Clarets ready for Europa League adventure AN AXE WILL FALL SOON Even after taking Burnley into Europe, Dyche fears sack
World Cup has made me proud of England
SEAN DYCHE has just had the season of his life and is planning Burnley’s first venture into Europe in 52 years.
But as he sits chatting at Burnley’s impressive Barnfield training complex, Dyche is talking the sack – and why his success at Turf Moor won’t save him if things go spectacularly wrong.
Given Burnley’s seventh-place finish in a division dominated by big clubs with bigger bucks, Dyche has plenty of credit in the bank.
Nature
But as the Clarets prepare to kick off their season with a Europa League tie at Aberdeen on Thursday, Dyche looks towards the future the way he always does – with realism.
“My day will come, I know that. Not because I’m good, bad or indifferent – just because that’s the nature of football,” he said. “It’s very, very difficult, year on year.
“They used to say, ‘He’s unsackable’. That went years ago, didn’t it? The last one I remember, only because I was there, was Brian Clough (right).
“They allowed him an inglorious finish because they (Nottingham Forest) went down. Rather than get rid of him in the March, they were saying, ‘We’re going to stand by him’ almost in an unsackable way.
“I presume that Arsene Wenger was politely asked, not sacked. The fact is he was eased to a situation that, let’s say, suited Arsenal.
“So if that can happen to him and Antonio Conte at Chelsea after winning the League title, my day will come. Everyone’s day comes in football, other than moving for a better level of course.
“I’d be surprised if there is any chairman in a boardroom across the Premier League saying, ‘Absolutely no way is our manager going, no matter what happens’. I’d be surprised if there is a manager who has got that position.”
For now Dyche’s main concern is not staying in a job but staying in the Premier League with Burnley.
For even after hitting the heights last season to earn a European adventure, Dyche reckons Burnley are way off being an established Premier League club.
“It’s all about doing it year on year for a long time, for long enough for people to get used to you being in there. We’re not there yet,” he said.
Bold
“Last season not many people gave us a chance of finishing seventh. So clubs like ours almost have to go back to the start point each season to remodel it again “Very few clubs outside the top six have got a gimme. We saw that last season with West Brom and Stoke going down. “So a good season for us would be staying in the Premier League, that’s a start point, the minimum objective. Beyond that who knows? We’re certainly not big or bold enough to make grandiose statements because we go into each season with a new challenge – this time it’s combining the League with Europe.
“We just maximised our chances last season. Can we build on it? That is the challenge for us this time.
“Realistically it’s probably difficult to go beyond seventh in this division when you are us. A number of other clubs could say the same. The top six are that powerful.
“But you never know. When I came here none of this was even envisaged.”
Dyche is grafting hard to bring in the right players – Swansea duo Sam Clucas and Alfie Mawson among them – to improve and provide numbers to cope with extra Europa League games.
But it’s a competition he and his stars plan to embrace.
He added: “There will be difficulties but it’s a challenge and one you can’t resist when you are Burnley FC.
“It’s a badge of honour to be in Europe for the first time in 52 years, so you can’t resist that. But Aberdeen will be tough opposition. It won’t be any sort of walkover, that’s for sure.
“The players know they are going up against a decent side and we aren’t taking them lightly.” SEAN DYCHE says the World Cup has made him proud to be English again. The patriotic Burnley boss sent boss Gareth Southgate a “well done” text after his England stars made the semifinals. And he was delighted the national team did it the English way with set-piece ploys opponents in Russia just couldn’t handle. “It used to be a dirty word 10 years ago because everyone wanted to play like Spain but this time people from all over the world were lauding us for set-pieces,” said Dyche. “They have always been about 25-30 per cent of the game – more so in really tight games, particularly given the quality that a lot of these players have now – so it’s now being looked at a bit more positively. “I liked the mixture of old British values too. When I was growing up it was all about the British bulldog spirit and there has been a bit more of that – a bit of Englishness mixed with modern thinking on the game. “A bit of Englishness, pride, group togetherness – it’s been good to find that connection.” Dyche sent good-luck messages out to Russia to his own keeper, third-choice England star Nick Pope. “I sent him a good, clear positive text and that’s it. I was the same with Gareth. I’m a big supporter of Gareth so it was just a little text saying, ‘Fantastic, well done.’ “For the first time in a long time it has started to look like our own DNA rather than everyone else’s and that’s healthy for the future. “I’m really proud to be English. I like our football, so when it mixes with modern football, that is good for the country. “Hurrah!”