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Posted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 4:57 am
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.’
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.’
