Burnley have shrugged aside concerns about transitioning from Sean Dyche to Vincent Kompany to win the league at a canter, but can it translate to success in the division above? We asked Ian Brookes and Ben Leah.

Daft question, but how would you assess Burnley’s season overall?

Ian: Four Premier League titles, two Belgian First Division titles and a third-place medal at the 2018 World Cup, plus a clutch of domestic cup wins, after a truly decorated career as a player, Vincent Kompany is now creating something special at our mill town football club.
He’s keen to playdown the hype and the drama but it’s been hard not to get carried away — an unbeaten run of 16, then ten wins on the bounce, and a current run of 22 unbeaten. It’s surreal from where we were 12 months ago.
He’s such a down to earth bloke too, and his communication is thoughtful and as far removed from the usual football manager bluster — and the deflection we got used to from Dyche, it’s almost too good to be true. For example, last week’s post-Reading press conference had this gem: “Don’t believe the hype, that’s the advice I always give to myself. Stay on course and stay humble. If you have a bad day, remember to take a deep breath, and make sure you face people in the way that you would want to be led in those moments.”

Ben: I don’t think in all honesty any of us could have predicted it going any better. There was a lot uncertainty going into this campaign but we’ve been pleasantly surprised and to be promoted with seven to go is amazing.

Burnley league results so far…
Huddersfield 0-1 Burnley Maatsen 18
Burnley 1-1 Luton Brownhill 50 — Potts 5
Watford 1-0 Burnley Cleverley 45
Burnley 1-1 Hull Rodriguez 34 — Tufan 45
Burnley 3-3 Blackpool Brownhill 3, Tella 11, 33 — Corbeanu 21, Lavery 74, Yates 76
Wigan 1-5 Burnley Keane pen 43 — Rodriguez 17, Brownhill 27, 86, Tella 51, Bastien 86
Burnley 2-0 Millwall Vitinho 62, Rodriguez 72
West Brom 1-1 Burnley Thomas-Asante 90 — Rodriguez pen 30
Preston 1-1 Burnley Storey 15 — Harwood-Bellis 10
Burnley 2-1 Bristol City Benson 4, Rodriguez 57 — Wells 27
Cardiff 1-1 Burnley Robinson 90 — Tella 48
Burnley 1-1 Stoke Roberts 54 — Clarke 87
Coventry 0-1 Burnley Tella 39
Burnley 4-0 Swansea Vitinho 15, Rodriguez 29, 57, Zaroury 45
Birmingham 1-1 Burnley Hogan 80 — Gudmundsson 74
Sunderland 2-4 Burnley Diallo 16, Neill 20 — Tella 50, Benson 61, Zaroury 69, Brownhill 87
Burnley 1-0 Norwich Rodriguez pen 82
Burnley 2-1 Reading Benson 66, Zaroury 90 - — Ince 56
Burnley 3-2 Rotherham Rodriguez 35, Benson 90, Dervisoglu 90 — Wiles 3, Ogbene 64
Sheff Utd 5-2 Burnley Ndiaye 30, McBurnie 48, 74, Robinson 64, Ahmedhodzic 69 — Robinson og 17, Benson 45
Burnley 3-0 Blackburn Barnes 55, 81, Zaroury 74
QPR 0-3 Burnley Gudmundsson 19, Maatsen 45, Tella 71
Burnley 3-1 Boro Benson 60, 67, Howson og 72- Watmore 49
Burnley 3-0 Birmingham Zaroury 1, Roberts 44, Tella 90
Stoke 0-1 Burnley Cullen 61
Swansea 1-2 Burnley Cooper 27 — Maatsen 13, 22
Burnley 1-0 Coventry Beyer 82
Burnley 2-1 West Brom Tella 75, Twine 87 — Furlong 7
Norwich 0-3 Burnley Zaroury 8, Vitinho 54, Ekdal 60
Burnley 3-0 Preston Tella 15, 55, 58
Burnley 1-1 Watford Obafemi 90 — Pedro 32
Luton 0-1 Burnley Barnes pen 78
Millwall 1-1 Burnley Bradshaw 85 — Barnes 51
Burnley 4-0 Huddersfield Zaroury 7, Roberts 18, Brownhill 31, Obafemi 74
Blackpool 0-0 Burnley
Burnley 3-0 Wigan Tella 14, 47, Foster 76
Hull 1-3 Burnley Tufan 90 — Tella 43, 59, 73
Burnley 0-0 Sunderland
Boro 1-2 Burnley Akpom pen 48 — Barnes 12, Roberts 66
Burnley 2-0 Sheff Utd Gudmundsson 60, 70
Reading 0-0 Burnley
Rotherham 2-2 Burnley Vitinho og 45, Kelly 85 — Twine 26, Benson 81

You were the relegated side I was least sure about because I thought the transition from Dyche to Kompany would take way longer than one summer but it’s been seamless. What have been the keys to that? Or is it just you spent a fair wedge of money?

