Burnley are back!

Congratulations to Burnley who have clawed their way back into the top flight of football after 30 years of trying.

Him Outdoors is delighted and wearing his colours to work (hat and scarf knitted by his grandmother almost 40 years ago) and a grin on his face. If he had any nails to bite, they would all be gone after sitting up this morning watching the play-off final and shouting at the TV - this helps apparently.

His dad first took him to the games in the '70s when they were still a force to be reckoned with. He has watched his team plummet all the way down through the divisions and he was there when they nearly slid out of the football league altogether. He has anxiously watched them rise back to the top and he and his town deserve a little footballing happiness.

They may indeed be Turf Morons but it will be good to welcome them to the top grounds around the country next season. I've seen Liverpool play at Turf Moor at many a cup game and it's a fine addition to the North West venue circuit. Just stay out of the pubs - some of them are less than desirable and full of 80s 'fashion' throwbacks. People will be going to Burnley and leaving in stunned amazement - they won't know what has hit them. There are still pockets of the North West with fanatics (in the true sense) supporting (again, in the true sense) teams you never knew existed. Good luck to the town.

They are under no illusions and know that the toughest job will be just hanging in there. They will receive a much-needed cash injection but with a squad of a mere 23 players, it will be hard going against the glamour boys. Less than an hour after they won promotion, bookies have already released odds on them going straight back down, as has happened to 10 of the last 17 teams to reach the Premier League through the play-off final.

This may all come to pass. I don't know why I've gone all biblical there, except there is something stirring about one of the founding teams of the best football league in the world finally making it back. This is their moment. Let them enjoy it.

G&T - Perfect combination

Four - nil against Real Madrid! That's five-nil on aggregate. We thrashed them! It doesn't get much better than that - unless we were to do the same thing to Man Utd. at the weekend, ('I would love it' etc.). I can't see that happening and it's pretty much all over bar the shouting in the Premiership, but let's not allow that cloud to darken our sky, for today in my football-land all is sunny and bright.

Did you see that first goal? Fantastico! 'Fernando Torres, Liverpool number nine' indeed. Pass and move - it's the Liverpool groove, and the cut backs worked excellently throughout. It was like shooting fish in a barrel and it could have been more, were it not for their keeper, who pulled out some of those what I believe are known in the business as top drawer saves.

Admittedly if I were a Real Madrid supporter (and thank God I'm not) I would have felt aggrieved at that penalty decision. I don't think that was hand ball and it was a bit unfair for their player to get booked for it. Nothing dodgy about the execution though. That was a sweetly taken spot kick (will ESPN please stop calling them PKs? I thought that was a type of chewing gum).

And then the third goal was just Liverpool gold. That's why we love them. I've always though G&T to be a great combination - and now we have a new contender - Gerrard and Torres - simply sublime. When they had both been substituted to rest up for the next big game, even Babel and Mascherano played nicely together - but B&M doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

And what about Jay Spearing who came on in the 74th minute and made a few incisive runs up the pitch. Brought through the youth academy, having captained the Under-18s to the second of their successive FA Youth Cup victories in 2007, this lad had the Kop chanting his name - 'There's only one Jay Spearing'. How great would it feel? Pretty damn good. We love you, Liverpool, we do...

It's a funny old game

It's not been a good week for our household football-wise. Late goals have crushed us. All the ones in the Premier League went against Liverpool, particularly at Anfield where the snow sluiced down and even Captain Fantastic couldn't save the mighty reds their position at the top of the table.

And it all came down to an 87th minute goal by an Australian - blatantly not pictured. I still believe, however. Liverpool will rise again to the top of the table.

Meanwhile, Him Outdoors is devastated. The highs and lows of football supporting have never been so graphically illustrated as this semi-final of the Carling Cup.

Even the Guardian drew a prophetic parallel - "Four-one up and coasting towards a final date with Manchester United, Spurs were left bedraggled as Owen Coyle's emerging Burnley team produced a comeback that, in Turf Moor folklore at least, will be compared to Liverpool's miracle in Istanbul in 2005 as the Championship club took their wealthy Premier League visitors to extra-time and were within two minutes of going to Wembley."

He thought they couldn't and then he thought they could, and then he thought they couldn't, and then... Well all this thinking was quite exhausting and the result was not the one he wanted. After sending euphoric messages at the end of 90 minutes, he was reduced to shell-shocked grief by 120. He had practically booked his plane ticket home but this little claret and blue engine simply couldn't.

He is proud but he is gutted - so near... 'We've never made the final' he whispered and there is nothing I can say. I really don't know how he feels - my team will pick themselves up and carry on. All I know is that it hurts. 'The poor little town, how are they going to come back from that?' he asked. Fortunately he wasn't expecting an answer. Bill Shankly could probably have given him one.

So for Burnley supporters everywhere, I'm thinking of you. It was a great story while it lasted, but the Hollywood ending was not to be.

No Sleep til May

Now that the Olympics is over, it's back to the Premier League - one door closes; another one opens or something like that.

So all eyes (or mine, anyway) will be glued to the television over the weekends to watch the pinnacle performances of the beautiful game. Last weekend was the start of the season and the teams kicked off their campaigns with varying degrees of success.

Liverpool looked, as usual, fairly nerve-wracking. If Torres and Keane stop getting in each other's way they may well prove to be an excellent partnership - but they need to communicate. New signing Andrea Dossena also looks pretty handy.

The back four looks more flighty than mighty, which is ominous for the nails this season. Whenever a Liverpool clearance or a decisive tackle was made back there, you just knew it was Stevie G. And he continues to score in stoppage time (as proved against Middlesborough) - also not good for the nails, but we'll let him off that one.

What is somewhat dubious is the dull grey away strip, which is probably called silver or platinum or some such marketing talk to make it sound more exciting. It is strongly reminiscent of the away strip Liverpool wore in the 1988-89 season, which is the last time we won the league. Coincidence? Let's hope not!