True grit from true Brit yet the big clubs will still avoid him
IF the Premier League was halted now, the Manager of the Year award would be a two-horse race.
And Sean Dyche would shade it.
Pound for pound, no one is performing better. Yet, when the next big job comes up – or a job comparatively bigger than the Burnley one – it is unlikely Dyche will be seriously considered.
You can arrive at that assumption on the evidence of the past few months.
Everton, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Brom even, would all have been of interest to Dyche.
That might rile Burnley supporters, who see their club ahead of those teams in the Premier League table, but that is the reality. “We want to be as ambitious as we can, but we have to live within our means and whatever we have to do has to be sustainable,” said chairman Mike Garlick, as Burnley enjoyed a brief stay in a Champions League slot.
“We want to be a high-end development club in the Premier League and recognise that, if a player is really successful and at a certain age, they will want to move on to top-five clubs.”
All very practical, very realistic, very honest.
But Dyche – even though he spent around £30million in the summer – will want to be more than just a development coach, producing players for bigger teams.
The money he spent came from the sales of Michael Keane and Andre Gray and £15m was left as a net profit.
Plus, there is no getting away from the personal, financial side of things.
In the list of Premier League managerial salaries, Dyche would be close to the bottom.
He has made no secret of his ambitions to scale the ladder, but for now few appear willing to give him a hand up. Why not? Perhaps it is in that goals-for column.
No team in the top 10 has scored fewer than the paltry 16 managed by Burnley.
Newcastle United have scored as many and are one point above the relegation zone. But you cannot blame Dyche for making his team a tight, defensive unit. Only Manchester City and Manchester United have conceded fewer than Burnley’s 12.
Perhaps it is Dyche’s evident fondness for British and Irish players.
Of the 14 players used in the narrow victory over Stoke City, only two did not fall into that category.
Maybe other clubs would be concerned that his approach to recruitment is limited.
But Dyche has simply identified players he believes he can improve, and who will fit into his current style of play.
From what the players say in public, Dyche is a popular figure in the dressing room, but he is also a disciplinarian. There is very little flashiness about this Burnley team – you are unlikely to see too many selfies of Dyche’s side.
And if any of his players become prone to simulation, Dyche will have a word.
Maybe that is why bigger clubs might be wary of him.
I have said previously that Dyche should be on a shortlist to succeed Arsene Wenger when the time comes – but he will definitely not be. Not a chance. One day, a club comparatively bigger than Burnley will take a punt on Dyche and will be rewarded.
Because, right now, he is the best pound-for-pound manager in the Premier League.