the times | Monday July 27 2020 2GG 9
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would. Rice is coveted by bigger clubs
but Moyes insisted that the midfielder
was “under contract” and that anyone
hoping to prise him away would need
“one of those steel vans that have the
cash in it”.
Grealish had been mostly
disappointing but jinked through the
West Ham box to unleash a strikeGrealish arrows his strike beyond the
otherwise excellent Fabianski to give
Villa the leadWest ham equalise within a minute
with Yarmolenko’s effort spinning in
off Grealish.engaged in a mini-battle from the
opening minutes when the full back
dispossessed the Villa captain to
embark on a counterattack but the
rest of the Villa team were too
busy being wallflowers to needle
anyone.
Mbwana Samatta had a headed
effort easily saved, a McGinn shot
drifted well wide and in the 44th
minute a deft flick from Conor
Hourihane set up Grealish but his
side-footed effort was easily saved by
Lukasz Fabianski. Smith yawned, a
subconscious sign that he was wishing
away the minutes. A draw, as things
stood, was enough.
Still, there was a dash more energy
from the visitors after the interval
when Smith read the team the riot
act, as he put it, for their lack of
gumption. Fredericks was cautioned
for felling Grealish as he darted
towards the box, but Villa wasted the
subsequent free kick.
David Moyes’s side began to
threaten again thanks to the fine
delivery of Ben Johnson and an
Andriy Yarmolenko free kick rippled
the side netting after Matt Targett
brought down the nimble Noble. It
was Noble’s lofted ball that gave
Sébastien Haller a chance with a
header but still West Ham failed to
summon an effort on target and as
Declan Rice attempted his second
speculative long-range strike, hoping
to emulate his wonderful effort
against Watford, it felt like they never
being raised about Dyche’s security.
But, within the space of three days
that month, he masterminded wins
over Leicester and Manchester
United — Burnley’s first victory at
Old Trafford since 1962 — and,
before yesterday, only Manchester
City had beaten the Clarets over their
next 15 league matches.
It has been another remarkable
case study in over-achievement by
Dyche, whose career, post-lockdown,
appears to have been heading towards
some sort of tipping point with the
Burnley hierarchy.
Unhappy that his board failed to
offer contracts to four players during
the enforced lay-off, Dyche was
respectful, but public, in questioning
the ambition of his employers.
Yes, Burnley’s wage bill ranks a just-
about-acceptable 13th in the Premier
League standings but, as the manager
has been quick to point out, their net
spend during this current Premier
League spell has been a paltry £9
million a season.
To their credit, Burnley’s board
could not be accused of under-valuing
their manager. Dyche, paid a reported
£60,000 a week, is the only top flight
boss who earns more than any of his
players, a sound investment, given
that Dyche will be leading Burnleyinto a fifth successive season of
Premier League football in September
for the first time in 50 years.
Like his counterpart, Potter can
also enjoy his close season while
looking back on a job well done.
“We’ll have to come back and try to
improve,” said Potter. “It’s a good start
for us, in the first season in the
Premier League for myself and a lot
of the players.
“We want to improve of course but
the Premier League is so tough. You
see Bournemouth and Watford end
up getting relegated and they are two
teams at the start of the season you
wouldn’t have thought would.”Sean Dyche watched his team end the
season on a losing note, but insisted
that he is happy to remain in charge
at Burnley as long as the club are
clear about their own ambitions.
As is the case with Graham Potter,
his Brighton & Hove Albion
counterpart, Dyche is an English
manager whose reputation has been
enhanced by another impressive
campaign.
In the case of Potter, goals from
Yves Bissouma and Aaron Connolly,
either side of Chris Wood’s 44th
minute strike, ensured that his side
could savour a victory that leaves
them with their highest points tally of
the Premier League era.
Burnley had to be satisfied with a
top-ten finish, when victory could
have lifted them to eighth, but once
more Dyche’s body of work has been
widely lauded and his name already
linked with potential summer
vacancies.
With some recent cracks appearing
in his relationship with the club’s
hierarchy, Dyche was asked whether
his employers can match his
ambitions long-term.
“Every manager is ambitious and
we’ve been ambitious within the
framework we’re given here,” said
Dyche. “Ambition here is making the
best of everything we can and that’s a
big challenge. We’re trying to rinse
every drop out of every situation we
can; it’s tough at times but it’s
enjoyable.
“We believe in the development of
what we do. Of course it needs
support, that’s just an obvious fact of
football, that’s not about Burnley
Football Club.
“It’s how much support you can get- the strategies, the financial strategy,
the budgets, which is always tough,
but it has been since I’ve been here so
it’s not new ground for me.
“As long as I know what the
guidelines are I’m expected to work
under — it only starts getting tricky
when those guidelines start getting
blurred or they start getting stretched
and they’re not stretched in the right
direction.”
As recently as January, Burnley
were mired in a four-match losing
streak, stood two points outside the
relegation zone and questions were
Dyche wants
Burnley to show
their ambition
that was close enough to troubling
Fabianski and then he threaded an
eye-of-the-needle pass from McGinn
beyond the challenge of Fredericks
and the stretching Fabianski.
Seconds later, Yarmolenko’s effort
hit Grealish and squirmed in over
Reina, who blamed himself. “I felt
very guilty,” he said. “Now I feel less
guilty and the draw was good for us.”
Grealish is on other clubs’ radar but
according to Smith his short-term
plan was to join his captain for a
celebratory drink, then sit down with
the owners today to discuss what
happens next season.12
Wood 44 Bissouma 20
Connolly 50
RATINGS
Burnley (4-4-2): N Pope 6 — P Bardsley 6, K Long
5, J Tarkowski 7, E Pieters 6 — J Gudmundsson 6
(R Brady 75min), A Westwood 7, J Brownhill 6, D
McNeil 7 — C Wood 8, J Rodriguez 7 (M Vydra 79).
Booked Brownhill, Bardsley, Pieters.
Brighton & Hove Albion (3-4-1-2): M Ryan 6 —
A Webster 6, L Dunk 6, D Burn 6 — T Lamptey 9,
Y Bissouma 8 (D Propper 74), D Stephens 6,
S March 6 (Bernardo 73) — A Mac Allister 7
(A Mooy 74) — A Connolly 7 (G Murray 89),
N Maupay 7 (A Jahanbakhsh 90+3).
Referee J Moss.Burnley Brighton
IAN WHITTELLSean Dyche barks out the orders as
Burnley go toe-to-toe with Brightonart of staying up
Match briefing
minutes
Stat of the season
167
Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish was fouled
167 times in the Premier League, the
most a player has been fouled in a
single season
Stat of the season
70.03%
Burnley’s passing accuracy this season,
the worst of any team in the Premier
League. Manchester City have the best
with 89.32 per centMOST POINTS SINCE LOCKDOWN
Man City
Man United
Chelsea
Southampton
Tottenham
Liverpool
Arsenal
Wolves
Burnley
West Ham
Brighton
Everton
Sheffield United
Aston Villa
Newcastle
Leicester
Bournemouth
Watford
Crystal Palace
NorwichPlayed
10 games24
21
18
18
18
17
16
16
15
12
12
12
11
10
9 9 7 7 4 0MATT DUNHAM/AP11
KEY MOMENT
Antonio outwits the Villa back line but
places his shot wide. An early West
Ham goal would have possibly been
too much for Villa to handle