Dyche lets Drinkwater off the hook
Burnley manager Sean Dyche has given Danny Drinkwater a second chance after the on-loan Chelsea midfielder was injured in a nightclub fracas.
Drinkwater hurt his ankle and suffered facial cuts when he was set upon by a gang of up to six men outside a club following an alleged row over a woman, and is expected to be out of action until next month.
But Dyche is standing by Drinkwater — also convicted of drink driving in May — after a meeting this week and has vowed to help the midfielder get his career back on track.
Asked if he has taken action against Drinkwater, whose £110,000-a-week wages are shared between Burnley and Chelsea, Dyche replied: ‘no, just talked to him, the rest of it is private.
‘First, I wanted to find out the facts, which I did. Secondly, look at the reality of it and forget about him being a footballer.
‘They are human beings and have private lives which are sometimes not private. Sometimes people get in scrapes.
‘I think he knows that at his age — he’s 29 — he has to mind what he’s doing and be in the right place rather than the wrong place.
‘My responsibility is to give him the chance to take action and lay down some of the guidelines, his responsibility is to deliver it.
‘He’s had a tough couple of years football wise, not playing much. It’s as much down to him and his drive and his will and desire — not about the incident, but to get back to being a top footballer. He wants the hunger and desire to flow back into him, but he’s got to earn that. It’s not a given.
‘Sometimes when things aren’t right for you on the pitch they do manifest themselves into something off it too. It can drop you out of kilter a little bit.
‘So I’ll be working with him, getting him fit, helping him, guiding him back to where he wants to be.
‘It’s easy to spend time with players when things are rosy, sometimes it’s more satisfying to work with players when things aren’t right.
‘every manager wants players with a great attitude who are flawless and they all come in bright and breezy, play football and then go home and eat chicken and pasta and drink loads of water.
‘It’s just not the case. They are human beings. I’ve got flaws, they’ve got flaws.’
Drinkwater has yet to appear in the Premier league for Burnley but he played in the eFl Cup defeat to Sunderland last month.