Sacked Burnley boss Sean Dyche has detailed the smooth managerial change he helped oversee that might just keep the Clarets in the Premier League at the expense of Leeds United. Dyche, 50, has spoken publicly for the first time to the Second Captains podcast about his dismissal at Turf Moor after nine-and-a-half years at the helm.
The former Watford and Chesterfield defender had helped keep Burnley in the top tier for five seasons, even masterminding a seventh-place finish in 2017/18 and another top-10 campaign two years ago. But he was dismissed on Good Friday five days after a 2-0 loss at Norwich - the club's fifth defeat in six contests - with his successor Mike Jackson, who Dyche had brought in as the Clarets' new Under-23s coach last summer, going on to accumulate 10 points from a possible 12 during his first four game in interim charge.
That improvement has been the biggest reason Leeds have been plunged deep into the relegation mire and, while Dyche disagreed with the timing of his dismissal - just two days before a trip to West Ham - he nevertheless stuck around to ensure the transition from him to Jackson was as easy as possible both for his successor and for the players he was leaving behind. It is unlikely that same scenario panned out at Elland Road after Leeds parted company with Marcelo Bielsa a day after the 4-0 home defeat to Tottenham and then installed Jesse Marsch in the hot seat the following week.
