Strong Irish accent at Burnley makes it the perfect fit for Walters

IT IS no great surprise that five of Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland squad are settled and enjoying life with Burnley. There is a togetherness and bond among the players at Turf Moor which is replicated in the senior Ireland squad, and that’s unique in international football.

On the day new record signing Chris Wood was unveiled by the club, the TV cameras were invited down and I went down to chat with Jon Walters.

The progression that Burnley have made over the last four or five years has been steady, not instant, so you feel that the club is being built on solid foundations and is moving forward sensibly.

Burnley feels like a club happy to progress within a sensible budget and a lot of that comes from manager Sean Dyche.

He has bought into the ethos of the club and understands where they have come from and what the supporters and the owners want and need. He has embraced the club and is taking them in the right direction and you get the feeling that if Burnley were relegated this season, UNITY: they have a plan in place to return to the Premier League stronger.

So a signing like Chris Wood from Leeds United is a perfect transaction. Wood might not be proven in the Premier League, but he was top scorer in the Championship last season with 27 goals in 44 games.

Walters has started the season on the bench after joining from Stoke for £3 million this summer but it is not a situation that is worrying him at the moment.

He told me that for the majority of his career he has been a slow starter, so quite often when we get to the play-off games in November, while most of the Championship players in an Ireland squad will have played between 15 to 20 matches, he might still be waiting for his first start.

Obviously he would prefer to start games for his new club immediately, but I think he also understands that a manager like Dyche will be loyal to his players and it may be difficult to break into the side – he misses today’s Spurs game with injury.

Like Sam Vokes and Ashley Barnes before him, when he gets his chance, he will have to take it.

Walters knows he will be stronger in the second half of the season, and I believe Stoke will regret selling him, as well as Glenn Whelan, because eventually they are the players that clubs come to rely on.

Walters has become one of Ireland’s key players, as he proved with his goal against Austria in the last qualifier, and it is fantastic that, if fit, he will get his 50th cap against Georgia next weekend.

And listening to how hungry he is, and how hard he is working at Burnley, he could be around for another couple of campaigns.

One thing that really stood out from our recent chat was how impressed he has been with the unity in the Burnley team, and how that is replicated in the Ireland squad. It felt genuine.

It won’t make a massive difference that Stephen Ward, Robbie Brady, Jeff Hendrick and Kevin Long are also at Turf Moor, and hopefully will be playing regularly, but it certainly can’t do any harm. Ward and Brady, in particular, should get plenty of game-time together on the Burnley left in the Premier League.

Burnley started the season with a win at Chelsea but then lost to West Brom the following week. That is what you are going to get from Burnley and they know it.

The good thing is that Dyche and his players – and the supporters – would not have got too carried away with the win at Stamford Bridge, or too down after losing to West Brom.

Dyche keeps his players and the club on an even keel and will never be too dramatically affected by results. He is a realist at a realistic club.