Burnley have embraced new way but Dyche provides a reminder of what once worked so well

The Royal Dyche’s atmosphere was bubbling. In twos and threes, Burnley supporters filtered through the doors of the now iconic pub a short walk from the club’s Turf Moor stadium.

In a sport that presents many unique experiences, drinking your pre-match pints in a pub named after the visiting team’s manager is right up there.

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Saturday’s 3pm matches were about to get underway but the focus was on the late kick-off, with Sean Dyche making his return to Burnley to take a seat in the unfamiliar location of the away dugout, having spent almost a decade until April last year occupying the home one.

“I always knew this day would come,” says Justine Bedford, who renamed her pub, formerly The Princess Royal, after the club’s then manager when Burnley qualified for the Europa League by finishing seventh in the 2017-18 Premier League — an unprecedented achievement. “When I changed the name, there was going to be a scenario where he was in the away dugout. His sacking was a massive shock so today is an opportunity to give him the reception he deserves because he worked wonders here.”

Two hours later, now Everton manager Dyche emerged from the stadium tunnel with his staff, including long-term lieutenants Ian Woan and Billy Mercer, who were both part of his Burnley backroom team. You would be forgiven for thinking time had gone backwards. The outfit, the march, the mannerisms, they hadn’t changed — the only difference from his days as manager here was the colour of his tie, once Burnley claret, now Everton blue.

All four stands offered him the warm reception expected and he responded with applause. It was the first proper chance Burnley supporters have had to show their appreciation for the job Dyche did.

His sacking had come as a shock in April 2022, with eight games of that season remaining and a doomed fight against relegation underway. The timing and situation meant his nine and a half years of service could not be recognised and celebrated.

Dyche visited the pub that July to take part in a question and answer session, giving him the chance to say farewell to some. He jokingly referenced popping in again on this trip during his pre-match press conference.

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“That meant a lot,” says Bedford. “I dropped him a text saying rumour has it he was coming in so I’d be lining the shots up and he’d have James Tarkowski (the centre-back who was another to follow Dyche from Turf Moor to Goodison Park) up front by the time he left.”

Dyche was soon followed onto the pitch by successor Vincent Kompany, who received his own applause. The club’s new era coming after the old.

Down an alley across the road from The Royal Dyche is a painted mural of Kompany to mark the club’s Championship title-winning success last season. While unintentional in its placement, it almost carries a metaphorical symbol of where Burnley’s current manager is on the path to achieving his own era of success.

He might have a mural, but he hasn’t got a pub yet.

In the build-up to Saturday’s game, Kompany spoke admirably about the man he has replaced. Dyche had shaped a culture, dressing room and work ethic that the Belgian did not want to lose. He stamped his own authority on it but the core principles of attitude and togetherness remained non-negotiables.

Kompany reflected those sentiments in his programme notes for the match, although chairman Alan Pace, the owner who sacked Dyche, did not. The pair did bump into each other at the nearby Crow Wood Hotel, where the away team spent the night, on the morning of the game and exchanged pleasantries.

Any lingering sentiments and niceties evaporated when the match began. In typical Dyche fashion, his side won the toss and swapped ends. He may have moved clubs but some things never change.

This was a crucial fixture for both teams — joint-last-placed Burnley needed the three points to help close the gap to those above them in the lower reaches of the table, while Everton, fourth-bottom at kick-off, wanted to increase it.

The flow of the game was as predicted. Kompany’s side tried to build from the back and progress through the thirds; Dyche’s were efficient and direct in possession. It was Burnley old versus Burnley new.

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Unsurprisingly, set pieces were the deciding factor. Everton, tall and physical, are the best in the division at them; Kompany’s smaller, less imposing side one of the worst. In truth, it was men against boys in the opening half an hour of the hosts’ 2-0 defeat; a sight Burnley fans got used to when Dyche was the man in the home dugout. Inexperienced away teams arrived with hope but left beaten and broken after being overpowered.

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If the Everton manager was still in charge at Turf Moor, would Burnley be in a better position than they are now? Possibly, but that doesn’t mean Pace was wrong for wanting to take the club in a different direction and into a new era.

Last season, the ALK Capital ownership group were vindicated by a team and playing style that left supporters purring as Kompany took them straight back up as EFL champions. In this one, Burnley look like what they are — a coaching staff and squad with too little Premier League experience. This is the period of adjustment that comes with doing things a different way, but when the team have lost 14 of their 20 games this season in all competitions, questions are inevitable, and fair.

A large portion of the fans remain behind Kompany and believe in the direction of the new era.

Dad Paul and son Ian, season-ticket holders who make the 416-mile (almost 700km) round trip from Edinburgh in Scotland for home games, echoed those views as they sipped their pints before kick-off.

“Dyche is a legend — we are where we are because of him,” says Ian. “It takes time to rebuild a team to compete in the Premier League. This is a different way of trying to survive but there is more excitement, although you do think we could have got a result here or there under Dyche.”

Paul adds: “Kompany did a good job last season but the step up is huge and he’s got a brand new team again (for 2023-24). In years to come, that’s when hopefully you see it pay off.”

In Dyche’s first crack at the Premier League as Burnley manager in 2014-15, he failed to keep them up. He retooled the squad and they came back stronger, making an immediate return as 2015-16 Championship winners, then staying in the top flight until last year.

It is beginning to look like that may become a best-case scenario for Kompany, with his side now six points off safety as we approach the midpoint of the season and the gap in danger of increasing further should their form not improve.

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The previous regime is in the past, now the new era must work.

(Top photo: Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

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