The £1.5 million Stoke City recruit for Burnley FC failed spectacularly.
If Burnley supporters were to compile a list of all the good things Brian Laws has done for the team,
it would not be long, and adding Leon Cort would not be at the top of the list.
His hiring following Owen Coyle’s departure for Bolton in the middle of Burnley’s inaugural
Premier League season in 2009–10 was nothing short of disastrous and ultimately played a
major role in the team’s immediate return to the Championship, where they played for four seasons.
Although it would be unjust to blame Laws alone for relegation, the Clarets never truly seemed like
they would survive the drop when things drastically worsened after he was hired.
Their difficulties were undoubtedly exacerbated by his hiring, as Burnley was absent.Even though
he brought in six players to bolster the team, only Jack Cork and Danny Fox had a significant
influence on the starting lineup, with Leon Cort’s acquisition possibly being one of the worst in the club’s
history.Adding Cort to the squad strangely rendered the team weaker, even though Burnley had
a good chance of staying up with the proper acquisitions during January,
when squads are supposed to be strengthened.
In a move worth up to £2 million, Cort traded Stoke for the Clarets. At the time,
the Lancashire club didn’t even own their own stadium, so this was a significant sum.
At the end of January, the former Potter made his debut against Chelsea.
and Burnley’s end-of-season collapse was partly caused by a series of subpar performances,
and his lackluster performance in that 2-1 loss was a preview of what was to come.
The fact that Burnley lost 12 of the 15 games that Cort played in during the second part of the
season under Laws was a clear indication of how damaging he was to their defense.
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