Burnley hearts were broken at the end of the Premier League season, with a combination of their defeat to Newcastle United and Leeds United winning condemning The Clarets to relegation after a six year stay in the Premier League.

It wasn’t too long before the rumour mill about the Lancashire club’s situation started churning, with fans and pundits speculating about the financial ramifications the drop into the SkyBet Championship will have.

Another was the managerial situation, after Sean Dyche was sacked with eight games and was temporarily replaced by Michael Jackson and his team of interim coaches that included Ben Mee.

The speculation has finally reached its end with Burnley announcing Vincent Kompany as their new head-coach.

  • City legend had expected to be announced soon after leaving Anderlecht

The Premier League Hall-of-Famer left the Belgian giants after finishing third in the 2021-22 season, securing qualification for the Europa Conference League with a third place finish again in the Championship playoffs.

It was deemed a disappointment despite the club entering a transitional period, and Kompany had the second half of a four-year-deal terminated as part of a mutual agreement with the club.

This does pave the way for a compensation-free move to the North West, a part of the world he is not too unfamiliar with from his playing days.

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The former Belgium international spent 11 incredibly successful seasons at Manchester City, winning four league titles along the way.

His two seasons as a manager at RSC Anderlecht will not be remembered incredibly fondly at the club, a fourth and a third-place finish to go along with a recent defeat to Gent in the Belgian Cup final.

But, he has steadied the ship after a tough few seasons before his arrival, guiding the club back into Europe, scoring a remarkable 72 goals this season.

The style of football has never been the issue, and it seems that problems with the higher-ups at the club is what has lead to his departure.

That, and an interest in returning to English football.

  • The tactics are not too different to what Clarets fans know

Four. Four. Two.

It is not as simple as that.

Kompany has turned the previously negative stereotyped formation into an exciting, free-flowing brand of football that has produced.

The build-up play is fast – getting the ball through the thirds is the main aim.

If he is to stay at the club, Josh Brownhill would thrive in this.

Picking the ball up and turning towards the opposition goal and driving, or picking a pass is what Kompany wants from his players.

Brownhill can do this, his range of passing is exceptional and discovered his eye for goal last season.

A player like Dwight McNeil will also thrive in his system, being given space on the wings to deliver early or pick a pass to get one of the midfielders onto the play.

The Championship is a physical league, and a lot of teams are excellent in transition, able to exploit gaps easily.

With players like Mee and Charlie Taylor staying, players who know how to play with that “iron jaw” like defence and have also had success at Championship level, the spaces that Kompany’s Anderlecht team so often left will not be as present at Burnley.

It could be a tactical match made in heaven.

  • Sometimes you need to be daring to succeed

The Championship is an unpredictable division and next season it will be equally as impossible to call.

Big clubs sleeping in the division are starting to stir again while Norwich City and Watford know how to bounce back from relegation at the first time of asking better than anyone.

So, automatic promotion isn’t a given by any stretch of the imagination, and no one at Burnley will be thinking that.

Many of The Clarets stars know the league well, they will understand the complexity of the task at hand, but that is hardly enough.

Look at Sunderland for example, only just back into the division for this season – it is anything but easy.

To succeed in the second tier, you need that spark that sets you apart.

The rawness of Kompany and his desire to do well in his first job in England could be that spark.

On top of that, he has connections around Europe, obviously most notably Belgium, as well as at the newly crowned Champions of England. 

Burnley should look to benefit from this immediately. 

He was a serial winner at City, so the current crop of Burnley players should listen to him, regardless of his managerial immaturity.

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Of course, Kompany wouldn't be joining if promises and assurances hadn't been made to him, which does lead you to believe that the financial situation is under control. 

Alan Pace gambled on sacking Dyche before the season ended, and it didn’t pay off.

He will be hoping his latest risk doesn’t backfire too.

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