CLARETS reporter Tyrone Marshall discusses the talking points from Burnley's 4-0 win over Bournemouth.

A perfect day

After a difficult week at Turf Moor this was the perfect way to silence the growing critics.

The inquest after a fourth successive Premier League defeat had been difficult. There had been worrying signs at Wolves, despite the narrow scoreline.

Burnley looked toothless in attack and were offering up plenty of chances to the opposition. They’d faced 76 shots in three games.

But this response against Bournemouth was almost the perfect day for the Clarets. They rediscovered their mojo in front of goal, scoring four in a game for the first time since New Year’s Eve 2016 when Sunderland were beaten 4-1.

Having Johann Berg Gudmundsson back to his best was a big help in terms of creativity, while Aaron Lennon also turned in perhaps his best performance in a Burnley shirt.

They also defended resolutely. When Bournemouth were piling the pressure on in the second half Burnley never looked like folding and clear chances were few and far between.

Those were encouraging signs.

Heart-to-heart

Right at the start of his post-match press conference Sean Dyche revealed the meeting that he’d held with his players in midweek.

It sounded like a heart-to-heart, with Dyche reminding the squad of his pride in them, of their recent achievements and how the story was far from finished. But he told him it was up to them to continue the journey.

They responded impressively and several players mentioned it in their own post-match interviews as well.

Such meetings can’t be a regular tactic or they will lose their impact, but they’ve worked previously at Turf Moor.

A few home truths were aired midway through the 2015/16 Championship season, inspiring Burnley’s 23 game unbeaten run to the title. Again Dyche got a response this week.

Confidence

On Thursday Matej Vydra had spoken about the fragile nature of confidence in football. But the good thing about confidence is that it can return just as quickly as it disappeared.

You could sense confidence and belief seeping back into the side from the early stages at Turf Moor.

Of course a goal helps, but just as crucial was the second arriving just two minutes later. Had this game remained 1-0 for most of the second half then the fear could easily have crept back in to Burnley’s play.

Instead they had a two-goal cushion, increased confidence and they seized their late chances to put the game to bed.

Dyche v Howe

There is always a storyline when these two managers meet and after Arsene Wenger’s departure from Arsenal in the summer they were now the two longest serving bosses in the Premier League.

Domestically they are the leading lights for British bosses in the game as well and both have enjoyed success at their respective clubs.

They regularly seem to be swapping places as the best British managers in the game. Last year’s achievements at Turf Moor propelled Dyche into that position, especially with Bournemouth having to recover from a slow start.

This season it’s Howe who has been winning the plaudits, with the Cherries in fine early season form.

But for the third time in five Premier League meetings it Dyche who claimed the upper hand on the day.

Southgate

We all know Gareth Southgate is a regular at Turf Moor and given the number of English players on show you can see why he chose this fixture as his Saturday afternoon base.

Figures from the first five weekends of the Premier League campaign show that just 30 per cent of players featuring qualify to be picked by the Three Lions boss.

So to see 12 players available to him on the pitch from the start at Turf Moor must have cheered Southgate, with a further 10 on the bench.

No doubt he was checking out Bournemouth’s in-form striker Callum Wilson, who had a frustrating afternoon, marshalled well by Ben Mee and James Tarkowski, who Southgate knows all about.