Burnley 2 Swansea City 0: Five things we learned

Before this game Swansea boss Paul Clement had insisted he had ‘no regrets’ over the decision to sell Jack Cork to the Clarets this summer.

It was hard to believe that before the match and it’s even tougher now. Burnley dominated the visitors in midfield and a confident Cork was key to that.

He’s been outstanding for the Clarets so far this season and based on this display looks to have gained in confidence for his England debut.

Cork was calm and composed in the middle and he and Steven Defour comfortably out-thought and outfought Swansea’s trio of Leroy Fer, Sam Clucas and Renato Sanches

Clement suggested that the £10million on the table was too much for Swansea to resist this summer, but they are badly a missing a player of Cork’s ability at the moment.

CLARETS AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW

For several years Swansea were held up as an example for promoted teams to follow. They had a clear style, a long-term plan and were happy to take it in stages as they established themselves in the Premier League and won many admirers along the way.

Sadly for the Swans that clear thinking is a thing of the past. This is the third year in a row they’ve started the season badly and they lurch from one extreme to the other in the dugout. At the moment they look to be on borrowed time in the top flight, and on Saturday the fans turned against chairman Huw Jenkins.

They’ve been replaced as the example club by the Clarets, who are everything Swansea used to be. A club well run, with an identifiable style, a strong bond between fans and players and signs of progress every season. Burnley are the club Swansea once were.

STRIKING OPTIONS

As Sean Dyche said post-match Chris Wood was never going to feature against Swansea, regardless of his hamstring injury, which appears to more of a concern for New Zealand than it is for Burnley.

Sam Vokes looked to have put himself to the front of the queue to replace Wood with the winner against Southampton before the break, so it was a surprise to see Ashley Barnes given the nod instead.

He repaid Dyche’s faith though with a fine all-round performance and a stunning goal to cap it off.

Barnes’ display has only increased the battle for places up front. Vokes and Wood have also found the net regularly this season, while Nahki Wells and Jon Walters still have to come back into the fold.

That could give Dyche a serious selection headache, but as he has said previously, you can never have enough options going forward.

MANAGERS UNDER PRESSURE

Questions about his future are now regular features of Sean Dyche’s pre-match press conferences. Ever since Craig Shakespeare was given the boot at Leicester City Dyche has been asked about speculation linking him with first that job, and then the vacancy at Everton when Ronald Koeman departed.

When Dyche faces the press next Friday it could be more of the same. Everton have clearly made Marco Silva their top target, but are making slow progress on that front, while there could be more vacancies coming up.

This defeat increased the pressure on Paul Clement, although he should have enough credit for now from the job he did in the second half of last season, while Tony Pulis’ days at West Brom are looking increasingly numbered.

It seems inevitable Dyche will be linked to more jobs as the season progresses, but why would he depart now? The limits of what Burnley could achieve this season are continuing to rise. The default line from players and staff might be ‘let’s hit 40 points’, but this side are more than capable of a top half finish.

IRISH RECOVERY

It’s been a tough week for Stephen Ward, Jeff Hendrick and Robbie Brady but they were all given the chance to bury memories of that Denmark nightmare by Sean Dyche and they responded well.

Ward in particular suffered a chastening time against the Danes, but he was solid enough at Turf Moor despite a first-half booking.

But Hendrick and Brady shook off any World Cup disappointment by setting up the Burnley goals. Sometimes getting straight back on the horse is the best way to get over a setback.