BURNLEY AND FANS MIGHT NEED A WET TUESDAY NIGHT AT STOKE...
WHEN Burnley Football Club was taken over by an investment company named ALK Capital in January of last year, there was always a chance the new chairman might not gel with the manager of the first team.
Alan Pace’s background was on Wall Street, Sean Dyche’s on Mean Street.
“As someone who worked for 20 years on Wall Street, the positive impact that technology and data can have on a vertical as big as football’s transfer market comes as no surprise,” said Pace ahead of his arrival in Lancashire.
“I’ve long believed that talent identification, player development and performance in sport can be aided and enhanced by state-of-theart technology and predictive analytics used throughout other industries.”
Well, you didn’t have to be an expert in ‘predictive analytics’ to guess Pace and Dyche (below) would not be a natural fit.
And considering Pace has had a couple of windows to use his technology and data, Burnley have not played many transfer blinders.
Pace himself has to take some responsibility for Burnley’s position in the Premier League but, of course, it is mainly on Dyche – and he would accept that.
No matter what wonders you have performed over a long period, no matter how popular you are with the vast majority of fans, a manager who has won only nine of his last 50 Premier League matches is going to be under pressure.
The Leeds United board made a horrible decision to ditch Marcelo Bielsa but it is now hard to insist it was the wrong one.
In Burnley’s case, Wall Street clearly does not do sentiment.
If the Clarets do manage to stay in the Premier League – and, quite frankly, that is very unlikely, no matter who is in charge – the dismissal of Dyche would be viewed in a kinder light.
But if they do stay up, my guess is they will be back in this predicament this time next season.
With the odd exception, your place in the Premier League table is normally in the same vicinity as your place in the wages table and Burnley are always in the bottom quarter of the latter.
Dyche has always punched above the club’s salary weight, which is why it is odds-on it will be another season of struggle should they survive.
Another season in which Burnley supporters can watch their side lose plenty of football matches and win relatively few.
Burnley have won 24 of their last 92 PL games. Under Dyche, they won 52 of their last 92 Championship matches, with promotion in both seasons.
Dyche and Burnley averaged over two points per game in those two second-tier campaigns. They have averaged 1.1 points per game in their last seven seasons in the Premier
League. Not only is it obvious Dyche would be the best manager for Burnley in the Championship – it is obvious a campaign there would probably be a lot more fun than many of the club’s Premier League campaigns have been.
After all, surely the thrill of getting biannually battered by Manchester City has got to wear off ?
The break would do you good.
But no, the Premier League, it seems, has got to be the be-all and the end-all, particularly for these Wall Street types, and so that is that for Dyche.
Good luck to his successor. But again, you don’t have to be an expert in ‘predictive analytics’ to see him in exactly the same peril as Dyche a year from now if they stay up.
A season in the rough and tumble of the Championship might just do everyone at Burnley a bit of good.