Many people seem to forget that it wasn’t too many years ago that Burnley were playing in the Premiership. However, even though the Clarets were playing top flight football just several years ago, they are rarely considered as a big force in the Championship.
It would be fair to say that the Turf Moor outfit have experienced a hugely turbulent start to the new campaign and with the club currently in 15th place, many have already written them off for a push on the top places.
The Results
Having amassed a total of twenty three points from their opening seventeen games, it’s clear to see that Burnley have been the victim of a lot of inconsistencies over the course of the season.
In fact, following an indifferent start, few supporters were too bothered when Eddie Howe decided to leave his post and join League One outfit Bournemouth – allowing the highly rated Sean Dyche to take over. In terms of Howe’s reign, the Clarets got off to a terrible start and actually lost their opening four games of the season.
Things never really got much better and even though the club experienced some positive results, they never really forced any sort of prolonged form. In terms of the impact Dyche has made, it really is too early to tell. The initial signs were certainly promising, after Burnley won their first two games under his leadership in 2-0 and 1-0 fashion against Wolves and Leeds respectively.
However, since then they have proceeded to lose against relegation battlers Ipswich and Charlton and bearing this in mind, it will certainly be interesting to see how they fare over the next few weeks.
The Summer Buys
Out of all of the transfers that Eddie Howe was responsible during the summer, the acquisition of Jason Shackell was probably the most significant. However, despite arriving from Derby with a fantastic reputation, some fans have voiced concerns that Shackell might not be the ideal centre half the club were looking for.
Unfortunately, the jury is still out on another big buy, with Sam Vokes struggling to make an impact despite signing from Wolves for several hundred thousand pounds. He’s hardly started a game for the Clarets, while his goal returns stands at a meagre one.
Perhaps the best piece of business that Howe masterminded was Brian Stock, with the former Doncaster midfielder managing to force his way into the Burnley midfield and while he has struggled to become a threat in front of goal, he’s at least impressing in other areas.
The Verdict
Even though Eddie Howe arrived at Turf Moor with a sterling reputation, most people would agree that things just never really worked out for him and the club are probably better off with Sean Dyche – who performed miracles at previous club Watford.
It’s certainly going to be interesting to see just how Dyche will fare in this post although if he can keep hold of top scorer Charlie Austin, we don’t see any reason why Burnley can’t make a push for the top half by the end of the season.