Burnley, Champions Again!: The Astonishing 2022/23 season with Vincent Kompany

By Dave Thomas

Burnley, Champions Again! tells the story of the incredible promotion season that Vincent Kompany inspired and organised at Burnley FC.

At the end of season 2021/22 the club found themselves relegated and managerless. With players wanting to leave, the club needing to sell them and fans worried the owners might decide to desert a sinking ship, the future looked bleak.

But the worries were unfounded. Vincent Kompany was brought in as manager. He spoke of promotion being a three- or four-year project. As existing players left in droves, their replacements were drafted in from the continent – some bought, others joining on loan. But doubts lingered. The newcomers were unknowns, and some of the departing players were big names.

The change in playing style was immediate – a transformation – and Burnley fans were wide-eyed with awe at the stunning possession-based football. The start was slow, but as the wins and points stacked up Burnley clinched an inconceivable top-flight return at the end of a magical season.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pitch Publishing Ltd
• Release date: Aug 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781801506441

Dave Thomas

Dave Thomas, is a cornerstone of the Ruby community, and is personally responsible for many of its innovative directions and initiatives. He is one of the founders of the Pragmatic Programmers and the Pragmatic Bookshelf.

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Introduction

When Sean Dyche was dismissed after the defeat at Norwich in April 2022, there could have been few of us who were not surprised at the timing of the decision. But most if not all of us could understand the sentiments behind it. For Dyche, after so many years of brilliant work, the game was up. Many of us had reached the view that change was necessary but it was a shock how and when it came.

We were in Tenerife when the news emerged. When we departed Leeds Bradford airport, we had a manager and hopes of three points at Norwich, but there were nil points and that was the end for Dyche. He was sacked in a move that stunned the football world with a timing that was widely criticised, albeit justified. The display at Carrow Road had been poor but during the first half there were few signs of how badly Burnley would play in the second. They were a goal down quite unluckily, we remarked. But the second half was purgatory, an endless procession of poor passing; 2-0 it ended and gloom descended.

Ah well, we returned to the sunbeds and the sunshine, and the biggest decision of the day was what to have for dinner in the restaurant. Thoughts of Dyche being sacked never entered our heads. We did, however, resign ourselves to relegation. And we did accept that if relegation happened then surely Dyche’s position had to be reviewed.

So, at what point did Alan Pace decide that Dyche had to go? Good Friday was the chosen day with me about to gather equipment and towels for the next day on the sunbeds. It was grandson Joe who dashed into the villa to say Dyche had been sacked. My genuine reaction was one of thinking he was joking. A late April Fool’s Day prank. But no: Joe thrust his phone in my face and there it was. Dyche sacked. Stunned silence, open mouth, amazement, momentary shock; this was seismic, the icon gone, the legend dispensed with. And just two days before the next game.

Logic returned. It made some kind of sense. The football was sterile. There were rumours of players not listening to him any more. We wondered if Dyche himself had lost some of his mojo. You can only make a certain number of omelettes with a dozen eggs. There is only so long you can make do and mend. Was he weary? Weary of the differences between himself and the former chairman? Was he no longer the top man influencing so many areas of the club? Puzzling too was the level of silence from the players. Players these days are quick to comment on social media or via the press. But there was nothing. Omerta.

The interpretation of all this at Mail Online was that it was all about control and who should be the dominant person at the club. It had been suspected for some time that a source at the club was feeding Daily Mail reporters their information. Or was this simply conjecture? Dyche had been seen for some time as the go-to man at the club for information and decisions. He had become all-powerful. This was no longer acceptable. That plus the Norwich result was the end for him.

The Athletic and Andy Jones suggested that the players were tired of the same old messages. Nothing new was being done, nothing had changed; there were no fresh ideas. It wasn’t that players were revolting against Dyche, it was just that they were no longer able to run through brick walls for him. They had reached their ceiling. There was a growing gap between players and the football management.

At a Q&A session with Business Club members, a brave Alan Pace was informative. He still had a good relationship with Dyche. He had never expected to sack him but results had not been good enough. The club would not be in trouble if they went down but the books would have to be balanced. The press reported that Pace had been to China to discuss a £100m deal but interest cooled after the Norwich game. He had met the Chinese people and they had watched the Everton game together. He had been abroad to speak to a potential new manager. Tellingly: transfer work in the previous seasons had not been good enough and the squad was too old. Players, he said, had reached out to him to say that the shackles had now been removed; echoes there of similar things said when Steve Cotterill left the club.

