DYCHE IS RIGHT

Season after season, Sean has proved that for Burnley the...

Sean Dyche has now secured Burnley’s safety for the fifth season in a row

IF new Burnley owner Alan Pace had been considering bringing in a fresh face to liven up the Clarets, Sky’s pundits will have put him right on Monday night.

Gary Neville passionately made the case for Burnley to retain manager Sean Dyche if any approach came in for him.

When asked what would happen if Dyche left, Neville replied: “They would go down.

“If an owner has aspirations and wants to change the style, then sometimes they will get a slap around the face and a shock.

“Burnley are not daft enough to do that. Sean is the most important person at that football club.”

Neville’s sidekick on the show, Jamie Carragher, was in total agreement.

Because, once more, the job Dyche has done this season has been nothing short of remarkable.

Their 2-0 win over Fulham on Monday – which saw the Cottagers relegated – secured the Clarets’ status as a Premier League club for the fifth season in a row.

But the Lancashire club have not just been about surviving in the top tier.

They have been growing. Three years ago, they were in Europe, they now have a fantastic new training facility at Gawthorpe.

And they have regularly been able to mix it with the big spenders in the Premier League.

And that has come with a net spend of around £58million over the last decade – including around just a reported £1m last summer for Brighton midfielder Dale Stephens. It is no wonder

Pace (below) and his consortium thought the Clarets were an attractive proposition back in December when they bought an 84 percent controlling stake.

The US owner is adamant they will continue under the strict financial control that has worked for them.

And Dyche is aware of that. “I’m speaking to them constantly and we are trying to fathom out how best to take it forward financially, both with the players we’ve got and layering up on top of that,” he said.

“I don’t think there is a radical financial shift, which sometimes happens in the Premier League, but I’m hoping and I think there will be some investment.”

How the 49-year-old manager works to keep the current squad in the top flight is astounding, given the tiny budget compared to their rivals.

And their style of play could explain why bigger clubs have not come in for the manager. It’s 4-4-2 and it is rigid.

But when Burnley first came up into the Premier League under him in 2014, they were more expansive and attacking – often against better sides. The result? Relegation. Dyche brought them back up. But their return saw them more resolute, with better game management and their reward was 40 points and survival.

He has dealt with losing their top players – such as Danny Ings, Michael Keane and Jay Rodriguez – while being given little money to replace them.

Twice they have finished on 54 points – once that was enough for seventh and a Europa League spot.

This season they have achieved safety, with three games to go, with a squad full of hard-working players.

They may be facing offers for goalkeeper Nick Pope, defender James Tarkowski and winger Dwight Mcneil in the summer.

But they would not shine without the hard graft of players such as Chris Wood, Ashley Barnes, Ben Mee and Jack Cork.

However, most importantly – as Neville and Carragher pointed out – this is a squad which only survives with Dyche in charge.