotism of fans has to be considered, surely it is fairly obviously why both wanted to move to Burnley this summer?

For all Leeds’ bright start to the Championship campaign and hopes at Elland Road that they might be able to mount a challenge to return to the top flight, they are not there yet. Burnley are. They survived last season and are clearly a club several steps ahead of the Whites on an upward curve.

The decision to move for Taylor and Wood had everything to do with ambition, and nothing to do with greed.

CUP OF LITTLE CHEER

Given the Clarets success in recent seasons it’s difficult to be too critical when things don’t go so well on occasions, but the one area this side have under performed in during Sean Dyche’s tenure is the cup competitions.

Dyche was right on Monday when he said the growth of the Premier League and the rewards on offer for being in the division, both financial and in terms of kudos, had been responsible for the diminishing importance of knockout competitions.

But Burnley’s record in them is pretty poor, and while they did deserve to go through last night it’s another early exit to a team from a league below to add to the collection, and since 2015/16 the Clarets have now been knocked out of cup competitions by teams from the Championship, League One, League Two and the National League.

THE FIGHT FOR PLACES

Despite the early exit Burnley did play pretty well against Leeds, albeit a Whites side showing nine changes from the weekend, and a few players will have given Dyche food for thought when it comes to selection for the bread and butter of the Premier League.

Phil Bardsley was impressive at right-back all evening, getting forward constantly and defending well, and he is keeping the pressure on Matt Lowton, while Ashley Westwood produced a tidy performance in midfield, dovetailing well with Jeff Hendrick.

ENERGY REQUIRED

The dour fare served up in the EFL Cup on Tuesday night across the country must have been perfect for this year’s sponsors, given the copious amounts of the energy drinks required to stay awake for the 11 games, which produced just 22 goals, with four of them coming in the final 10 minutes at Turf Moor.

At one stage late in the first half only three goals had been scored in the 11 games, and it wasn’t exactly another night to remember for a cup that hasn’t won the PR war this year, while the draws overseas, including the third round at 4am, haven’t done it’s dwindling reputation any favours.

Attendances were fairly poor again across the country and if the Football League allow the competition to be devalued in the way it has been, who can blame the fans for turning away?

KEANE TO GET A VIEW

It would be no surprise to discover that Roy Keane has his own seat in the Turf Moor directors’ box given how often he is an interested onlooker these days.

The Clarets’ Irish ranks were swelled to five this summer and a trip to these parts is always a worthy outing for Keane, assistant to Martin O’Neill.

He might have been disappointed to see Jon Walters absent from the 18 against Leeds, and Walters has played more for his country than his club this season, but there was still plenty to asses for Keane.

Jeff Hendrick was back in the Burnley side for the first time since the second game of the season as he overcame a thigh injury, while it was also a valuable outing for Kevin Long, who has been restricted to League Cup action so far this season.