HAD things worked out differently this summer Sean Dyche could have been returning to Turf Moor tomorrow as the manager of Crystal Palace.

Thankfully for the Clarets the Selhurst Park side turned to former Ajax and Inter Milan chief Frank de Boer to replace Sam Allardyce, and Dyche remained in charge of Burnley, a position he will celebrate five years in next month.

For the best part of five weeks after the end of the Premier League season Dyche was among the frontrunners for the job in south London, and he believes seeing his name linked with other positions is 'flattering'.

“I've been linked with many jobs and I'm still here," Dyche said on Friday as he prepares his side to face Palace.

“I think it's a compliment in that eventually people are intrigued in what's going on here. It's been a good journey, and as a manager you take the hits, but you take the good stuff as well, it just comes out of good work and being successful.

“Success in football is measured purely on results and we've had them here. It's flattering in a way, but it is probably part of the reality of the business, I've stayed in a job long enough for people to say ‘they must be doing something right’.

“It is flattering, but I'm still here."

While Dyche is closing in on half a decade at Turf Moor, de Boer is under pressure at Palace after just three Premier League games, and there have been reports this week that a defeat to the Clarets on Sunday could end his spell in charge of the Eagles.

The Clarets chief believes speculation over de Boer's future so soon into his Selhurst Park reign is another sign of the 'instant success' required in the Premier League.

“I've said it many times, we all want everything yesterday, instant success, and we are in that business, particularly in the Premier League," he said.

“The thirst to build over time is diminishing, owners get stick, but often the fans demand change very quickly as well. The secret is to win enough to allow yourself to build.

“Howard Wilkinson says, ‘win, survive, succeed’.

“Win first, winning allows you to survive, and then you can succeed in terms of building something in the bigger picture.

“In other walks of life, you'd have a plan of attack that's unlikely to succeed immediately, in business, there'd be a two or three year plan. In football, it's more or less straightaway.

“But, we all know the rules. You need to win, and quick.

“It's very difficult to please everyone, you're lucky to please some of the people some of the time."