Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
EUROPA LEAGUE, FINAL QUALIFYING I’M NOT VOTING FOR BEXIT!
Dyche rejects Big Sam’s idea that Burnley should get out of Europe for their own good
SEAN DYCHE has rejected Sam Allardyce’s calls to sacrifice Europe to protect Burnley’s Premier League status.
Big Sam claims the Clarets should exit the Europa League against Olympiakos before the group stage because their squad is not big enough to compete on two fronts.
Dyche understands the reasoning, but insists he and his players want to go as far as they can in Europe – especially to honour Burnley legend Jimmy Mcilroy, who died on Monday.
Turf Moor boss Dyche said: “I’ve got great respect for what
Sam Allardyce
(right) has done in the game and his years of service.
“I understand his train of thought, of course. I don’t think it’s anything negative about ourselves, it’s just looking at the bigger picture because the Premier League is unforgiving – we know that.
“But we want to take on the challenge, we’ve made that clear. It’s good for me as a manager, who continues to learn, and it’s good for the group. You want to look back on your career and know you have experienced as many things as possible.
“There is a demand on us, more from the travelling and the slight time change. That’s the biggest challenge so far.
“Our squad depth is well documented. We have some injuries and were looking for more bodies in the transfer market, and that didn’t happen. “I believe in the group we’ve got and we take on this next challenge.”
Dyche appreciates the 1,000 Burnley fans who have made the trip to Athens want this once-in-a-lifetime adventure to continue, because they know it may be another 51 years before the club are back in Europe.
However, Dyche will make changes, particularly because the surface at the Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium is so poor. Burnley had to train at the nearby Panionios ground because Olympiakos want to protect it for tonight’s final qualifying first leg.
Dyche refused to criticise the 44-time Greek champions, who finished third last season, and sees the patchy surface as just another challenge.
“It’s not great, but we knew that before we came,” he said. “We were made aware that we’d have to train on an alternative surface, which they provided, which is equally not that great either, but usable.
“It’s not ideal, but to be fair I’m sure the club don’t want it to be like this. Some of our players are well travelled and I’ve played on some pitches in my time which weren’t as good as this one.
“We’re not too worried about it. It’s a challenge, but this whole competition is a challenge.
“We’ve got a good mentality at Burnley. We are humble enough to know what we are.
“We’ve moved forward, but we are not the real deal. We have to work for everything we get and we will have to do that again on this occasion.”