Mail article

[Vegas Claret]

Link for credit: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... ht-up.html

I've highlighted a couple of lines:

"It feels appropriate that Burnley vice-captain Josh Brownhill was in Disneyland last summer when he heard Vincent Kompany had been appointed manager.

What’s happened since at Turf Moor has been a fairytale — though Burnley’s remarkable promotion, confirmed on Friday, has been down to strategy as much as fantasy.

At Monday's homecoming party against Sheffield United, on the manager’s 37th birthday, fans can be assured that planning for the Premier League has already been going on for some time.

A restructuring of the club’s recruitment departments is underway and Kompany himself has been abroad on scouting missions.

As for the players, a few hours after returning in triumph from Middlesbrough, they were back at the training ground yesterday.

It’s all a far cry from 10 months ago when Burnley were relegated, managerless and in the process of losing a core of key players including Ben Mee, Nick Pope and James Tarkowski.

‘I was on holiday in California. I’d tried to ask the owners before I left who was coming in as manager but they weren’t giving anything away,’ recalls Brownhill. ‘I needed to recharge after relegation. I visited Disneyland and Universal Studios and turned off my phone. When I switched it back on, I found out we’d got Vincent Kompany.

‘His first meeting with us took place in the training ground canteen and changed the mood completely. He had an aura when he walked through the door and spoke with a lot of intelligence.

‘What excited us was him saying that as a defender he loved clean sheets, he liked to go out and try to score goals. We went away thinking “We can’t magic our way back into the Premier League but we can give it a real good go”.’

High standards were set even compared to the Sean Dyche era. Sauces were banned from the training ground, cakes weren’t allowed, even to mark birthdays. Training could take place at any time. By January, the squad had been through 47 more sessions than the entirety of the previous season.

Winning breeds happiness. New recruits headed by Josh Cullen, Nathan Tella, Anass Zaroury, Ian Maatsen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis blended quickly with existing stalwarts Jack Cork, Ashley Barnes, Jay Rodriguez, Charlie Taylor, Johann Gudmundsson and Brownhill himself, who thrived on a more attacking midfield role.

The Clarets celebrated their achievement at the Riverside by belting out Wonderwall and Proud Mary in the away dressing room. Kompany soaked it all in but remains calm. He wants to finish the job off by going up as champions, which would represent his first trophy as a manager. Reflecting on his achievement so far, he said: ‘There were hard decisions (selling players) but reasonable ones to restock the talent pool. It is sometimes a leap of faith but we just worked hard.

‘It took weeks to convince some players to come but eventually you get them in the building and end up being better than you thought.

‘Sometimes the Championship can be draining. I spoke to Steve Bruce in January and asked him: “Is this normal?” But I am naturally someone who treats every morning as a reset to motivation.’

Barnes will be among those to leave. ‘Nothing lasts forever, unfortunately. I have been through the very same,’ said Kompany before describing the forward as a ‘club legend’ and comparing his story to Rocky: ‘You fall and get back up.’

Discussions will need to be had about top scorer Tella, on loan from Southampton. ‘I was shocked they didn’t take him back in January but selfishly very happy. He has arguably been the best player in the Championship,’ smiles Brownhill. Other loanees Burnley might want to negotiate on include Maatsen (Chelsea) and Harwood-Bellis (Manchester City).

Kompany, who has a Masters degree in Business Administration, is confident Burnley are in a better place to compete financially than a year ago when they had to pay off a £65million loan.

Emotions will run high at Turf Moor but having been a serial winner at Manchester City, Kompany won’t go mad until the Championship trophy is in his hands. ‘There needs to be silverware,’ he says. ‘Then we’ll talk about the drinks.’

[Pickles]

Everything he says makes me convinced that if you're a player and you hear Burnley want to sign you then you move heaven and earth to get yourself there to play under Kompany.

[agreenwood]

There’s an excellent Athletic article on our season if you’re a subscriber.

[Billy Balfour]

Just how lucky are we to have such a man at our club.

[RVclaret]

Enjoyed that.

