DIVE FOR COVER? NOT ME
Dyche: Other bosses told me: ‘Stop talking about diving or it will affect your career‘.. but that’s not my bag
SEAN DYCHE has revealed that other Premier League managers have warned him to stop complaining about diving because it could harm his long-term career.
The Burnley manager has been one of the most outspoken critics of players who dive in a bid to win penalties. Last weekend he accused Callum Hudson-Odoi of simulation in the 4-2 home defeat by Chelsea.
And Dyche insists the warnings of rival bosses will not stop him highlighting an issue he thinks is a stain on the game.
He said: “I’ve been told by other prominent managers to stop going on about it because it will affect my career. I said ‘Sorry, not my bag.’ You have to be true to yourself and able to look at yourself in the mirror. A couple of managers said it could affect me. I’m the bad guy, don’t forget.
“I’ve got a kid who plays and it would be ridiculous for me to let it go and then tell him I don’t want to see him doing it. That’s double standards. If your kid cheats at a maths test, do you tell them ‘Well done’? Of course I don’t. You wouldn’t accept cheating in any other form of life and yet I’m the bad guy. You’re entitled to get touched on the shoulder and fall on the floor?
That’s an entitlement now, and they actually use that term ‘entitled.’
“They’re even doing it in kids’ football now.
“Stop them diving, feigning injury, and rolling around when they’re little or they’ll grow up doing it.
“I’ve seen it for years, everyone going down from minimal contact. Where do they learn it from? From TV. You’re not born thinking ‘I’ll wait for contact and, bang, I’ll go down.’
“We’ve got a meeting coming up with the Premier League and it is one of the talking points, so that could be interesting. I’m not backward in coming forward. People say the balance of footballers nowadays is incredible yet in my playing days, when we were apparently all mud-lumpers, we could all stand up.”
Dyche celebrated seven years as Burnley manager this week but insists they can’t be regarded as an established Premier League club despite a fourth consecutive season in the top flight.
He is the second-longest-serving manager in the Premier League, after Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe, and the second-longest-serving post-war Burnley manager after Harry Potts.
Speaking ahead of today’s trip to Sheffield United, Dyche said: “We’re having a good view of what the Premier League is but I’m not sure we are established.
“If you stay in the Premier League for 10 years plus you’ve got to consider yourself somewhat established. We’re growing towards that year on year, enhancing the capability of the side.
“We’re trying make us have the look of a regular Premier League team. We’re not there yet but we are getting there.”