Temporary manager Mike Jackson immediately won three games and we were filled with hope. New manager bounce, they call it. It was to no avail. Relegation yes, but we were not totally despondent. It had been coming and we could all see that.

If only, you couldn’t help thinking. If only Cornet had not missed the penalty at West Ham. If only Weghorst had not been denied by a miraculous goal-line save by Mings at Aston Villa. If only Cornet had not missed that golden chance at Norwich. If only Tottenham had not been awarded a highly dubious penalty to win the game 1-0. We asked questions. How did Everton manage to score key last-minute goals to save themselves? Why did Brentford so meekly surrender in their last game to enable Leeds to win? What on earth possessed Collins for Burnley to handle the ball and give away the penalty in the final game at home to Newcastle?

And then we consoled ourselves. Had we survived, would it merely have been a season of struggle and more dull football? Or would the Championship allow us to regroup, reset, re-invent ourselves maybe? And we all agreed, mercifully no more VAR. Does anything disrupt a game more than VAR, and cause more controversy? Offside decisions affecting goals were simply a joke with lines drawn and decisions made on the basis of a knee or shoulder. Whatever happened to the idea of clear and obvious?

But how we enjoyed those good years and the triumphs and the brief foray into Europe. Little Burnley in Europe again. During those dark years of the Fourth Division not one person would ever have thought it possible. Before we begin to chart the progress of the remarkable 2022/23 season with Vincent Kompany, there has to be some sort of recognition for what Sean Dyche accomplished. I am indebted to Steve Corrigan for this summary:

‘When he took over, the Clarets were forever cash-strapped, perennial strugglers in the Championship, not even flirting with the heady heights of the play-offs. To take us from that to renewing our long-lost relationship with competitive European football was an incredible rise that we could have never dreamed of.

‘At times you had to pinch yourself, it was so unrealistic, and yet there were always the few that thought that we should be doing better, complaining about the lack of expenditure on incoming transfers. How much of that was the board’s issue, or Mike Garlick, and how much was down to Sean we shall probably never know for sure. But both took a lot of stick over it, much of which was way beyond acceptable. All despite the fact that Burnley were a debt-free, stable Premier League club. Victims of their own success perhaps?

‘But back on the pitch, what Sean achieved was nothing short of remarkable. In two full seasons in the Championship he was promoted both times, the second finishing with a 23-game unbeaten run to charge to the title. He obviously learned a lot from that first relegation from the Premier League, and it ultimately stood him in good stead the second time round. Despite some poor runs at times, the Clarets hadn’t really looked back until the eventual relegation in 2021/22.

‘Maybe it made some of us immune to his failings at times. Was his stubbornness and faithfulness a strength or a weakness? The lack of substitutions at times was frustrating. When his tactics of balls in behind the defence and up to the front two worked, it was a treat to watch and it was great to see the big boys getting riled. When it didn’t work, it was tough to watch. The missed opportunities in the cup, particularly the Lincoln game, were maddening, but as long as he kept delivering in the league, it was fine.

‘Even in the relegation season, the crowd was still in the main supportive of Dyche and the team, despite the poor results. Rightly, they had earned that with their record of survival and most of us still thought he was the best man for the job. The margins were, indeed, fine. The effort was there, but not taking chances and getting punished for mistakes was making results hard to come by.

‘But enough of the issues; we should be celebrating the past nine seasons. Burnley beat all the big guns, several on their own patch. At the same time Dyche helped to build a fantastic infrastructure and started uplifting the academy. He remained unbeaten against that lot from down the road. He took Burnley to Europe and lost only to a team that qualified for the Champions League group stages the following season. If it was fiction, you would dismiss it as unrealistic.

‘He brought us great phrases like legs, hearts and minds. Minimum requirement is maximum effort. And when you watched his teams, you believed it. Sometimes you wanted a bit more composure and quality but also at times you got it. Who can forget Barnes’s goal against Wigan or Hendrick’s at Everton? Quality passing moves. So many times, the Clarets were written off yet this seemed to galvanise Dyche and his players. They created some great upsets.