There’s another Mail article here too:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... eague.html

An interesting snippet from this one is:

‘One player who epitomises Kompany’s ideas is young defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis, on loan from Manchester City. It is understood he will return to Burnley next season though, with respect to the Clarets, his ceiling is much higher. The Stockport lad is fit again after an injury lay-off and is the focal point of starting every attack, similar to John Stones for City.’

[Bosscat]

Just how lucky are we to have such a man at our club.

Loved that wry smile at Boro when the players and fans were celebrating ... drinking in the atmosphere.

Lets all wish him a 'Happy Birthday' on Monday night as he walks out of the tunnel onto Turf Moor

[Herts Clarets]

By January, the squad had been through 47 more sessions than the entirety of the previous season.

Does this debunk the Dyche fit myth that was banded around for years? And don't get me wrong not for one minute am I underestimating what SD did for our club, he was superb for our club and vice versa but 47 sessions by January is some uplift. Good Friday 2022 and the departure of SD seemed like the crucifixion of out club, Good Friday 2023 and we have risen again. Some journey VK is taking us on...

[GodIsADeeJay81]

By January, the squad had been through 47 more sessions than the entirety of the previous season.

Does this debunk the Dyche fit myth that was banded around for years? And don't get me wrong not for one minute am I underestimating what SD did for our club, he was superb for our club and vice versa but 47 sessions by January is some uplift. Good Friday 2022 and the departure of SD seemed like the crucifixion of out club, Good Friday 2023 and we have risen again. Some journey VK is taking us on...

Under Dyche the team had PL fitness levels already, the large number of players we signed last summer would've had varying levels of fitness and maybe needed more to help them adjust to what's widely acknowledged as a more higher tempo game in England.

If VK continues having more sessions than Dyche for the next few years then maybe Dyche fit is a myth, but at present we just don't know.

You can see how Everton are putting more effort into their games now under Dyche, he's clearly done work making them Dyche Fit...

[dougcollins]

You’d probably say the final BFC Dyche squad were as fit as they could be - at that age.

[DefourFiveSix]

I don't think I've ever seen someone who is so obviously a leader and born winner as VK. It just oozes out of everything he does and says. He's exceptional.

[BurnleyFC]

I was never 100% convinced about the ‘Dyche fit’ myth. Perhaps at the start of his tenure we had players who would run and run (George Boyd springs to mind) and we pressed incredibly well but it seemed to tail off after a couple of seasons.


We also seemed to concede a lot of late goals considering we were supposed to be so much fitter than the opposition.

[Cleveleys_claret]

I also think that a lot of Kompany's 'sessions are sat in a classroom going over tactics. From all you read and hear from the squad there seems to be an awful lot of meetings, so maybe in a lot more than previously but as much going over tactics, personal development with players, going through ideas and where to improve than running around

[boatshed bill]

You’d probably say the final BFC Dyche squad were as fit as they could be - at that age.

Yes. I would think that the collective age could have had an effect.

[ClaretLoup]

Three players went into retirement from the Newcastle game line up. Bardsley, Lennon and Stephens.

[IanMcL]

By January, the squad had been through 47 more sessions than the entirety of the previous season.

Does this debunk the Dyche fit myth that was banded around for years? And don't get me wrong not for one minute am I underestimating what SD did for our club, he was superb for our club and vice versa but 47 sessions by January is some uplift. Good Friday 2022 and the departure of SD seemed like the crucifixion of out club, Good Friday 2023 and we have risen again. Some journey VK is taking us on...

I recall the likes of Boys and Arfield were consistently at the top of the running stats, distance coveted, on the prem. Dyche fit for sure!

[Bordeauxclaret]

The extra sessions probably have little to do with fitness in the main.

They’ll certainly help but I would guess this sort of football doesn’t come easily.

[quoonbeatz]

There's a lot of misunderstanding about 'dyche fit'. It wasn't a myth and it wasn't about being fitter than everyone else. It was about a level of fitness and preparedness of the body being able to withstand a lot of high intensity activity, whilst minimising the risk of soft tissue injury. That was why we didn't usually throw new players straight in, not because he'd sent them to do a month of running.