Hendrick presents Dyche with perfect anniversary gift
There was plenty of fanfare to celebrate Sean Dyche’s fifth year as Burnley manager. There will be relief at Turf Moor if he is still the coach in another five games.
Every fixture feels like an audition for Dyche. The Leicester job may have passed by, but Everton’s precarious position means any winning performance will grab attention. This was not a riveting Burnley triumph over Newcastle – secured through Jeff Hendrick’s 74th-minute winner – but the kind of grinding victory that has become the club’s forte during Dyche’s tenure.
He finds a way to win. It is gritty rather than pretty, but the fact Burnley now look a comfortable mid-table side cannot be dismissed, given their relative strengths.
In fact, this took them seventh, level on points with Liverpool. The Burnley faithful will hope that is as close as he gets to a Merseyside club in the next few weeks.
Dyche was welcomed on to the pitch like a hero, and granted a similar ovation after the narrow win. Subconsciously, these fans know a decision may be looming. Ultimately, board members elsewhere will be determining if Dyche has done enough to warrant an interview and job offer.
“I have had numerous anniversaries. Respect is earned and it has been earned here over a five-year period,” said Dyche, playing down the celebrations. Modern recruitment is a matter of timing as much as an impressive CV, so this could be the ideal moment to secure eyecatching results.
Anyone on the Everton board watching a turgid first half might argue it was one-dimensional. Others might counter any dimension would be an improvement on what is going on at Goodison Park.
Should Everton refuse to call, Dyche has a dilemma as he ponders the next stage of his career.
There must be times when he considers playing a more expansive brand of football to disprove perceptions. Then he will identify the risks, how most Premier League opponents have more expensive and higher quality players, so trying to out-pass them might provoke plenty of applause but will also inevitably lead to relegation.
In Newcastle, Burnley were also facing a side set up for the point, so the pragmatism was not one way. The game was meandering towards stalemate prior to Hendrick’s goal.
“It is a respect to our team when teams come here and are not expansive,” Dyche said. “We had to play for every inch. You have to find a way. It is difficult to win games. The Premier League is a difficult place to be, so you have to get wins however you can get them. I thought it would be a tight game. I thought they would have a set up so we had to work hard to break them down.”
The diligence paid off with one of the game’s few attacks. Jack Cork and Johann Berg Gudmundsson combined, and the former’s shot forced Rob Elliot to save. Gudmundsson’s cross enabled Hendrick to control skilfully and beat the stranded Newcastle keeper.
It was tough on the visitors, who had looked comfortable but punchless until then. Benítez sent on Dwight Gayle in search of a point, but the urgency came too late. Isaac Hayden’s late strike, saved by Nick Pope, was as close as they came.
The carelessness of the defeat irritated Benítez. “It was a disappointing. It was an even game. We could win, we could lose. We made one mistake,” he said. “We still had chances. You have to be strong enough in defence and show more in attack. They took advantage.”
Benítez has already shown in a glittering career there is more to his sides than this, and with the right tools Newcastle will evolve. It does not matter how accomplished a manager you are, there is only so far you can go without creators and goalscorers of genuine quality.
Dyche has already taken Burnley on an extraordinary journey. As his reputation grows, it is doubtful it will last another five years.