Sean Dyche to return to Burnley: The chances revealed as other contenders emerge
Sean Dyche is among three favourites to take over at Burnley if decision-makers decide to sack Scott Parker in the coming months.
Parker guided the Clarets to promotion from the Championship last season, but the Premier League campaign has been disastrous.
Burnley‘s 3-2 win over Crystal Palace on Wednesday was their first since October, when they won consecutive games against Leeds United and Wolves.
But the results in between have left Parker’s team almost certain to go down with Wolves in the coming weeks.
The Clarets are nine points behind 17th-placed Nottingham Forest, who sacked Dyche this week to replace him with Vitor Pereira.
Steven Gerrard leads Burnley race
Dyche spent almost 10 years in charge of Burnley between 2012 and 2022, managing over 400 games.
The Englishman succeeded now Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe, who had left the club among relegation favourites in the Championship.
But Dyche quickly worked wonders at Turf Moor, getting his team promoted to the Premier League in his first full season in charge.
| Sean Dyche | Burnley |
| Wins | 152 |
| Draws | 114 |
| Losses | 159 |
| Scored | 498 |
| Conceded | 539 |
Burnley would go straight down, but immediately back up again as champions, and they would stay there for the rest of Dyche’s tenure.
The former centre-back created a team that were never afraid of confrontation, and incredibly hard to break down. If you travelled to Turf Moor against Dyche’s team, you knew you were in for a game.
In 2018, the Clarets finished seventh and qualified for the Europa League, in a monumental achievement for the manager and his squad.
Burnley were in the relegation zone when they decided to sack Dyche in 2022 – a decision that was widely criticised, and that was followed by the drop.
But the 54-year-old is in the running to return to Turf Moor if the possibility arises, with one major bookmaker having him at 6/1, while Steven Gerrard (3/1) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (9/2) lead the way.
The iconic story behind the Royal Dyche
As Dyche’s Burnley closed in on a finishing position in a European spot, one pub in the area made a big promise.
The Princess Royal, an establishment situated just down the road from Turf Moor, promised to change their name if Europa League football was secured.
Of course, it was, and, to this day, there remains a pub near the stadium named The Royal Dyche that is adorned with pictures of Henry VIII with the Englishman’s face superimposed.
Speaking in 2023 ahead of a return to Turf Moor in charge of Everton, the 54-year-old joked: “I’ll pop in my pub obviously. People think it’s mine but it’s not!”