In July we said Burnley would sign loads, never concede, be borderline unwatchable, and comfortably win promotion – nine months later, with just 15 goals conceded, 29 clean sheets including 12 goalless draws, they have 94 points. Tom Whittaker (@TomClaret) takes us through it.

Stupid question, but how's the season been for Burnley?

A record breaking season on a number of fronts, only 2 defeats, a 31 game unbeaten run, culminating in promotion back to the Premier League- really musn't grumble!

Burnley in the league this season…
Luton 1-4 Burnley Chong 55 – Brownhill 6, Odobert 37, O’Shea 72, Vitnho 80
Burnley 5-0 Cardiff Horvath og 9, Koleosho 31, Brownhill 51, Amdouni 88, Gudmundsson 90
Sunderland 1-0 Burnley Mundle 26
Burnley 1-1 Blackburn Foster 10 – Weimann 23
Leeds 0-1 Burnley Koleosho 18
Burnley 2-1 Portsmouth Sarmiento 63, Brownhill 90 – Lang 42
Oxford 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 1-0 Plymouth Brownhill pen 26
Burnley 0-0 Preston
Sheff Wed 0-2 Burnley Anthony 37, Brownhill 50
Hull 1-1 Burnley Simons 45 – Fleming 77
Burnley 0-0 QPR
Millwall 1-0 Burnley Cooper 52
West Brom 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 1-0 Swansea Rodriguez pen 90
Bristol City 0-1 Burnley Anthony 23
Burnley 2-0 Coventry Sarmiento 47, Egan-Riley 80
Stoke 0-2 Burnley Rodriguez 52, Brownhill pen 78
Burnley 1-1 Boro Roberts 37 – Dijksteel 13
Burnley 0-0 Derby
Norwich 1-2 Burnley Cordoba 2 – Flemming 68, Brownhill 76
Burnley 2-1 Watford Anthony 9, Brownhill 62 – Baah 80
Sheff Utd 0-2 Burnley Brownhill 43, Flemming 53
Boro 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 0-0 Stoke
Blackburn 0-1 Burnley Flemming 60
Burnley 0-0 Sunderland
Plymouth 0-5 Burnley Flemming 11, 31, Laurent 34, 45, Cullen 45
Burnley 0-0 Leeds
Portsmouth 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 1-0 Oxford Helik og 33
Burnley 2-0 Hull Humphreys 3, Flemming 21
Preston 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 4-0 Sheff Wed Edwards 43, Brownhill 62, Roberts 70, Benson 90
Cardiff 1-2 Burnley Salech 42 – Brownhill 19, Esteve 40
Burnley 4-0 Luton McGuinness og 30, Foster 39, Brownhill 53, Barnes 90
Burnley 1-1 West Brom Flemming 23 – Swift 20
Swansea 0-2 Burnley Brownhill 4, Anthony 22
Burnley 1-0 Bristol City Flemming 16
Coventry 1-2 Burnley Wright 5 – Anthony 16, 46
Derby 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 2-1 Norwich Mejbri 14, Anthony 24 – Stacey 76
Watford 1-2 Burnley Doumbia 8 – Flemming 43, Brownhill 58
Burnley 2-1 Sheff Utd Brownhill 28, pen 44 – Cannon 37

There's been a record number of clean sheets, goals conceded, nil nil draws - has it been an exciting season? What have you made of this approach?

As you warned us in pre-season, at times the football has been a really painful watch- eleven nil-nil draws doesn't get the blood pumping and while the clean sheets/goals against records are staggering, they don't really get you off the edge of your seat, either. Since the signing of Marcus Edwards, though, our attack has taken on another dimension, and as well as ability there seems to have been that bit more impetus to turn draws into wins or go for a 2-1 rather than a 0-0. Ultimately, while there have been plenty of games that have left me cold, the end has justified the means.

What do you make of the job Scott Parker has done? Do you see him staying the course next season?

