DYCHE CASH CRASH
Clarets boss warned owners over lack of investment
SEAN DYCHE has revealed that he warned Burnley’s new owners they would face a relegation battle this season, due to the chronic underinvestment at Turf Moor.
Ahead of today’s crucial trip to rockbottom Norwich City, the Clarets remain stuck in the Premier League drop zone – a position they have occupied since September.
But this campaign’s struggles have not come as a surprise to Dyche, who had advised owners ALK Capital that there was a rocky road ahead.
“I told the owners this was likely, the probability was for a toughish period,” Dyche said. “I felt there was a crossover period the club was going to hit, because the last three years the investment levels weren’t where they needed to be
– for what became the obvious reason when the club got sold.
“I explained to the new ownership that’s what it would be. I explained it would be a tough period. Maybe not this tough because I was expecting a bit better than this, but I said it wouldn’t be a walk in the park because regeneration that should have been done three years ago hadn’t been.
“So now you have to regenerate quickly. We started the process with Connor Roberts, Nathan Collins, and Maxwel Cornet. Wout Weghorst came in later with Chris Wood leaving.
“We are on the right lines. Even with a new ownership, a bit more openminded with bringing in players from afar, you can’t regenerate overnight unless you put in nowadays.
“It could cost £90million. Newcastle spent £90m in January.
“With us we are piecing it together, so there has to be a bit of reality. Is it going to be easy? No, it’s not going to be easy to
remodel and get players in who can play in the Premier League.”
Last time out, Burnley beat fellow strugglers Everton 3-2 at Turf Moor, to close the gap on 17th place to a single point – until the Toffees beat Manchester United yesterday.
As his Clarets prepared for another relegation six-pointer today, Dyche was asked if such big games are typically a time in which he brings out rousing speeches.
He replied: “If it feels right, then for me it’s always just the basics, keep it really simple, don’t overload them with information.
“They know the script, or they should know the script. We’ve done the
analysis and planning, so by the time you get to the point when you’re going to play they should know.
“In my opinion, if you’re making loads of changes an hour before kick-off then you’ve probably not prepped enough.
“When we get to that point, we judge the mood and then say, ‘These are the basics we spoke about, this is what our expectation is, and you have the freedom to go and deliver’.
“Sometimes the players need your voice, sometimes they know.
“Sometimes I’ll ask them what they think at half-time and they’ll nail it virtually every time because they know.
“And you’ll go, ‘Well why didn’t you say that when you were out there?’”