‘So, thank you Sean, you have truly earned the epithet, Burnley Legend. The club would not be where they are without you and your efforts.’

***

What might also be said is that it was Sean Dyche that built the club to the level that interested Alan Pace and ALK. It is hard to imagine them giving a second glance at the club and the state it was in when Dyche took over.

Of course, the Dyche peak had been passed, in fact one eminent journalist coined the phrase ‘Peak Burnley’. It was so apt and fitted his creation to a T. But nothing lasts forever. The squad aged and it was not refreshed enough in the last couple of transfer windows prior to the takeover. Were we being prudent and cautious or fattening the goose for the takeover? Whatever, it was out with the old and in with the new. The old was stubborn, obdurate and sometimes plain annoying to opposition sides and managers. We were even dubbed anti-football. How could that be? We had just drawn 2-2 with Chelsea. The accusation came from a Chelsea player. No surprise there then.

New owner Alan Pace appointed the much-respected Vincent Kompany as Dyche’s replacement. Nobody has as yet revealed how he actually managed to convince him to come or how he pursued him. To have swayed him to come to a relegated side was certainly praiseworthy. There is a story in fact that it was Kompany that approached Burnley. The son of a Congolese father and a Belgian mother, he began his playing career at Anderlecht and then returned to end it there, more than 15 years later.

Prior to arriving at Turf Moor, Kompany’s football achievements were immense and he is seen as one of the great Manchester City legends. A list of the honours he won there would fill a page. On top of all that there were 89 international caps. Clearly, there is more to him than just football, with interests in politics and business. While a player at City he studied for an MBA at the Manchester School of Business. To describe him as erudite and eloquent is an understatement. Married to a Manchester girl, the north-west is as much his home as Belgium ever was. On arrival at Burnley, he was welcomed with open arms. Kompany’s appointment was recognised as a coup for the owners.

When the new owners arrived in 2020, of course there was suspicion. Who are these guys? Are they here to up sticks and sell at a profit? What are their motives? Are they genuine? They were financiers, businessmen and investors. Could they be trusted? Would they want out at the first sign of relegation? But no, they did not disappear over the horizon. They had found housing in the area and stayed. Debts incurred by the takeover were slowly managed and reduced. And the appointment of Kompany was a masterstroke. Alan Pace is hands-on and full-time; pre-match he can be found circulating among supporters. He is not overseas-based and hard to find. He is at every game, sweating nervously like the rest of us.

‘I want Burnley to be the UK’s favourite underdog,’ he once famously said. ‘You certainly haven’t seen someone like me come in to run a football club and interact and live with the community where they are going to operate.’

Yes, loans were taken out to purchase the club but of this he said, ‘The loans for this transaction are absolutely reasonable and in line with what can be supported by this club and will not take away from the club’s ability to operate on a daily basis. There is a way to be financially responsible that is sustainable.’

At the beginning of the season in the local press, Pace outlined his hopes. Prior to this the experts had been filled with doom and gloom, and indeed, some supporters too. The best players were leaving, wages were too high, it was all unsustainable, the debts were worrying, fans were disillusioned, the heart and soul of the club had gone. Just what was in store? Pace saw it as a chance to start again and to rejuvenate:

‘I would say that there are exciting parts to it, the relegation, and also parts of it that are scary. But I don’t think that it is a bad thing. I think it was a disappointment for some, including myself. But I think it is a really great opportunity for us collectively. You look at some of the signings that have come in and you are getting a whole new generation. My belief is that we will be back in the Premier League; but when we will be back is down to a lot of factors that I can’t control. Relegation gives us an opportunity to compete differently, to be a little more aggressive around what we are trying to do, with the players that are coming in, and have a little bit more flexibility. You cannot underestimate what the Premier League is like. We were hanging on and had been hanging on for a while.

‘The ability for us to now go out and actually focus on playing to win, develop some more players in the way we would like to, is a great thing for us. But it is a tremendous focus for us to be back in the Premier League as soon as we can. But that will develop as the team comes together. We are seeing a little bit of change in a very quick manner which we probably would not have seen at the same level if we had carried on in the Premier League, because we would probably have kept a lot more of the players and you would have seen a more gradual process.

