SEAN DYCHE avoided the parties that followed Burnley’s promotion so he could have a coffee with his family at a fast- food restaurant.
Dyche guided his side back to the Premier League at the fi rst attempt as Sam Vokes’ glancing header edged them to a nervy win over QPR at Turf Moor.
Promotion promises to bring in about £ 100 million and it started celebrations for the club’s fans and players. It was a little more low key for their manager, though, who is just desperate to spend a bit of time with his family.
The Burnley boss has been living out of a suitcase for the past three and a half years, with wife Jane and children Alex and Alicia back home in Northamptonshire while he works in Lancashire and nips home when he can.
He has had to make a lot of family sacrifi ces to achieve his Premier League dream, but feels it has all been worth it after guiding the Clarets there for the second time in three years.
“While everyone else is celebrating, I’ll be in the car driving down the M6 with my wife and kids,” he said. “I’ll have a coffee at McDonald’s as I usually do. Two years ago, I did the same when we went up and people were staring at me saying, ‘ Is he honestly in here getting a coffee?’ I am normal. I do have a life.
“It’s important to spend time with the family because, for three and a half years, I’ve missed half of their lives. It’s a big price to pay. It’s what we do as managers.”
Dyche lost key players Danny Ings, Kieran Trippier and Jason Shackell after relegation last summer but brought in striker Andre Gray from Brentford for £ 9m and Joey Barton as a free agent to boost his promotion bid.
However, Dyche is adamant it has been a team effort.
He said: “We went 22 games unbeaten to fi nish with promotion. That is unbelievable by anyone’s standards. I keep hearing people say we didn’t play well. You can’t play badly in all of them, can you?
“This is way better than two years ago. It’s a different kind of feeling. The fi rst one is glorious because it’s all new. This one has been so much about planning and remodelling and reshuffl ing – way more than everyone thinks.”
Burnley were not at their best against a QPR side lucky not to be down to 10 men in the fi rst three minutes after Sebastian Polter’s reckless challenge on Barton.
But they broke through when Wales striker Vokes – who missed a huge chunk of their last Premier League campaign with a knee injury – glanced home David Jones’ free- kick.
They had a scare when Alejandro Faurlin hit a post, but QPR boss Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said: “Burnley are the strong unit we want to become. I hope it inspires the players because it inspired me.”
BURNLEY ( 4- 4- 2): QPR Goal: ( 4- 1- 4- 1): Booked: Referee: