Not surprised by this. Sean hinted along those lines in his recent press conference.
If a player has been offered a new contract that doesn't match their expectations, or they haven't been offered a new contract and the prospect of being offered one looks unlikely, it is asking a lot of them to see out the season.
It's a bit like someone asking to shake your hand after they have just slapped you into the face. Even if the parting is entirely amicable why should they jeopardise the chance of a good move by exposing themselves to injury over the next few matches ?
This situation isn't a product that is restricted to the Coronavirus. That is simply a very unfortunate embellishment. Take that out of the equation and we would still have had players leaving that Sean might have wanted to keep in the squad.
The bigger issue is that whoever is responsible for our recruitment strategy is in essence picking our squad. If our recruitment, which includes extending contracts, fails to secure the services of players the gaffer wants and lumbers him with players he doesn't want ( or nobody if he refuses to sign off on new players ) his team is being picked for him by someone else.
Sean can only pick a team from the players that are available to him. Likewise, if we sign a bunch of players suited to playing in formations other than the one he wants to play, he will have his tactics decided for him as well.
That prognosis reminds me of West Ham signing Sebastien Haller for £40m on the basis of the very impressive stats he posted at Frankfurt. Those stats came about because he was playing in a 3-4-1-2 formation with players like Jovic making up for his lack of movement. West Ham played him on his own up front, were his lack of movement hurt him. To get something out of Haller West Ham have had to play Antonio off to his left and spend another £20m bringing in Jarrod to play off to his right.
They recruited a player who was good for the way that Frankfurt played ( who worked well with the players that Frankfurt had ) instead of what West Ham needed. The net result of that very expensive mistake is that their recruitment has had a huge say in their match day squad and tactics. Bringing in a player who could have slotted into a one up front role would have been a lot cheaper and simpler.
The gaffer picks the players in line with how he wants us to play or the players available to the gaffer determine how he has to play them. In a worrying nutshell, Sean directs our recruitment strategy or our recruitment strategy directs Sean.
We don't know if Dyche envisioned keeping Lennon beyond the next nine matches. However, it is a reasonably safe bet that he does want to keep some of the players that we may lose in the next few days or this time next year. I would be very surprised if Lennon is the only player that decides not to play out the remainder of the season for us.
If Hendrick decides to do the same and JBG remains injured we will look very short of options on the wings. Brownhill on the right, Mc Neil on the left with Brady as back up for the pair of them.
I would have given Lennon another year and sold Brady in the next window, simply to prevent us losing him on a free next year. The rumour mill linked us with Samuel Grandsir ( an inverted left winger ) a few weeks ago and I would pick Lennon or Brady over him every day.
Lennon seems to have been happy during the time he has spent with us, so leaving the club must have been a difficult decision for him to make. I'm sad to see him go, but I completely understand his decision. I wish him all the best in his ongoing football career and beyond.
Hopefully, he will still remain engaged with the mental health initiatives that he has been involved with and understand that the relationships he has formed here don't have to end with his departure.
ClaretTony wrote: ↑Sat Jun 20, 2020 10:24 am
I am now becoming more and more sure that this is not a happy club anymore.
I think that is the most worrying opinion I have read in my time on these forums, but I definitely agree with it. I said it awhile ago, something is rotten in the state of Burnley. Our culture appears to be changing and we seem less and less Burnley with each passing calamity. When CT puts down his happy flag and entertains the notion that things don't seem quite right at the club everyone should be worried.
Sorry for posting another small essay, but we are living in interesting times that should promote lots of thoughts and in depth discussions.