‘It has been a little bit of a quick turnaround because the season starts sooner and we had an appointment to make. It has been a positive thing from our perspective because season ticket sales have increased significantly. We have announced seven or eight new partnerships on the sponsorship side. So, there are a lot of things happening and happening very quickly and the excitement is continuing to build for a great season.’

Bookmakers were sceptical but Pace remained upbeat and positive in just the same way as Bob Lord 50 years earlier after Burnley had been relegated to the Second Division, as it was then. Not that I am saying that Pace is the new Lord, but how interesting it would be to have them in a room together and listen to the conversation.

‘I’ll keep what everyone hates about us and just add goals,’ said Kompany in July. Following relegation more than a dozen players had departed, some of them senior, on high wages. Maxwel Cornet, Nathan Collins and Dwight McNeil brought in welcome revenue to facilitate the purchase of new younger players for reasonable sums.

Kompany remembered the Turf Moor he had played at: unwelcoming, narrow corridors, fans close to the pitch, an uncomfortable place. These he wanted to protect. Change the tactics but not the culture was his mantra. Keep the old but add new ideas and now score goals. If Dyche’s football had become stale, now Kompany had to find the balance between style and results against a background of financial restrictions. It was only three years earlier in 2019 that he lifted the FA Cup at Wembley. He still had the instincts of a player, but the defender now wanted goals, and goals from all areas. He believed in young players, a pathway and committing to it. Give them time to develop and they grow into something that you could not initially afford. His knowledge of the Belgian market was key but the handful of the old guard that remained were also important for continuity and leadership.

The sheer scale of the overhaul was in fact astonishing, in terms of players out and players in. The number of players brought in who were under 24 was in double figures. The oldest newcomer was just 26. What did not change was the basic identity of the club; an institution with a long history embedded in the locale. Two of Bob Lord’s old stands remained. The views across from the North Stand breathtaking, of rows of housing, church spires, old cotton mills, all stretching into the moorlands beyond, and next door the cricket ground. On a clear sunny day perhaps the most spectacular vista in the country, the red, crimson and purple sunsets quite beautiful to the west.

No matter what the changes in personnel behind the scenes or on the field, the bedrock of local support remains. Burnley is a football town.

***

Diaries are strange things. We write what we think. We record things. We express personal opinions and often get things wrong. It is tempting when they are to be published to read and go back and change things. These diaries have not been changed other than a few things having been deleted simply because diaries are private and as you write, you might well express overly critical opinions that could upset people if they were made public. These are the things that have been omitted at the editing stage.

There was a limit of 90,000 words. Two previous diaries of earlier promotion seasons have been 125,000 words. It was therefore hard but necessary to keep a rein on things. When I began this one, there was no firm thought of promotion or publication, but as the season developed and it became clear, maybe in January, that something was in the offing, they took on a new purpose.

And: how fortunate to be able to turn to the splendid writing of contributors to the magazine of the London Clarets, Something to Write Home About. Tony Shaw is a perfect example in his article ‘Where Do I Start?’ This is the beginning of it and he asked the question all of us were asking:

‘Where do I start has to be the header for my latest ramblings given the seismic shift in the affairs of the club. I don’t think for a second that I am in the majority, but when things began to go against us towards the end of last season, injuries and ridiculous refereeing decisions (no change there), I viewed relegation as a blessed release from the endless slog for survival, an opportunity to reset, is the phrase most widely used.

‘OK, I realised that our major players would no longer be with us. I hoped Ben Mee would. However, that wasn’t to be. But under Michael Jackson there was a glimpse of a change of style and a hope that this would evolve into more watchable games of football and less hoofball. Looking towards pre-season and deliberately ignoring finances, it was still a grim sight. We didn’t have a first-team squad and all sorts of names were popping up as the next manager. One name was Vincent Kompany, who was reported to be interested. But he was not my preference. Oops.

‘Hey presto, he gets the job, makes a lot of very positive statements and I am converted. His arrival prompts a transfer window the like of which we have never experienced. It was getting ridiculous; so many players who were unknown to us. Were they good, bad or indifferent? We’d have to wait and see, plus we had not a clue as to the strongest starting 11. I think I was in the let’s just get through this season comfortably clear of relegation camp, and was hoping for some entertaining football.

