'HE'S been here five years in October, personally I hope he's here for another five years until 2022, and if we can achieve that I'm sure we'll have more success together.'

That was Clarets chairman Mike Garlick’s view of Burnley boss Sean Dyche at the end of May after Burnley secured a second successive top flight season for the club for the first time since the mid-1970s.

Garlick was becoming one of the most successful Turf Moor chairmen in decades, but he knew he had one man to thank for the glory that the club was basking in: Dyche.

Of course that's not to play down Garlick's role in this - let's not forget he made the bold decision to appoint Dyche in October 2012 - but Burnley's fortunes have been transformed by the 46-year-old former centre back who arrived in East Lancashire with question marks hanging over his head.

When he leaves Turf Moor he'll likely depart with a crown replacing those question mark. Dyche is a deity to Clarets fans, and it turns out Garlick's hopeful plea from eight months ago was prophetic.

At the time, let's be honest, it seemed like wishful thinking.

Dyche has worked wonders at Burnley, but surely he was going to attract the attention of a bigger club sooner or later? His 12-month rolling contract left the door open.

When he was continuously linked with and questioned over the jobs at Leicester City and Everton in October and November it looked like it might be five years and out, and who would have begrudged him a move if he wanted it?

But nothing came from those openings and perhaps that has led to a change of approach, from Dyche and Burnley. As loyalty continues to become the lost currency of football both parties have displayed it in abundance here.

The thought of Burnley Football Club without Dyche at the helm is a difficult one, so news of his signing of a four-and-a-half year deal was greeted with ecstasy. So much for the January blues!

In the modern game managers tend to flit into a club, focus on first-team affairs, experience a slump in results, take their pay off and move to the next town, the next city, the next job.

What Dyche is building, brick-by-brick, at Burnley, is the antidote to the modern game. This has become Dyche's football club. His vision.

Before a handful of reporters spoke to Dyche over his new contract at the Barnfield Training Centre on Tuesday we were given a tour of the £10.6million facility by the man himself, and it was noticeable how significant his impact over the design and development of the building had been.

As we went down the back staircase he explained his meetings with the architects to create a literal pathway through the facility from academy to first team.

From the more basic academy changing rooms to a canteen, next to the first team's, but not quite part of it. The incentive is clear.

Then there's his office, originally planned as a large space for the manager and a smaller area for the coaching team of Ian Woan, Tony Loughlan and Billy Mercer. That is until Dyche ripped those plans up. Now there's a small office for one-on-one meetings, or a private phone call, but the rest of the time the four of them sit desk-to-desk.

The training ground is adorned with self-help slogans, many of them from Dyche and his team, others that he's picked up from his years in and around the game.

It's a facility as imagined by Dyche. Barnfield might have built it, they might sponsor it, their name might adorn it, but it's really the Sean Dyche Training Centre. It's just the latest example of his influence over a club he has transformed from Championship also-rans to a side consistently punching above their weight.

Now Dyche could end up close to a decade in Proudsville. Four-and-a-half more years of this. Happy January.