Ian: I could not have envisaged Burnley sitting top of the Championship since October. The departure of Dyche after ten years was followed by relegation from the Premier League and 80% of an established squad leaving. Kompany’s appointment was a sit up and take notice moment and signalled the beginning of a new era for the Clarets. It’s been an amazing season, one that has totally confounded expectations.

His key principles of ‘togetherness and hard work’ have been more than words and he’s brought a fresh positivity to the Club, with just two league defeats in 42 league games, it’s definitely so far, so good. We just need to stay unbeaten in our final two home games to have an unbeaten home record for the season.

We all think our club is special, and ours is as a founder member of the Football League in 1888. What becomes increasingly clear the more he speaks is that he believes in Burnley as a club and a town he wants to make proud again.

Kompany was rational and realistic following relegation from the Premier League, there was more financial pressure than fan expectation back in August but immediately he revolutionised Burnley’s style of play — I think we made more passes in our opening game at Huddersfield than we did in our final five games under Dyche. Dominant in possession and the highest scorers in the division, these are exciting times. We play Pep ball for sure, we retain the ball and recycle it, are patient and play with 11 outfield players. In the game against Wigan at home, there were three occasions when our keeper Muric brought the ball out of our own box leaving Wigan forwards closer to the nets than he was! So, a fantastic season, I just hope we can make our five loans into permanent signings, and we get a few additional signings for next season.

I think the key to the transition from Dyche has been Kompany’s attention to detail, his intelligence as a leader, his network and ability to pick a player, and the sincere personal relationship he has with each of his players. He’s also instilled a never-say-die attitude as we come from behind to win games with goals after 80 minutes on multiple occasions this season.
As a result of Kompany’s leadership, values, and footballing philosophies, we are playing the most attractive football I’ve ever seen. As a manager, he comes across as open, honest, and communicative, but one thing is clear, he is as demanding in the dugout as he was as a captain on the pitch.

One of many moments that stands out in a memorable season was after falling behind to Sunderland earlier in the season and a miserable first-half display, losing 0-2, Kompany delivered a half-time team talk that made the headlines: “You’re not in London or Madrid, you’re in Burnley!”

His post-match comments were very transparent: “The main reason for me saying that was because I was hammering home that I cannot have a team that doesn’t work hard. If I don’t have a team what works hard, I’d rather go home and shut the door behind me. And I’d say the same to the players too. It’s absolutely pointless if the basics aren’t there in the team and that game against Sunderland was the first time this season, I’ve seen that from my team. That’s when they get to see who I am and what I’m about.” We won 4-2.

He used his connections at City to seal a couple of signings. Arijanet Muric joined permanently, while Taylor Harwood-Bellis came in on loan. Chelsea full-back Ian Maatsen and Southampton winger Nathan Tella were notable arrivals too. Jordan Beyer (22), on loan from Borussia Monchengladbach, isn't bad with the ball at his feet either. The oldest of Kompany's 16 signings was Josh Cullen, at 26. These younger players were keen to buy into Kompany's methods, Kompany encourages his side to hold onto the ball for long periods, waiting for a lapse of concentration in the opponent.

Turf Moor hasn't seen football like this. I think I really started believing when we won 4-2 at Bournemouth in the F A Cup. Dyche did a remarkable job keeping Burnley in the Premier League for six consecutive seasons between 2016 and 2022, but we were not known for playing the most expansive football in the world. In fact, if we’re honest it became dull.

Under Dyche Burnley prioritised defensive solidity and attacks centered around winning knockdowns from long balls. We were not a team that cared much about having much of the ball, preferring to pick their moments to try and score and conceding possession the rest of the time. We also had the oldest starting XI in the Premier League last season and the ALK leverage buyout had us all in the doldrums really, no expectations.

Last Friday's win at Middlesborough secured Burnley an instant return to the topflight despite there still being seven games left to play. A 2-0 win against closest chasers Sheffield United on Easter Monday was also comfortable. Since then, we’ve rotated heavily giving squad players a game, two draws at Reading and Rotherham. I expect the first team to play on Saturday and clinch the title.

