“He was a good servant to the club, so I was surprised by how they treated him, I think i’ve earned the right to be respected by them”- Sean Dyche makes feelings clear on Burnley return but admits he was surprised with how fans treated Dwight McNeil
Everton manager Sean Dyche insists he isn’t concerned by the type of reaction he receives from Burnley’s fans on his first return as an opponent but admits was surprised by how they treated Dwight McNeil during last month’s Carabao Cup tie between the sides at Goodison Park.
McNeil, who is one of a trio of former Clarets players within the Blues squad alongside James Tarkowski and Michael Keane, was booed by the away supporters as he helped Everton to a 3-0 victory on November 1. Dyche said: “I was a little bit surprised when we played them and Dwight McNeil got a little bit.
“I was a little bit surprised by that – he’s a young player, played from 18 when I put him in the team, and made a lot of money for the club (£20million) so I was a little bit surprised by that. But I don’t speak to fans so I don’t know what that was all about. He was a good servant to the club.
“All three of them were very good servants for the football club. Keano made them a lot of money (£25million), as did Dwight. Tarky’s situation was different because of the contract situation (he left his deal run down and left for nothing as a free agent).”
Dyche was in charge of Burnley for almost a decade, steering them to a seventh place finish in 2017/18, the club’s highest top flight placing since 1974 bringing a first return to European football since 1966/67, but was sacked on Good Friday 2022. Asked how he’d feel if he was greeted with hostility, the 52-year-old said: “I wouldn’t be disappointed – I wouldn’t be either way.
“At the end of the day fans are fans, as a club they have moved on, different manager, different circumstances. But I’ll never lose respect for Burnley Football Club or the fans, absolutely never, that is set for me forever.
“If they want to reciprocate that then that will be great but if they don’t then, hey, that’s the way it goes, but I think I earned the right to be respected by them [Burnley fans].”
When Dyche was dismissed there were still nine games to go during the 2021/22 season and the team still had a chance of staying up – they had beaten Frank Lampard’s Everton in what proved to be his final home match in charge – but he maintains that did not sour his feelings for the club. He said: “That was up to them. I have never cried over anything like that.
“I came out of Watford and I made it clear it was a business decision [by the club]. So that was it similar but different.
“They [the owners] wanted to go in a different direction. That’s sometimes the way it goes. Bitterness? Absolutely not.
The Everton boss joked that however Saturday’s clash goes, he hopes to still find time to pop inot ‘his’ pub. “I’ll pop in my pub obviously,” he said. “People think it’s mine but it’s not!”
