It says a lot about Burnley's achievements this season that Sean Dyche finds himself a viable contender for Manager of the Season in a year in which Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are on course for several Premier League records. Despite the all-conquering Citizens sweeping all before them domestically, the scale and improbability of north-west neighbours Burnley's run to the Europa League simply cannot be downplayed - and that's what makes the job done by Dyche all the more impressive.
Indeed, in an era in which there is a strong correlation between wage outlay and league position, the Turf Moor club's rise from 18th highest spend in 2016-17 - lower than Bournemouth, Swansea and Watford - to an unlikely European spot the following season completely flies in the face of the internal logic of the English top-flight. Not since Leicester City won the title in 2015-16 has a club punched this much above its weight over the course of a single year.
And so, while Dyche and Co should of course first be lauded for their odds-defying transition from perennial relegation contenders to Europa League qualifiers, attention must now rightly turn to the challenge ahead in terms of sustaining their newly-found foothold in the upper echelons of the Premier League.
How they so do, given that this is completely unchartered territory, remains to be seen.
The obvious point to make is that juggling European commitments with the regular domestic season will be entirely new for Burnley, with the regular Thursday- Sunday - Thursday pattern requiring a large squad and frequent rotation. Often, the Premier League sides that manage best across multiple competitions are the ones - like past winners Manchester United - who can effectively field two completely different sides in the same week. Here, the drop from, say, Ben Mee to Kevin Long is far greater than the one from Anthony Martial to a fringe player like Marcus Rashford.
With this in mind, Dyche will quickly have to decide where his priorities lie next season. Bluntly speaking, there is a fear that the cumulative fatigue brought about by travelling and playing in far-flung corners of Europe may place too great a burden on the current tightly-knit squad as it stands - potentially putting at risk their Premier League status.
What the past few seasons have shown is that it is much easier to go from a comfortable mid-table position in the Premier League to a relegation scrap than it is to bridge the gap between seventh and the top-six. Southampton, once best of the rest, have suffered for poor decisions off the pitch, while West Brom's stock has also fallen dramatically since their tenth-placed finish last time around. Everton, meanwhile, now look closer to the relegated baggies than they do to city rivals Liverpool in third.
Certainly for those who have minimal experience in European competition, there can also be a case of too much, too soon. Thus, if Burnley do intend to give the Europa League their full attention, this summer must be about adding numbers to those already at Turf Moor in the hope of keeping the back door shut at home.
In this vein, Dyche and his team would be wise to learn lessons from Cologne's plight in Germany, where the Billy Goats went from Europa League qualification to Bundesliga relegation over the course of the 2017-18, and closer to home fellow north-west club Everton, who they will emulate in entering the third qualifying round in late July.
While other weighty factors were also at work, the Toffees' short pre-season and extra games contributed to a disastrous start to the campaign that saw them slip into them occupy the relegation zone for parts of October and November despite a hefty summer outlay. Although errors have been made across the board at Goodison Park, this was not an easy hurdle to overcome.
It is only with smart strategic planning that Burnley will navigate that sort of pitfall. And even then, there is still a considerable chance that next season may not pan out quite as hoped on the pitch.
Beyond the romance and excitement at the prospect of European adventures, the warning signs from Everton and Cologne must be heeded, otherwise Burnley's fairytale story could well quickly turn into a nightmare.