Ben: We weren’t sure what Kompany would bring to the table with him being relatively inexperienced when he joined and it being his first job in England. It’s been a revelation the football under the Belgian because as you say it was far from what Dyche used style wise. I think at the end of the day the whole morals of Burnley is work rate and I think this is something has carried over and out his own stamp on. Money doesn’t really come into question at all because we had to sell to buy as we lost the main core of our squad after relegation but we’ve reduced the average age and bought smartly with players with resale value.

Presumably the fear is Kompany gets pinched by somebody else before you get a crack at the Prem with him?

Ian: Despite some links to Premier League teams, I think Kompany will stay at least next season, he’s grounded and building his career. Whilst we all know he’ll move onto a larger club eventually; we’re enjoying having him with us. He’s only 37, so maybe he will step into Pep’s shoes eventually and a larger mid-table club next but can’t see him wanting to move without proving himself in the Premier League with us.

Ben: We’ve all seen the rumours regarding Kompany and the Spurs job but I think it’d be a silly move for him. He’s got a project at Burnley and a fan base that love him so I’d love him to be able to give us a proper crack at the Premier League next year.

Can this translate to a successful Premier League season? What needs to be done to make it so?

Ian: We sold players for £80m and bought £40m worth of players — the parachute money and this transfer surplus has gone into repaying the leveraged buyout debt ALK put on the club — so all is well. What can he do in stepping up?

I think we need to convert the five loans to permanent signings for next season if we can, then look at midfield as a priority, but I’d like to see the squad given the opportunity. Not looking forward to VAR or the hype, we’ve got used to playing some great football and winning, so let’s just give it a go. For sure we won’t do a Forest and sign 25+! We’ve got so many standout players this year — Tella, Zaroury, Cullen, Beyer — all have earned the right to give the top league a crack.

Ben: I’m hoping so and I’m confident we will be competitive. Tying down some of our loans to permanents would be important I think for us going forward but I think potentially a centre forward and a centre midfielder.

Summer Ins >>> Benson Manuel Hedilazio, 25, RW, Antwerp, £4m >>> Anass Zaroury, 21, LW, Charleroi, £4m >>> Darko Churlinov, 22, LW, Stuttgart, £3.5m >>> Posh Scott Twine, 22, AM, MK Dons, £2.9m >>> Josh Cullen, 26, CM, Anderlecht, £2.7m >>> Arijanet Muric, 23, GK, Man City, £2.3m >>> Luke McNally, 22, CB, Oxford, £1.6m >>> Vitinho, 23, RB, Brugge, £1m >>> Samuel Bastien, 25, CM, Standard Liege, £720k >>> Denis Franchi, 19, GK, Paris SG, Undisclosed >>> CJ Egan-Riley, 19, CB, Man City, Free >>> Taylor Harwood-Bellis, 20, CB, Man City, Loan >>> Ian Maatsen, 20, LB, Chelsea, Loan >>> Jordan Beyer, 22, CB, Monchengladbach, Loan >>> Halil Dervisoglu, 22, CF, Brentford, Loan >>> Nathan Tella, 23, RW, Southampton, Loan

Winter Outs >>> Wout Weghorst, 30, CF, Man Utd, Loan >>> Ashley Westwood, 32, CM, Charlotte, Free >>> Kevin Long, 32, CB, Birmingham, Free >>> CJ Egan-Riley, 20, CB, Hibs, Loan >>> Luke McNally, 23, CB, Coventry, Loan >>> Enock Agyei, 18, RW, Mechelen (Belgium), Loan >>> Matthew Lowton, 33, RB, Huddersfield, Loan >>> Dara Costelloe, 20, LW, Bradford, Loan >>> Will Norris, 29, GK, Peterborough, Loan >>> Bobby Thomas, 21, CB, Barnsley, Loan

Player of the year candidates?

Ben: Player of the season contender, there are a number of options but I’d be between two either Nathan Tella or Jordan Beyer but I’d have to go Tella just because of his attacking threat and creating chances.

Links >>> Burnley Official Website >>> No Nay Never — Podcast >>> Lancashire Telegraph — Local Press >>> Up The Clarets — Message Board

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Pictures — Action Images

The Twitter @loftforwords @Ben_Leah02

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TacticalR added 14:35 - Apr 22 Thanks to Ian and Ben. Sounds like an amazing season. One thing Burnley have in their favour is that they already know that they are going up, so they can plan for next season. Obviously that will be easier if Kompany stays.
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