How Burnley was promoted to Championship

 

 

 

Ten months into his tenure as manager, Vincent Kompany celebrates Burnley’s promotion Stu Forster/GettyImages

After securing a record-breaking promotion to the Premier League in just ten months, it appears to have been a prophetic statement. Alan Pace, the chairman of Burnley, called the team’s quick return to the Premier League a “total surprise” following Burnley’s victory over Middlesbrough to secure a top-two finish.

The club’s social media administrator had faith in a new era before the chairman did, and here is how Kompany went about building it.

Sean Dyche’s impact at Burnley hasn’t completely disappeared a year after his departure, despite ten years with the team. The sour boss kept saying that his team needed to have “fire in the belly” but keep their “brain in the freezer.”

This anti-reactionary attitude has been crucial throughout the few hiccups in Kompany’s otherwise uneventful tenure.

Burnley lost their next four Championship games after defeating Huddersfield 1-0 to start the season. The former Manchester City captain didn’t collect his first three points at Turf Moor until the sixth game of the season.

However, there was hardly any hint of unhappiness because small teething issues were to be expected of a team playing for the first time in 10 years under a new permanent management.

The true test of trust came in November, when Burnley lost 5-2 at Bramall Lane after being whipped away by Sheffield United in the second half. Burnley held the top spot despite the setback, which Kompany swiftly spun as a victory, having gone 16 games without a loss.

Maybe we needed this loss, the manager thought to himself. “Burnley is a humble club, but we have to make sure we don’t get carried away because we’ve done well for a long time. Losses bring that home.” The Bramall Lane thrashing is still the team’s most recent league defeat, so clearly some lessons were learned.

Burnley have a lot of new players to integrate in addition to new management. Six were let go last summer, while seven were permitted to have their contracts expire.

Just three of the 16 players that Burnley signed, including on loan and on permanent terms, were older than 23. By the conclusion of Burnley’s window, Kompany’s little black book must have been stuffed; of the summer additions, half were either from Kompany’s previous haunt, Manchester City, or the Belgian top division, where the 36-year-old had just finished two years as manager of Anderlecht.

At that time, 26-year-old Josh Cullen was the most seasoned player to join Turf Moor. 2020 saw Kompany sign the West Ham Academy alumnus during his first transfer window as Anderlecht’s manager. More Championship minutes have been played by the organising midfielder this season than by any other Burnley outfield player since he joined the team in his sophomore year.