“Brutal honesty” and realism will stand Burnley in good stead this season, according to boss Scott Parker.
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That’s the message from the Clarets manager ahead of this weekend’s first home game of the season against Sunderland, a side many will expect to be in a relegation battle with Burnley this season.
Parker is by no means pessimistic or negative, but he knows his players can’t afford to set any lofty or unrealistic expectations heading into the rest of the season.
“I think you need to understand what the journey looks like,” he said.
“What's key is really having a clear understanding of how certain things may look this year and the word realistic and the word rationale and the word real level about us needs to be at the top of that.
“That's not being negative in any way or pessimistic in any way. That's just the brutal honesty of the situation we're in.
Parker's Burnley side were beaten 3-0 at Tottenham on the opening weekend (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)placeholder image
Parker's Burnley side were beaten 3-0 at Tottenham on the opening weekend (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP via Getty Images)
“I feel that's the best way for anyone and I've been involved in teams that have won leagues and I've been involved in teams that have been relegated.
“The psychological element in certain moments in team sports is critical and the shock factor of that, if you don't have an understanding of it, you don't have real mechanisms to get yourself out of certain situations. Before you know it, you're on a bit of a slippery slope.
“We've built a culture, an environment and, of course, that's changed a little bit because a lot of players have left. But what was fundamental to that, we now need to reboot that up and build that up again and hopefully that will be a main driver this year for us to give us a real foothold or a real solid foundation to go into this year.”
Given the recent record of newly-promoted sides heading straight back down, many are expecting Burnley to follow suit once again this season. Parker, however, isn’t bothered in the slightest by the narrative.
“Honestly, I don't listen to that,” he added.
“I get it though, I understand it. I understand the stats behind it. I get all that, but I don't even put it into my brain for one second.
“Can I be the best version? Can this team be the best version of themselves every single Saturday and let everything else take care of itself?
“I always say you can lose football matches. That's just professional sport on fine margins. You can sometimes just plainly lose them on just sheer quality.
“But can we just be the best version, keep growing and see where we are come the end of it?”
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