Sean Dyche has been linked with a stunning return to Burnley.placeholder image
Sean Dyche has been linked with a stunning return to Burnley. | Getty Images
As speculation grows that Burnley could sack Scott Parker, their perfect replacement is clear.
Burnley are struggling to avoid an instant return to the Championship this season, and reports have emerged that manager Scott Parker might have his days at Turf Moor numbered as the board consider decisive action.
Parker led the Clarets to 100 points and a comfortable promotion as runners-up to Leeds United in the Championship last season and while the Whites and Sunderland both currently sit outside the bottom three, the latter in the top half for the majority of the season after strong recruitment, Burnley are sat in 19th place and nine points away from safety with 12 matches to play.
Losing key men James Trafford, Josh Brownhill and CJ Egan-Riley over the summer has no doubt played a huge role in their poor season amidst an unwillingness to break the bank for new signings, and the Clarets have amassed a more respectable points total of 18 in comparison with the disastrous nine points accrued by Wolves, despite just one league win since October. Change in the dugout could be on the horizon, though – and there is only one man who can fix things at Turf Moor.
Sean Dyche would be the perfect appointment as Burnley seek unlikely survival
Sean Dyche was recently sacked by Nottingham Forest and having led the Tricky Trees out of the bottom three and to the ascendency in the race to beat the drop, his sacking appeared somewhat of a harsh one. The issues are believed to have gone beyond results on the pitch, though, with notoriously demanding owner Evangelos Marinakis reportedly pulling the plug due to additional factors such as the style of play and certain members of the squad ‘not having’ Dyche, particularly after his public tirade following FA Cup defeat at Wrexham.
But if there is one place where Dyche would be welcomed back with open arms, it is Burnley. Not only does the 54-year-old have an expert knack for helping troubled sides avoid the drop, but he also knows Burnley inside out and could inspire a shift in mentality and performances which could see the Clarets secure a stunning survival.
Dyche spent a decade at Turf Moor and led Burnley to two promotions to the top flight, before they consolidated themselves as a Premier League club in the late 2010s and secured a historic Europa League qualification in 2017/18. Four years later, with the club in the bottom three and staring down the barrel of relegation, Dyche was sacked – and he will feel that he has unfinished business with hunger to save Burnley from the drop, potentially relegating former club Forest in the process.
Dyche would give Burnley the best possible chance of staying up - but will it be enough?
A defining characteristic of Dyche’s teams at both Burnley and Everton was the siege mentality he was able to create within a group, an ‘us vs them’ mentality which, more often than not, led to positive results and his sides punching above their weight.
The difficulty at Forest was that once he had initially led the club out of the bottom three, there was higher expectation for him to drag the Midlands outfit up the table and closer to their seventh-placed finish of last season. Whether Dyche could have done this had he been given more time at the City Ground, we will never know.
At Burnley, however, his style of play and messaging to the players could provide the perfect circumstances for the Clarets to give as good as they have got in their attempts to stay up this season. It still may not prove enough, but at least with Dyche at the helm they would have undoubtedly done all that they can.
As reported by Football Insider, Dyche is currently amongst the favourites to take over at Turf Moor, alongside Steven Gerrard and Ole Gunnar Solskjær – two far riskier appointments at this stage of the season in comparison with the former Forest boss. Managerial reunions do not always end well, but after the role he played in Burnley’s relegation in 2022 he may relish the chance to save them this time around. It is difficult to argue that there is any man better for the job.
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