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  1. A scrap of blue-and-white police tape tied around a traffic light post next to a busy road. The red pedestrian "do not walk" symbol is illuminated.

  2. A machete knife with a curved blade and black handle, lies on a blue and white checked fabric background, next to its black sheath

  3. 'There's nothing to fear here'

    Natalie Bromley
    Fan writer

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    Scott ParkerGetty Images

    I have such a love/hate relationship with the Premier League. For a league that likes to brand itself as being the most competitive in the world, it is profoundly uncompetitive when you are a side like Burnley.

    As fans, you want your side to be up there with the very best, playing elite football under the watchful eye of the waiting world. But then you get there, and it's all so very... disheartening.

    Sides like Nottingham Forest, Brentford and Brighton - sides we used to take points off - are now challenging for European football. Newcastle, who once had to trigger a Chris Wood release clause to take a striker off a relegation rival, are now competing for the Champions League. And no promoted side has stayed up since 2023.

    Perhaps there is some comfort from having such a low expectation because there is no pressure on Scott Parker or his Burnley side. As we have seen so many seasons before, Burnley don't sack a manager who can't avoid relegation. And they tend to bounce back from each relegation with a remarkably spectacular Championship promotion. There's nothing to fear here. And that lack of pressure feels quite cathartic. All I ask is that we perform to the best of our abilities, and wear that badge with pride.

    My main concern is the continued impact of VAR, a tool so grossly misused that it has now displaced the offside rule as being the most mystifying element of football. I spent many years comfortably understanding what a 'clear and obvious error' was, but can any of us really say that anymore? VAR has just shifted responsibility for subjective decisions away from the referee on the pitch, to a different referee in a TV studio miles away. And the end result has been no different. The fans are so much more miserable as a result.

    UTC.

    Find more from Natalie Bromley at No Nay Never podcast

    Get more from Natalie on this page all season and remember you can sign up for Burnley news notifications here

  5. An aerial view of the fire shows an expanse of green fields with a line of fire and huge plumes of white smoke wafting up into the sky. In the left corner of the image, there is a plot of land which has some farm buildings on it, surrounded by green hedging.

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  9. Karen Strong and Samantha Southern standing in a garden. Samantha has long blonde hair and glasses on the top of her head, and is standing with her right arm round Karen's shoulders. She has red hair and both are smiling

  10. Gloucestershire players celebrate the winning moment in the T20 Blast Final

  11. Lyndon Wright smiles into the camera. He has short grey hair and is wearing a dark polo shirt. In the background there is a river and a large ornately decorated house.

  12. Terry Cunningham, with white hair and black-framed glasses, wears a pale blue shirt. He is standing by a lilac wreath tied to a lamppost at the spot where his mother was fatally struck by a van.

  13. Spending by promoted clubs set to surpass £300m

    Tom McCoy
    BBC Sport

    Once defender Omar Alderete's transfer from Getafe to Sunderland is completed, it will take spending by the three newly promoted clubs to over £300m this summer.

    Excluding Alderete, the Black Cats have paid out an estimated £122m on 10 players. Burnley have brought in 13 new faces at a cost of approximately £100m, while Leeds United have invested £73.5m on seven signings.

    There is little doubt that consolidating top-flight status is harder than ever, with the gulf between the Championship and Premier League continuing to widen. In each of the previous two seasons, the three sides that came up went straight back down.

    As a consequence, clubs are spending ever increasing sums in the hope of remaining competitive, but with no guarantee it will pay off.

    Southampton, Ipswich Town and Leicester City shelled out a total of £276.5m last summer but together they accumulated just 59 points, the lowest combined figure by newly promoted teams in a 38-game Premier League season.

    A graph showing summer spending by clubs promoted the the Premier League season by season since 2016-17

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    The Manxman ferry, which is red, white and black, entering Douglas Harbour. The Ben-my-Chree is moored at the other side of the pier behind it and there cars parked on the headland overlooking the harbour.

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  19. Preston captain Ben Whiteman wearing his side's away kit

  20. 'Excellent transfer window' but 'no way are they ready' - fans on season to come

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    Scott Parker applauds the Burnley fansGetty Images

    We asked for your views on whether Burnley are ready for the new season after the Clarets completed their pre-season campaign with a 1-0 defeat to Lazio at Turf Moor on Saturday.

    Here are some of your comments:

    Fraser: Absolutely. Quietly gone about our transfer business, strengthening without seriously expensive headline acquisitions and still a couple to come. Parker will prove to be far more pragmatic than Kompany was last time round. Extremely difficult to buck the trend of revolving door back to the Championship but I believe we have a good chance.

    Alan: Burnley had some nice touches and played OK against Lazio, but there is a huge CJ Egan-Riley shaped hole at the back, which I'm not sure the current squad can fill. Only time will tell if lack of goals has been addressed.

    Wooly: Very astute and excellent transfer window for the Clarets with a good blend of talent, Premier League experience, youth and good business regarding Walker and Trafford especially. Burnley are in a lot better state of preparedness than the last Premier League venture.

    James: Ready as they'll ever be. Bit of a forlorn hope, but they'll surely give it a better go than two years ago.

    Jack: No way are they ready. The tactics against Lazio proved it. The goal wouldn't have happened with a back four, and the signings of last week won't have had a game with the team. Lots of new signings didn't work two years ago, and it wont this. Too many - it just doesn't work in the Prem.

    Peter: It's all about the start. A good start and the 36 points needed to survive seems possible. A bad start and the mountain looks unclimbable.

    Chris: We've brought in a good mix of talent and Premier League capability/experience. Given the disruption and/or personnel losses at other clubs, I feel confident we can push for the top of the bottom third. 14th position here we come!

    Shaun: Yet again we've bought a lot of players and are not giving last season's players much of a chance to prove themselves in the Premier League. Hopefully Broja can show how good a striker he is and score the goals that keeps us up!

  21. Street view of Rivington Road in Belmont, a country road surrounded by fields

  22. A view over the shoulder of a student who is writing in an exercise book containing handwritten text and drawings of graphs.

  23. Split picture of Ethan Ampadu, Scott Parker and Wilson Isidor

  24. Rows of terraced houses and rooftops in Blackburn, there are a lot of trees to the front and the moors in the distance on an overcast day.