SEAN Dyche, Burnley boss and nominee for the LMA manager of the year award, is unbeaten in three matches. This, according to some, is enough for him to be in contention for the sack.

Dyche is old enough and wise enough to take most of the media coverage in the Premier League with a pinch of salt.

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One suspects he will have chuckled when it was suggested in one newspaper after Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Sunderland that, at 20/1, Dyche might be a good bet for the next top flight manager to be sacked.

Since taking over at Turf Moor, Dyche has somehow guided a side tipped for relegation to League One into the Premier League.

He is just five league games into his first season in the top flight, and has only lost twice.

True, he has not won yet and, true, his side have not scored in their last five matches in all competitions.

But you will not find a person inside Turf Moor – fans, players, board members, you name it – who believes he is anything other than the very best person to manage Burnley. The very best person for many years, in fact.

It would take an awful lot to happen for that opinion to be swayed.

They say things change quickly in football, but not that quickly.

But the bizarre comment about Dyche’s job being under threat was indicative of the way that already some are starting to write Burnley off.

Some did before the start of the season, in truth, and more are doing it now.

The Clarets are doing things very differently from the last time they were in the Premier League.

Last time, they made a whirlwind start, but it was soon discovered that their foundations were built on sand.

This time, they are taking things steadily, finding their feet, trying to build from a solid base, to make sure they last the course.

Time will tell whether it proves more successful. They have impressed with the way they have matched their opponents in every game, bar Chelsea’s dazzling 20 minutes at Turf Moor in the Clarets’ opening fixture.

Now they must take that next step, to dominate opponents, to secure victories.

“They have to do more,” said Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas.

“Work, graft, the shape of the team is pretty good but I’ve just got a feeling with them that as time goes on and they start to get tougher games the energy will drain for them in certain games and they could be left exposed.”

That certainly happened to Burnley as the season went on five years ago.

But this team seems to be made of sterner stuff.

A team built by Sean Dyche, 20/1 to be the next Premier League manager to get the sack.

Probably best to hang on to your money.