Premier League: Burnley Sack Sean Dyche

West Ham United vs Burnley

Speaking as a proud and passionate Burnley fan this is the saddest day this SBOTOP writer has experienced in his decades of following his heroes the length and breadth of the country, through thick and thin and in all of England’s four divisions.

And now, just two days before a crucial game, the club I (used to) love has just sacked the finest manager I have ever seen.

The tenure of Sean Dyche has coincided with Burnley’s best times in the Premier League, six seasons among the elite of English football, beating every one of the so called ‘Big Six’ and qualifying for the Europa League, while spending a fraction of the sums squandered by countless clubs who dropped through the relegation trapdoor.

Okay; this has been a disappointing campaign but, in times gone by, Burnley was a tough club. Not a club prone to laud it over our rivals in the good times or panic in the bad times. As the longest serving Premier League manager, and the most successful at Burnley for half a century, Dyche led Burnley to an unlikely promotion in 2014 and, when they narrowly failed to stay up in 2015, the board stood by him with good cause. In 2016 the Clarets stormed to the Championship title playing a brand of attacking and inventive football and they were back in the Premier League.

During the following six campaigns the Clarets became the neutral’s favourite underdogs as they confounded the odds week after week and season after season, playing a more pragmatic style of football with never-say-die defence and the sting of a cobra in attack. Some great players have been and gone. Belgian midfielder Steven Defour had a gift rarely seen in East Lancashire and his performances helped the club reach European football, for the first time since the 1960s, after a seventh placed finish in 2018. Joey Barton, in contrast, was a bloodthirsty operator but a clever footballer who also won the hearts of the Clarets faithful.

Even this season, when injuries, VAR and an unusual number of individual errors have cost Burnley too many points, the signing of Maxwell Cornet has set the pulses racing. The fans love his Ivorian swagger and array of spectacular goals, the last being an 85^th minute winner against Everton which took the roof off Turf Moor off, just over a week ago.

As well as sacking Dyche, Burnley’s American owners have also ditched his backroom team including goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer, who turned Tom Heaton and Nick Pope into England internationals.

But the two players which have most epitomized the reign of the man who has a pub named after him in the town, the Royal Dyche, were those of wing-back Kieran Trippier and centre back Ben Mee. Dyche morphed Trippier from an exciting, attacking wing back into an all round player, equally adept at reading dangerous situations as sending in pin point crosses, and he went on to enjoy a stellar career at Atletico Madrid.

Now that the boss has gone, Mee is the remaining ‘Mr Burnley’. It is no coincidence that the skippers’ injury against Leicester City coincided with a disastrous run for four losses which left the team four points from safety with just eight games to play. Mee might not be the most gifted ball playing defender but he is made of granite in the mould of former Manchester United star Nemanja Vidic or Uruguay legend Diego Godin.

And Mee is an outstanding leader.

My fellow Burnley fans will tell you that, had Mee and Pope been in England’s team to face Italy in the Euro 2020 final, it is unlikely the Three Lions would have lost their 1-0 lead or the penalty shootout. But then football fans can be biased!                       

Europa target for Hammers

The West Ham vs Burnley betting odds are backing a home win and the way David Moyes’ team blew Lyon away in a Europa League second leg on Thursday night; that makes a lot of sense. Goals from Craig Dawson, Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen gave the Hammers a 3-0 win; and now they are in the last four.

Recent league results have meant a top four place is unlikely but they are currently sixth, and have high hopes of winning the 2022 Europa League. 

The last time they played at the London Stadium, a home game against struggling Everton  gave then three points as Aaron Cresswell and Bowen put the Toffees to the sword. If Mee remains sidelined I can see Bowen having another profitable afternoon on Sunday.

History

The Hammers have had the better of the West Ham vs Burnley results, winning 12 of the last 23 games against Burnley, while the Clarets have won six and there have been five draws.

The return fixture, at Turf Moor, ended in a 0-0 draw in December, at the start of a run of just three defeats in ten games for the Clarets as injuries cleared up and they began to find their feet. 

Betting Tip

Everton beat Manchester United last week and Leeds United are close to safety and if Burnley lose to the Hammers it will be another nail in the Clarets’ coffin. 

The rudderless visitors are at odds of 4.64 to win or 3.45 to draw… but I can’t work up any enthusiasm.

I have one thing to say: “THANK YOU SEAN.” 

 

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