Burnley: where did it go right?

[Danke bitte 965]

I was just thinking today, I barely pay any attention to other clubs’ comings and goings - I’m not that busy but equally I kind of dont care enough about rival teams either. 

But last time we were here we stormed the league with some of the best football I’d care to remember. Yes things have changed (no need to go into the obvious), but given Burnley were relegated with a debt hanging over them and a squad shorn of experience, how has Kompany, a fledgling manager, navigated a team with a relegation hangover and no “weapons” as well as he has to the top of the Championship?

I’m hoping for Pink Un posters that care about the overall nature of the league to help here; we all have a tendency to focus on the negatives but, ultimately, how did Burnley get it so right?! 

[Midlands Yellow 3,920]

A bit of luck, great recruitment but ultimately a very clever head coach. 

[Danke bitte 965]

1 minute ago, Midlands Yellow said:

A bit of luck, great recruitment but ultimately a very clever head coach. 

Burnley and great recruitment in a sentence seems a hell of a paradox. I’m also looking at Kompany peers in Gerard and Lampard, and though I’ll admit both were a few years before him, I still cant believe how well he’s done. 

Though I’ve backed Webber and he’s had utter masterstrokes, I do feel since Farke’s sacking he’s lurched from one bad decision to another until Wagner whereby his tenure is still an unknown really. 

I just don’t get how Burnley, a club laughed at for it’s one dimensional play under Dyche, has actually been reinvigorated and yet, we’re here again, sitting in an unknown despite all the excellence this club stands for. 

[The Real Buh 3,423]

There’s a guy over in the Burnley equivalent of the pinkun called “The Real Burn” or something and when he brought up valid points about there club he was listened to.

Such a shame it took so many so long to realise the truth.

[Danke bitte 965]

Just now, The Real Buh said:

There’s a guy over in the Burnley equivalent of the pinkun called “The Real Burn” or something and when he brought up valid points about there club he was listened to.

Such a shame it took so many so long to realise the truth.

Burnley shares one PC. Don’t flatter yourself 😁

[king canary 7,562]

They feel very like us in the first season under Farke- lots of relatively cheap foreign signings who have clicked really well.

Their big concern if they go up is how much they've relied on loans- 3 of their usual starting back 4 are on loan, plus Nathan Tella who has been a key attacker for them.

[NFN FC 1,118]

Bank. Of. Dave. 

[Petriix 2,834]

For me it's about a fundamental level of consistency and a clear plan. While we were flapping around playing players out of position and contorting ourselves around our opponents, Burnley simply trusted their ability to outplay the other teams at this level and stuck to their plan. It took them a while to get up to speed but, once it clicked, it clicked. 

[Barham Blitz 652]

54 minutes ago, Petriix said:

For me it's about a fundamental level of consistency and a clear plan. While we were flapping around playing players out of position and contorting ourselves around our opponents, Burnley simply trusted their ability to outplay the other teams at this level and stuck to their plan. It took them a while to get up to speed but, once it clicked, it clicked. 

Even when they weren't winning early season they weren't losing.  Almost as if they looked at the teams who had been successful in recent Championship history and worked out that the opposition rarely score when they don't have the ball and knacker themselves out running around after it...  Sounds familiar somehow 🤔

[dsr-burnley 25]

3 hours ago, Midlands Yellow said:

A bit of luck, great recruitment but ultimately a very clever head coach. 

Correct.

We're in a funny position with the owners.  As football people, they are doing extraordinarily well (barring relegation, of course). As financial owners, they're appalling and are in it for money - they have taken out at least £140m that we no about, so far.  The first £100m being the £50m pot that had already built up under the previous owner who refused to spend, and another £60m borrowed at 10% interest.  This year, the parachute money has added to that pot.

Everyone saleable (apart from Brownhill) was sold and raised £70m.  Of that, £20m was spent on rebuilding the side - 16 new players in summer.  Not all of them worked out, at least not so far, but obviously enough of them did.  In January, another £20m or so spent on 5 more players, including 2 centre halves ready to replace the loan boys of needed.

Dyche was a bit of a godlike figure for Burnley, but Kompany is showing signs of being better.  Lucky us.

The only bad news is that if we go up, we get the miseries of VAR inflicted on us again.  😒 Until this season, I had forgotten just how much fun it was to celebrate a goal.

[Yellow and Green 334]

There are a load of different aspects to bouncing back up, which are difficult to know as a fan. Even on the inside, no one has the magic answer, otherwise the relegated teams would bounce straight back up every time.

For us in 2020/21, it was about keeping Buendia and Pukki at the club. Skipp aside, our recruitment wasn't particularly amazing. Our core set of players had enough quality to control games and win. Equally, Farke's brand of football was too much for other Championship clubs and that combination saw us win the league relatively easily.

Smith seemingly didn't have that clear brand of football that was either attacking or able to control the game. Nor did he have Emi. Nor did he (/the wider management) have the ability to motivate the players after another humiliating relegation. We were largely patient with Smith in the PL; it was Webber's recruitment that bore the brunt of the blame. This season was Smith's time to flex his muscles, but there wasn't a single 90 minute performance that demonstrated any kind of competence. 

