The fixture list seemed to contain a cruelty to Burnley when Newcastle activated Chris Wood’s release clause in January. Some four months later, however, Wood did not relegate his old club, despite an 18-minute cameo at Turf Moor. Perhaps Burnley’s past did, though. It caught up with them.
They had long felt an anachronistic presence in the Premier League. That sense was exacerbated when moneyed larger clubs like Newcastle altered the equation. But it was past mistakes, past passiveness in the transfer market, past complacency and the reality too many of their players are not the forces they were in recent years.
