Much of the football world were struggling to get their collective heads around Sean Dyche’s dismissal at Burnley last week. It seems the Burnley squad were no different.
Speaking to SkySports, defender Matt Lowton explained the scene in the dressing room as Dyche bid farewell to the squad. According to him, they were expecting a tactical briefing on the next match.
“I was on the way in and we got a phone call to say we had a meeting, and we were wondering why. I was thinking it was building up to the next game or something.
“But we got in and the manager came in and said this is the end of it now. He said ‘Thanks for everything, good luck moving forward’. That was it.”
? “The manager came in and said this is the end of it now.”
Matthew Lowton explains what happened when Sean Dyche was sacked by Burnley. pic.twitter.com/IuERRzlx8e
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) April 19, 2022
“We all sat there in shock, we were surprised, but it happens in football. I’m grateful of what he did for the club and myself but we have to move forward. We can’t dwell on it for too long.
“After the manager had left we had a meeting amongst ourselves, and said it was down to us now as players. We have to be professional about it, and I felt we responded quite well at West Ham and on another day we could have got the three points.”
Burnley decided to sack Dyche after ten years at the club and their longest spell in the top flight. Despite being relegated with Burnley twice, Dyche then guided Burnley back to the Premier League on both occasions. Since 2016, they have remained in the Premier League, although they are in jeopardy of losing that status currently.
The surprise at Dyche’s sacking comes with good reason – he will likely leave a vacuum in terms of power and leadership at the club, with defender Ben Mee replacing him on an interim basis until the end of the season. In 2020, American owners ALK capital took charge of the club and that could be part of the reason for the change of approach.
