Burnley have sacked manager Sean Dyche after almost 10 years in charge, with the team four points adrift of Premier League safety and with only eight games to play.
Dyche was the longest serving manager in the Premier League, having joined Burnley in October 2012, during which time he led the club to Premier League promotion twice and built a team that consistently over-performed, recording two top-half finishes and qualifying for Europe.
But Burnley has struggled during the past two seasons, narrowly avoiding the drop at the end of 2020-21 before becoming entrenched in the bottom three in the current campaign. A crucial win over relegation rivals Everton last week released some of the pressure, but it was followed by a drab 2-0 defeat at bottom club Norwich City.
Dyche departs Turf Moor along with assistant manager Ian Woan, first-team coach Steve Stone and goalkeeping coach Billy Mercer. The Under-23s coach Mike Jackson will take charge of the team for Sunday’s trip to West Ham, assisted by academy director Paul Jenkins, Under-23s goalkeeping coach Connor King and club captain Ben Mee, who is currently injured.
Chairman Alan Pace said: “Firstly, we would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Sean and his staff for their achievements at the Club over the last decade. During his time at Turf Moor, Sean has been a credit both on and off the pitch, respected by players, staff, supporters, and the wider football community.
“However, results this season have been disappointing and, while this was an incredibly difficult decision, with eight crucial games of the campaign remaining, we feel a change is needed to give the squad the best possible chance of retaining its Premier League status.
“The process of replacing Sean has begun and further announcements will be made to supporters in due course.”
Dyche’s sudden departure suggests the club’s owner, the US consortium ALK Capital fronted by former Wall Street financier Pace, has major fears about the ramifications of relegation to the Championship. ALK bought Burnley for £170m but used the club’s own money and a significant loan to do so, saddling the club with debt.
The work of Dyche and his coaching team at Burnley has been widely praised over recent years. His sacking was greeted with surprise by many on social media, including pundit Jamie Carragher who tweeted: “What a joke! If you had given him a decent budget you would never have had a worry about getting relegated.”
Match of the Day host Gary Lineker posted: “Burnley have sacked Sean Dyche with 8 games left of the season. What a brilliant job he did for so many years. Feels like a really s***** thing to do.”
Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton simply tweeted: “Burnley are idiotic sacking Sean Dyche.”
