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Opinion: Burnley's old habits rear head in unconvincing season opener The verdict on Burnley’s penalty shootout cup win over Notts County While Burnley achieved the ultimate objective of reaching the second round of the Carabao Cup, this wasn’t the season opener they would have been hoping for. Coming into Saturday’s affair with no win to their name of any kind since February, the aim was to kick off Nicky Hayen’s reign with a confidence-boosting win to get that particular monkey off their back and head into next week’s league opener with West Ham with some sort of momentum behind them. Instead, what we got was an unconvincing, largely toothless display that saw the Clarets edge past League One Notts County by virtue of penalty kicks. As a result, they’ve still not technically won a game - not in 90 minutes, at least - in 179 days and counting. Familiar But what Saturday made clear was that it’s not so much the losing habit and losing run that is holding Burnley back, it’s their old habits and old traits. They started the game well enough, playing at a decent tempo while looking to move the ball with some zippy play against a side that were clearly going to sit back and defend their box. But yet, for as good as Burnley’s play was up until the final third, that’s where they began to run out of ideas. Too often they made the wrong decision, crossed at the wrong time or saw their final pass cut out at the vital moment. To be blunt, the quality just wasn’t there. But what was also telling is that, the longer the first half wore on without the home side edging their noses in front, the more often they went back to their old ways: playing safe, passing sidewards and backwards, cutting inside and running into traffic. We know this isn’t what Hayen wants because he’s told us. Safe, slow play is the antithesis of his football. As a result, Notts County grew in confidence. They sensed Burnley were vulnerable and perhaps weren’t going to hurt them as much as they feared. Even before County’s surprise opener, Burnley had been unconvincing, producing just one shot on target in the entirety of the first half - and even that came from a hopeful long punt forward, rather than any clever or incisive attacking play. Still, it was a good strike from Jacob Bruun Larsen across the goalkeeper, who did well to parry it away. But for all of their possession, the Clarets had nothing to show for it, and they were undone three minutes before the interval when Cal Roberts turned and struck a clinical finish into the bottom corner on the edge of the box, giving Max Weiss no chance. Subscribe now for HALF PRICE and catch every minute of our Clarets coverage this season - from pre-season to the final whistle. Click here Burnley improved after the restart - although they couldn’t have got much worse - and they soon levelled through Zian Flemming. A clever ball forward from Marcus Edwards, who otherwise struggled to deceive, was coolly slotted away by the Dutchman, making up for a below-par first-half display himself. But you do wonder how Burnley will cope without his finishing abilities up top, because they otherwise look short of ideas. The equaliser prompted a good spell of pressure for 20 minutes or so, but the home side were unable to capitalise on their newfound momentum and the game once again got away from them - falling back into their old habits once more. The game largely fizzled out during the final stages, which was a surprise given the significance of this season opener for Burnley. You would have thought there would have been a sense of urgency to get that long-overdue win, but instead it was the Magpies who came closest to stealing the victory late on, whistling a couple of low shots past the post. Instead, it came down to the lottery of penalties and Weiss was Burnley’s saviour, producing two really good saves to swing the shootout his side’s way. Hannibal was the only man to miss from a Clarets perspective and while anyone can miss a penalty, it compounded a poor afternoon for the midfielder. He let his man go for County’s goal and his set-piece deliveries were poor throughout. I also wasn’t a fan of his body language, throwing his arms about and constantly looking to blame others. He needs to cut that out. But he wasn’t the only guilty party, not many can say they had good games, although Ugo Raghouber looked neat and tidy on his competitive Burnley debut. In the wake of Burnley’s final friendly against Torino, I wrote how pre-season had left many supporters with more questions than answers. I’m not sure that view has changed after this season opener. There’s a lot of work that needs doing to this squad, both on and off the pitch. But the bigger concern is the losing mindset and the safety-first approach that is deeply ingrained in their psyche - and I’m not sure that can be reversed in the blink of an eye.