‘Dinosaur’ Dyche tipped to pip Pep
SEAN DYCHE and Pep Guardiola might be held in rather different regard around the world, but they are set to battle it out for Manager of the Year.
Guardiola’s Manchester City side romped to the Premier League title, playing some of the most exhilarating football the English game has seen in recent years.
Dyche and Burnley, meanwhile, are seen as the antithesis of City in terms of style – but their achievements this season are no less impressive.
A run of five straight wins has all but secured qualification for next season’s Europa League, presuming outsiders Southampton do not go on to win the FA Cup.
A sixth successive win over Chelsea tonight would even see the Clarets leapfrog Arsenal into sixth place with just four matches remaining.
Given Burnley were many pundits’ favourites for the drop at the start of the season, such overachievement has seen Dyche emerge as an outsider to pip Guardiola to the top prize come the end of the campaign.
“One hundred per cent he’d be a worthy winner,” said midfielder Jack Cork of his manager.
“What Pep has done at Man City has changed everything. The football he’s got them playing is good for English football.
“But what the gaffer has done here is remarkable. For him to get us all together and playing the way we are, it shows what a good job he has done.
“To finish as the best of the rest would be a massive achievement – especially when you compare our budget to certain other clubs.”
Burnley continue to come under scrutiny despite their success, with Dyche’s methods repeatedly described as a throwback to decades gone by.
Dyche, though, says he is not the tactical dinosaur some would make him out to be, and even believes Guardiola might have taken a leaf out of his book on his way to sealing the title. “I’m the most old-school manager that has never felt more modern,” the former Watford boss said. “How can things like hard work, pride and passion be deemed really old-school? “They have never been more modern. They are things that are to be encouraged and embraced. There is nothing better for an English fan than seeing their team give everything.
“That equally applies to Manchester City, because I’ve seen their stats and they work hard. They have embraced the desire to make it work. What Pep has done has been in England for 10 years. All he has done at City is polish it up because they have had the best players. He’s got them fitter, more alert and more demanding.
“Even Pep, who really doesn’t want to play long football, will do it because he has learnt in the Premier League even the best have to mix it up.
“They used to play short. Now it goes straight out. That’s an adaptation where Pep has looked at the Premier League differently.”
While Guardiola will now look to cement City as the country’s top dogs for years to come, the challenge for Burnley is to avoid the fate of those who look in danger of relegation this season.
Established top-flight clubs West Brom, Stoke and Southampton look set for the drop.
Cork said: “I’ve been in teams before that have had great seasons, got carried away and it’s just not worked. It wouldn’t be impossible but it would be hard to build on a season as good as this. For us to get to 40 points will always be the marker.
“That’s what the target is every year for this club. You’d be a bit arrogant not to.”