If the opening night was anything to go by, it looked as if Burnley’s return to the Premier League at the first time of asking was inevitable. It was Scott Parker’s first game in charge, a tricky trip to Luton, who had dropped down with the Clarets. One team had enjoyed a summer of continuity whereas everything had changed at Turf Moor but it was Burnley who left with a dominant 4-1 victory.
That warm night at Kenilworth Road was not indicative of what was to come. By the end of the month, three of the goalscorers had left – 11 first-team players departed in August – forcing Parker to almost reset after the campaign had started, but it helped mould his squad into his vision for a promotion push. It would not be done with the flair and style with which Vincent Kompany et al accrued 101 points and 87 goals to win the title two years ago but, with the potential to reach a century, the result could be the same.