‘I am not in possession of a crystal ball, so how could I foresee the forthcoming turn of events?’

Tony was not the only one who could never have foreseen what lay ahead. As the realisation grew that something special was happening, home games and away ends were sell-outs. What a season it turned out to be.

Something else happened as well. I gave away my huge collection of Burnley books, scrapbooks, and files and folders to Burnley Library. They filled two rooms and other shelves in the basement. Only another collector will appreciate the significance and implication of giving away a lifetime’s collection of books and materials such as I had gathered over the years. There’s further mention of this in the coming pages. The decision that has to be made when there is no family member who wants the stuff is not an easy one. These things have surrounded me for years, slowly gathering and accumulating until the realisation came that one day they would end up in a skip unless something was done. One scrapbook remains. The scrapbook of this season. It tells a great story.

1

June and July 2022–A Time of Uncertainty

Wednesday, 1 June: We have no manager, we have been relegated, Cornet is said to be going to various clubs with a £17.5m release clause, Weghorst is rumoured to be off to Turkey, chairman Alan Pace is quiet on everything, money is still owed to ex-directors, money is still owed to Dell, Mee has still to sign a new contract, the natives are getting restless, the pundits are predicting doom and gloom with a fire sale of the top players; one pundit even suggested we could be heading for League One, but apart from all that everything is fine.

Said to be arriving is Vincent Kompany as new manager, but this tale has been going on for a week and more since he left Anderlecht. Alan Nixon insists he is on his way and that there are work permit or visa problems even though his wife and family are all from Manchester. Newspapers remain full of tales that he wants to sign various players from Europe. Other theories are that he is still finalising the fine details, still searching for an assistant, and, or, wants a guaranteed player budget that Alan Pace currently cannot promise.

Meanwhile, Nottingham Forest take our place as the last club to join the Prem having won the play-off final after giving away two stonewall penalties that Moss and VAR turned down. Guess who was VAR judge – why none other than Tierney.

Thursday, 2 June: ‘Mee future uncertain’ headlined many papers this morning. At 32 he has still to sign any new contract at TM and it looks as though he won’t. He could walk into most Prem sides on a two-year deal and secure his future. UTC went into meltdown. One numpty labelled him as a rat leaving the sinking ship and was given a swift comeuppance. Mee goes down as a club ‘great’ and if he left it would surely be with our blessing. This is now a club with a hugely uncertain future and he must know it. Alan Pace must know it too.

Kompany, we are told, still waits for a work permit. I will make a firm prediction. If Kompany, or whoever, produces a side that is struggling midway into the season, and if as predicted other players leave as well, Pope, Cornet etc, ALK and Pace et al will receive the full Turf Moor treatment of withering derision. On the other hand, if by some miracle a new side might be built that succeeds, then Alan Pace will be a hero.

Sunday, 5 June: Silence from the club regarding anything other than shop clearance sales. Wout Weghorst confirms that he is leaving this summer come what may and that he will not play in the Championship. Ben Mee linked with Everton. James Tarkowski linked with Leeds. Pope to Nottingham Forest if they cough up £40m. They have offered £12m allegedly. The Sun seems to have announced that Kompany is manager. Alan Nixon reports that Craig Bellamy will be VK’s number two.

Tuesday, 7 June: But the official silence from the club continues to be deafening. Hennessey and Roberts in the Wales team that beat Ukraine in the final play-off game and progress to the World Cup finals. Hennessey was outstanding. Some sort of deal for Weghorst being cooked with Turkish club Beşiktaş. Latest rumours: VK is seen at Gawthorpe and his assistant Craig Bellamy has joined Clitheroe Golf Club.

No manager, no money, no players, players leaving, no plan, no communication at all, the ship is sinking. Just where is Alan Pace? Where are his colleagues? Total silence from them. Are they quietly looking to unload the club? Remember Alan was the one who said the deal that had been struck two years ago was ace, if only he could tell us how it was done, but he couldn’t. What is Mike Garlick currently thinking, does he think it’s been a good deal? Dear God, pre-season starts end of June. The players (what’s left of ’em) start in two weeks.

Latest story is that Kompany is now in talks with Nice. Nice work if you can get it in