For a squad of players who are largely upper Championship standard, Kompany is certainly an admirable figure, and he seems to have a clear playing philosophy that's able to succeed in this league.

[canarybubbles 1,914]

8 hours ago, Midlands Yellow said:

A bit of luck, great recruitment but ultimately a very clever head coach. 

Yes. They took a huge gamble and it paid off. Fortune favours the brave, as they say.

Trying to answer the original question, it's hard not to focus on what we have done wrong rather than what Burnley have done right. On balance, I think dismissing Farke was probably the right decision, but hiring Smith was a disastrous mistake which wasn't put right when it should have been - as soon as relegation was confirmed.

As a consequence, we went into this season not only with a mediocre head coach who didn't seem particularly motivated, but one who was associated with the failure of the previous season, unlike Burnley's new broom.

In addition, our huge gambles (notably hiring a crocked DM) didn't pay off, plus our DoF seemed unwilling to admit to himself that he had made some terrible decisions at the footballing level and therefore reluctant to try to correct them. He seemed more interested in squabbling with everyone rather than trying to put things right. His sacking of Smith and his comments in his last interview suggest that the penny has finally dropped, so we all just have to hope that hiring Wagner is the start of a reverse in fortune.

At the moment, it all seems like a terrible waste of a season.

Edited February 4, 2023 by canarybubbles

[Six Pack 91]

Simple , they have smart people running their football. Not some dumb4ss who thinks he's good like Webber.

They can spot a donkey from miles out - like Ben Gibson and eject him without procrastinating about it ! 

[DraytonBoy 142]

Whilst Kompany has only been a manager for a short time you'd assume he learnt much from his time at Man City under Mancini, Pellegrini and Guardiola. He's also brought in people he's worked with before (Bellamy for example) and recruited players that he knew either in Belgium or in the UK so he built a solid platform very quickly. Add in a style of playing that is different to most other teams in the Championship along with backing from the board and it's not too hard to see why they're doing well.

[lake district canary 4,531]

1 hour ago, DraytonBoy said:

Whilst Kompany has only been a manager for a short time you'd assume he learnt much from his time at Man City under Mancini, Pellegrini and Guardiola. He's also brought in people he's worked with before (Bellamy for example) and recruited players that he knew either in Belgium or in the UK so he built a solid platform very quickly. Add in a style of playing that is different to most other teams in the Championship along with backing from the board and it's not too hard to see why they're doing well.

Agreed - getting Kompany was the masterstroke. As a player he was a huge influence to teams on and off the pitch when injured, as he was quite a lot.  It is because he is at Burnely that attracted good players to the club, he has a clear vision, based on what he learned as a player and was always going to be a success as a manager - and Burnley recognised that, much like Webber recognised Wagner would be at at Huddersfield and Farke at Norwich. Don't know if Burnley have a DoF as such, but credit to them for getting the right man in.

 

[Capt. Pants 4,194]

At the start of the season Kompany was focused, had a plan and executed it and is now reaping the rewards big time. Smith on the otherhand never seemed to have a clue on how we should play.

Also Burnley navigated theirselves around recruitment superbly well and somehow managed to get some quality unknown Belgians. Manuel Benson is outstanding. We on the otherhand went to South America. Long term that may prove equally as good, and who knows might still result in promotion.

Webber and us all expected so much more from Smith, but the fact is we have wasted most of this season and so far have gifted one if not two clubs a free hit to the Premier League.

[BroadstairsR 2,137]

Answer to OP>

With the appointment of Vincent Kompany.

An intelligent, level-headed, well-spoken man with football to his core along with great experience and connections.

What players wouldn't respond to the ideas and authority of a man like that.

He will go to the top.

When we had Smith, I envied Burnley a lot and anticipated their rise.

Not sure now that we have Wagner, a different character with his own methods and appeal, who might fit City better at this moment in time.

 

This pm will reveal a lot. Highlight of the season so far.

[Norfolk Dan 308]

11 hours ago, NFN FC said:

Bank. Of. Dave. 

Really hope the Norwich fans sing "Where's Dave, we only came to see Dave, ... " 

[unique 434]

Vincent Kompany

[Midlands Yellow 3,920]

2/1 Burnley, very generous but I still think we’ll beat them.

[TheGoogler 324]

For me they've achieved the championship holy grail. 

A manager with a clear way of playing who has been allowed to build a squad of players he knows well, who are motivated to play for him and fit well into that deployed way of playing.

If you take us, we have a squad built to play Daniel Farke tactics, who have been knocked for six in terms of confidence and motivation by Dean Smith playing now for a manager with a clear way he wants to play, but are not suited to playing that way.

For me, Wagner will need a summer - maybe two - to get us back to the sorts of levels needed to compete at the top at this level.

Edited February 4, 2023 by TheGoogler