Our wage bill might dwarf Aberdeen’s but next to clubs such as Man City we’re still minnows of our league
Dyche says he knows how McInnes feels
ABERDEEN had a £20,000 signing from Carlisle reserves leading the line in the first leg of their Battle of Britain tie against Burnley. But cut-price Dons frontman Sam Cosgrove still had a bigger impact at Pittodrie than Clarets’ £15million record buy Chris Wood who toiled up front. It was Cosgrove who won the penalty for Gary MackaySteven to open the scoring before Sam Vokes climbed off the bench to net the vital away goal. But that contrast in the value of the rival hitmen summed up the huge task facing Derek McInnes ahead of tonight’s return at Turf Moor. Burnley boss Sean Dyche though knows exactly how the man he faces tonight feels because he is usually David rather than Goliath in the Premier League. The Lancashire side’s budget might dwarf Aberdeen’s with money McInnes can only dream of but Burnley are still paupers in the billionaires playground of the English top flight. That didn’t stop them punching above their weight to finish seventh last season, including a 1-1 draw at home against a Manchester City squad worth £261m and a win away at Chelsea. As a player, Dyche helped thirdtier Chesterfield to the FA Cup semi-finals where they stunned Middlesbrough with a 3-3 draw before losing the replay. And in his current role as Burnley boss they lost to Lincoln City so he knows there is more to their crossborder clash than just finance. Dyche made a point of insisting the £60m wage bill he’d seen quoted north of the border wasn’t quite accurate and it was just the £37m. It remains eye-watering in Scottish terms but the Clarets gaffer said: “We are wealthy in the context of this game but we are not wealthy in the Premier League.
“In the Premier League teams look down on us and say, ‘Oof, why are they not spending? How can they only have that wage bill?’ We’re the minnows of the Premier League.
“It’s all relative to where you are. That is the way it is, that is life!
“People mentioned Aberdeen’s budget compared to ours but they have misquoted. Our budget was down as £60m but it is actually £37m. When you look at the reality of it, how do you think we feel when we play Manchester City?
“We will still take them on, we make a game of it and we still go and challenge. Numbers go out the window when the whistle blows.
“Also cup competitions are different. Nobody can quite define why it is different and why players sometimes perform differently than in the Premier League.
“But it seems to happen. Lincoln City beat us in the FA Cup and that was a shock. I didn’t cry then, I said, ‘Well done.’ That’s the way it goes.
“I was at Chesterfield as a player when we made the FA Cup semifinal and it still hasn’t happened again. That was a shock.
“Wycombe Wanderers reached the FA Cup semi-final, Leicester City won the Premier League. It happens. They’re realities, not warnings ahead of this game. I’m not scared of it. The game comes round, come what may. You’ve got to win or you might not. That’s just the rules of the game.”
Despite the huge money available in England, Dyche has still to make a signing this summer and spent yesterday’s pre-match press conference talking of the crazy figures quoted for targets.
He has also been forced to apply to UEFA for special dispensation to include Adam Legzdins in his squad as back-up goalkeeper with Nick Pope ruled out after his injury at Pittodrie and No.2 Tom Heaton “touch and go”.
They remain odds-on to progress to a third qualifying round meeting with Turkish side Istanbul Basaksehir but Dyche insists the only pressure comes from within.
He said: “It is more our own expectation that counts. The outside expectation is always there for every club for whatever reason they deem fit.
“We have a big expectation on ourselves even though we have reinforced so far this is a group of players who finished seventh in the Premier League on merit.
“We have always been aware of what we are and have never thought we are the real deal. We have had to work for everything we’ve had and that includes playing against Aberdeen, who are a good side.
“They gave a good account of themselves and used the home feel and the way the crowd was up for it.”
Dyche grew up in an era when the Scottish league’s top stars moved straight to England’s top flight but believes the fact that is much rarer is a sign of the gulf in the leagues.
He said: “The chances are the gap is big at the moment to go straight in at the Premier League. Not so much at a club like ours – there is a bit of leeway at a club like ours.
“There are bigger clubs than us and if you go straight in there you have to be up and running straight away. When I was growing up there were lots of Scottish players coming down and vice versa – but mainly Scottish players coming down to England.
“The money side has affected the game and those crossovers. “There are some very good players who could possibly come down but there
are fewer.”
“We did our homework on Aberdeen and know they earned the right to finish second last season. They have played well and have done a good job in the last three or four years.