New Clarets boss Dyche ready to take the reins (From Lancashire Telegraph)

New Clarets boss Dyche ready to take the reins

1:02pm Wednesday 31st October 2012 in Football By Suzanne Geldard, Burnley FC reporter

Sean Dyche

NEW Burnley boss Sean Dyche insists he is looking to revitalise rather than revolutionise the Clarets, after being confirmed as Eddie Howe’s successor last night.

The former Watford manager took his first training session at Gawthorpe yesterday, hours before the club officially confirmed the 41-year-old’s appointment on a two-and-a-half year contract.

But after getting to work, Dyche revealed there were positive foundations to build on. And he is looking to bring the feel-good factor back to Turf Moor, and fire the Clarets up the Championship.

“We want to stamp our own authority on things and give the players food for thought, but not change radically,” said the former defender, who inspired Watford to their highest league finish for four years in his first managerial spell last season.

“This is a club in some kind of transition after a spell in the Premier League, but it is clearly a club that wants to build and move forward and I desperately want to be a part of that and make sure that we do that.”

The Lancashire Telegraph exclusively revealed on Saturday that Dyche had been offered the job towards the end of last week.

And he explained that although it took a while for the deal to be finalised, he accepted the role straight away.

“It didn’t take me any time at all to accept the role, despite popular misconceptions,” he said.

“I wasn’t at home having the weekend to think about it. I decided instantly and we got on with things as quickly as we could, but things still need to be put into place contractually.

“I was at Cardiff on Saturday to have a look at that and it was finally great to get out with the players on Tuesday. It feels fantastic to be invited to be the manager of a great club.”

The former central defender, whose playing career boasts four promotions from spells with Chesterfield, Bristol City, Millwall, Watford and Northampton Town has already set a case for the defence.

Burnley have conceded the most goals in the Championship – shipping 29 in 13 league games.

But having countered that with 26 in the goals for column, Dyche hopes to establish a tighter unit while still maintaining an attacking threat.

“We love the way the team attacks and we will definitely be using that to our advantage.

“But it’s fair to say I think it needs shoring up a bit and the framework the team uses needs tightening slightly, so we will be looking to effect that and hopefully continue to score a lot of goals. That’s the aim.”

Meanwhile, co-chairman John Banaszkiewicz and Mike Garlick described Dyche as the “outstanding candidate” in their two-week search for a new manager.

In a joint statement, the duo said: “On behalf of the board of directors, we are delighted to welcome our new manager Sean Dyche to Burnley Football Club.

“Sean was the outstanding candidate following an extensive and structured interviewing process to find the right manager to fit in with our vision for the club.

“He is a natural leader with real presence who did a marvellous job at Watford last season in his first managerial role at a club with its roots firmly in the community.

“His commitment to a very strong and successful youth system was clear at a club with close parallels to our own and Sean is especially keen to develop stronger links between Burnley Football Club and the local community.

“These attributes, complemented by a fantastic ability to maximize resources in taking Watford to their highest position since relegation from the Premier League in 2008, make us confident Sean is the right man to take this club forward.

“As a player he won four promotions with four clubs as a player and captain. He has since shown the passion, hunger and loyalty to succeed in management and has an all-round understanding of how a club is run, from youth football to first team affairs.

“Sean also has international experience on his impressive CV, working alongside Stuart Pearce with the England Under-21 squad and this very much puts him in tune with our ambitions to further develop our scouting and youth academy operations.

“Here at Burnley Football Club we feel we have great talent in the squad that Sean can now harness and translate into more consistent results.

“In closing, and on behalf of everyone connected with Burnley Football Club, the Board of Directors would like to place on record our thanks to Terry Pashley and his coaching team, who have stepped in and done a fantastic job with the first team in the last two weeks.”

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