Burnley are currently in the relegation zone after a poor start to the season saw them winless, but a recent run of three matches unbeaten, which included their first win of the season over relegation rivals Brentford has seen them rise up to 18th and now, under Sean Dyche, they have another decent chance of avoiding the drop.
POSITION: 18th
TOP SCORER: Jay Rodriguez, Maxwell Cornet (4)
BETFRED ODDS: 5/4 to be relegated
LAST THREE RESULTS:
Drew 1-1 vs Chelsea (A)
Won 3-1 vs Brentford (H)
Drew 2-2 vs Southampton (A)
VERDICT:
After the opening eight games of the season it looked as if this could finally be the campaign that brought an end to Burnley’s six year stint in the top flight. Having finished 17th last term it was always going to be another tough test for Dyche to keep one of the lowest spenders in the division up and that has proved the case so far. However, over the last three weeks they may have turned the corner, with Maxwell Cornet providing the spark they were missing. The win over Brentford at Turf Moor was more like the Burnley of old, while the point at league leaders Chelsea will give them huge confidence heading into the international break.
FANS’ VERDICT:
Peter Davies - @CricketFieldEnd
It’s been a typically-slow start for Burnley – we’ve kind of grown used to getting out of the traps in a sluggish fashion. It can be frustrating – looking at the games we’ve played at the beginning of the season, we’ve dropped far too many points – Brighton, Leeds, Leicester and Southampton all saw points dropped from winning positions, whilst a glum goalless draw against Norwich failed to yield the three points we as fans so badly craved. However, the last two games have seen a big win – and big performance, particularly the first half – against new-boys Brentford and a superb point at the home of the current European Champions Chelsea.
The signing of Maxwel Cornet has proved to be a real influential addition to the squad. His desire to get forward and get in amongst the goals and the action has immediately got the fans on his side, he’s quickly become a fans-favourite – and his goals have proved vital and has coincided with our recent unbeaten run of four games (one win, three draws). His enthusiasm is infectious, and he’s kick-started our season. We’re hopeful now that this is a platform to build on and can kick on from here!
Vote for Maxwel Cornet to be October's @premierleague Player of the Month!
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@EASPORTSFIFA | #UTC
MANAGER VERDICT:
Sean Dyche is arguably the best manager in the division at getting results on a budget. There is nobody Burnley would rather have at the helm in a relegation battle and having exceeded all expectations over the past few years, he is looking to pull off a miracle once again. His team’s are always well organised and now with Cornet he seems to have found a gem that can score them the goals needed to stay up.
FANS’ VERDICT ON MANAGER:
Sean Dyche is Sean Dyche, isn’t he? Seen as unfashionable by many, he simply grinds out results. Sadly, he was let down by the previous boards’ lack of investment in a largely ageing squad over the last four transfer windows. The man works miracles on peanuts, comparatively speaking to the rest of the Premier League. A big summer ahead, with many players out of contract – including defensive duo James Tarkowski and Ben Mee. Providing Mr Pace and our new board continue to back one of the best Burnley managers in our long and illustrious history, I think we’ll be OK. Next summer with so many first team players out of contract – of whom the majority are 30+ now – could be a real rebuilding job for Sean, Ian Woan and the backroom team. In order to kick on and build a Premier League team, we simply must retain our top-flight status this term – which would no doubt come at the annoyance of rival Premier League teams and their fanbases. We are Burnley, no-one likes us. But we rather like that.
MID-TERM GRADE:
D – An absolutely woeful start has left Burnley in the bottom three and although the recent upturn in form has saved them from an ever worse grade, they have underperformed this term. Dyche is still the man to save them this season though.
