Sean Dyche does not feel safe in the Burnley hotseat, despite his historic achievements at the club.
Last season’s seventh-placed finish saw the Clarets qualify for Europe for the first time in half a century but, seven months on, the feeling at Turf Moor is very different, with Burnley staring at a relegation battle.
Dyche’s team sit three points adrift of safety in 18th place in the Premier League table with 12 points – 20 fewer than at the same stage last season. The goals conceded column, meanwhile, shows they are only one short of last term’s entire tally.
Wednesday’s 5-1 home loss to Everton ended with boos from the stands, and voices questioning Dyche’s future, although in the minority, have begun to grow louder.
Dyche is the fourth longest-serving manager across the Premier League and Football League, having taken charge of the Clarets more than six years ago, and the club stuck with him despite relegation in 2015.
The 47-year-old said: “I think there is a bit of reality from the outside, people looking in, but don’t for one minute think I think I’m set in stone here.
“I’m not, eventually people want change. I’ve said it for years here, eventually they will want change, for good or bad reasons. Either I go somewhere else for the reason we’ve been very successful, or we haven’t, and my position changes.
“It’s not something that concerns me. I know the work we put in here and I’m quite pleased, not with results, but the general work, the amount of work my staff and I put in, and the players. If people do question it, that’s the way it goes. They question it on results, not on workload.
“I think the fans have been patient, they have been excellent actually, they know the journey of the club. We’ve got probably 12,000 who were here when I got here and have seen it radically change in six or so years.
“A few have come along the way who have seen, probably, only successful periods. So maybe they are looking at the whole bigger picture, I don’t know. But I totally understand when they do get frustrated.
“I think the chairman understands the challenges and where’s it’s at, but, of course, he wants us to be winning and not in the position we are, like we all do.”
Dyche feels last season’s achievements have made Burnley’s task even harder in the transfer market, with higher figures quoted for players, but, however the rest of the campaign plays out, he will have no regrets.
He said: “I wouldn’t change any of it. Many historical markers chiselled in stone, that’s an amazing thing, but it passes quickly.
“You asked me about credit in the bank, it’s all gone, the next challenge is the next game, it’s not, ‘Hasn’t it been marvellous?’ Yes, it has, but it’s all been parked.
“The first time we got promoted, I made my son’s bed the next day, I wasn’t rattling around with the champagne. Now we’ve got to remodel it and move it forward again.”
Burnley’s next challenge comes on Sunday when West Ham visit Turf Moor.
