I always thought Sean Dyche’s record at Burnley, considering the resources he had, was commendable. In our situation, I thought he was a pragmatic fit.
But even from the get-go, there were red flags I chose to overlook. Firstly, Burnley native Joe McMahon kept warning ToffeeWebers off him. Then he told another ToffeeWeber, Tony Abrahams, that we had “very good players”.
But the biggest red flag of all was his last year at Burnley. He had one win – just one – before February. Then he squeezed out two, then more failure before a final win (only the fourth of the season) in April… versus Everton, of course.
Then he was sacked.
What happened next? His no-name backroom boy Harrison took over and the very next games ended in a draw then three wins! Think about that. Harrison didn’t have the benefit of a transfer window. He was some inexperienced guru bringing in different styles and unearthing hidden gems.
He just sent the same team out that Sean Dyche had personally built — and he instantly got more out of them. A clueless backroom boy who’s gone on to do nothing and yet he got as much out of that Burnley team in a month as Sean had in 9!!!!
Now, we have Sean Dyche achieving the remarkable feat of beating Mike Walker’s winless record. And bear in mind Frank Lampard kept us up with a game to spare 2 years ago, whereas Sean took us to the final day last season.
I’m not advocating his sacking because even bigger idiots have ensured we can’t afford to fire him. But I am merely pointing out that all this crap about “Look at the hand he was dealt” – while true – could be flipped and you could say “Look at the hand the players were dealt having him as manager!”
His last Burnley team boasted McNeil, Tarkowski, an England goalie, and an injury-prone England striker. Sound familiar? Yet they also had Cornet who was good before Moyes got his hands on him and they got a handful of wins in 9 months.
So yes, the players are crap, the owner is worse… but you’re crap too, Sean, and overpaid. Any 3rd rate number two or three could have achieved as much with this team — even Big Dunc!