IT would have been fabulously fitting had Sean Dyche been able to celebrate his 12-month anniversary as manager of Burnley Football Club with progress to the quarter-finals of the League Cup and a handsome win over former club Millwall.

Sadly, although football scripts its fair share of fairytales, it clearly wasn’t in the mood for writing this one. Instead, the man dubbed “The Ginger Mourinho” can reflect on his first year at the helm with quiet satisfaction at an impressive work in progress.

It’s often said that football teams reflect the personality of their manager.

And while that may or may not be true, it’s fair to say that Dyche inherited a largely bland and uninspiring outfit from Eddie Howe; the very definition, in fact, of going-nowhere, mid-table mediocrity.

One year down the line and the transformation has been little short of astonishing. Burnley have acquired a well-deserved reputation as an entertaining and attractive team to watch, with a front two the envy of the division, a core of steel and a work rate second to none.

It is, for example, inconceivable that Howe’s Clarets would have possessed sufficient mettle to shrug off a sub-par half hour, haul themselves back into the contest and very nearly win it.

But as Dyche pointed out post-match, “I think there was again evidence that we have a good mentality in the group.”

Ah yes, that word; “group.” Some have dismissed this as waffle plucked straight from a middle-management handbook. They’re wrong. Other managers might talk about their squad, but, for this writer’s money at least, the word “group” carries connotations of a bond, a collective, a togetherness. And it’s exactly this which not only enabled a gutsy fight-back at the Den, but which has also played a huge part in propelling Burnley to the Championship’s summit.

It’ll be needed again this Saturday when the afore-mentioned Howe returns with Bournemouth.

Hopefully, Dean Marney will have shaken off his injury by then. David Edgar has proved himself a decent enough stand-in but the Jones-Marney central midfield axis has been exceptional in the Clarets rise to the top.

With any luck, it’ll prove itself again this weekend and help keep the Clarets top of the pile for the second international break in succession.