Parker was dealt a rough hand in the summer with the amount of comings and goings, especially so tight to the end of the transfer window. The records and outcomes speak for themselves and there certainly seems a better connection with the fans and spirit in the dressing room than that which he inherited. We're not a club who sacks managers and given Kompany got the full season despite a historically bad attempt at staying up, it will take something special for Parker not to be afforded the same.

The recruitment strategy for the Premier League last time was all over the map, signed some right weirdoes, how will Burnley go about it this time? What needs doing to get this team into Premier League state?

Parker's vision is very different to Kompany's, with experienced heads like Joe Worrall and Ashley Barnes more prioritised than 17-year-old wingers from Belgium you've never heard of, but he has still had to deal with a lot of club signings in that mould across the two windows. I think we'll get a more sensible mix this time- assuming we hold onto most or all of the defensive unit, the obvious place to strengthen will be up front. We will also generally need more robustness and physicality, especially in midfield.

Summer Ins >>> Mike Tresor, 25, LW, Genk, £16m >>> Maxime Esteve, 22, CB, Montpellier, £10m >>> Hannibal Mejbri, 21, AM, Man Utd, £5m >>> Joe Worrall, 27, CB, Forest, £5m >>> Andreas Hountondji, 22, CF, Caen, £3m >>> Lucas Pires, 23, LB, Santos, £2m >>> Josh Laurent, 29, CM, Stoke, £1m >>> Oluwaseun Adewumi, 19, AM, FAC (Austria), £300k >>> Shurandy Sambo, 22, RB, Eindhoven, Free >>> Vaclav Hladky, 33, GK, Ipswich, Free >>> Etienne Green, 24, GK, Saint-Etienne, Free >>> John Egan, 31, CB, Sheff Utd, Free >>> Jeremy Sarmiento, 22, LW, Brighton, Loan >>> Jaidon Anthony, 24, LW, Bournemouth, Loan >>> Bashir Humphreys, 21, CB, Chelsea, Loan >>> Zian Flemming, 26, AM, Millwall, Loan >>>

Winter Outs >>> John Egan, 32, CB, Hull, Undisclosed >>> Jay Rodriguez, 35, CF, Wrexham, Undisclosed >>> Hjalmar Ekdal, 26, CB, Groningen, Loan >>> Hannes Delcroix, 25, CB, Swansea, Loan >>> Han-Noah Massengo, 23, CM, Auxerre, Loan >>> Andreas Hountondji, 22, CF, Standard Liege, Loan >>> Dara Costelloe, 22, LW, Northampton, Loan >>> Owen Dodgson, 21, LB, Burton, Loan

Player of the season candidates?

Can't look beyond the back line- James Trafford in goal got the divisional nomination but as good as he has been, he's had a lot of protection from emerging star CJ Egan-Riley and the colossal Maxime Esteve, who gets my vote. Honourable mentions for the ever-dependable Josh Cullen and captain Josh Brownhill, whose 16 goals from midfield will be difficult to replace if he departs at the end of his contract as expected.

Particularly tough for the promoted teams to survive at the moment it seems, how do you see next season going?

Playing Pep-lite football is a recipe for disaster for newly promoted teams, as we know all too well. Our promotion this time has been on a foundation of the best defence in second tier history, and while I expect Trafford and maybe Esteve to move on to bigger and better things, I think we have a more solid foundation this time, along with more nous- think a bigger budget Luton. I'm not sure the gap can even be bridged anymore- who do you target to finish above, Spurs?- but I'm fairly confident we'll make a better fist of it than last time.

Links >>> Burnley Official Website >>> Turf Moor – Ground Guide >>> No Nay Never — Podcast >>> Lancashire Telegraph — Local Press >>> Up The Clarets — Message Board

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Pictures - Reuters Connect

Harbour added 13:45 - Apr 25 £40M+ in signings …not surprising they are going up …12 nil nil draws yawn.the way the prem is now very hard for promoted sides to stay up…
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TacticalR added 11:55 - Apr 26 Thanks to Tom. It doesn't sound particularly exciting, especially given Burnley's resources. Having said that, only 15 goals conceded all season is pretty amazing.
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