Leeds United given head coach masterstroke and £70m in transfer sales as blueprint for bounceback

Leeds United want to bounce back from relegation and return to the Premier League at the first time of asking. Not many teams have managed it. Since the 1992/93 campaign, just 26 of the 94 relegated sides have returned the following season.

In recent history, there are three sides who have managed it. Watford and Norwich City recovered from 2020 relegations to finish in the Championship’s top two at the end of 2020/21. Then, last season, Burnley stormed the table after going down in 2022.

LeedsLive has spoken to John McDougall of LancsLive for some insight into how the Clarets achieved their bounce back this year. It was Vincent Kompany’s first season at the helm and he oversaw a transformation of the outfit so long built in Sean Dyche’s image.

Burnley would lose just three games all season, outscoring everyone with 87 goals at nearly two strikes per game and conceding fewer than anyone for good measure with 35 going in the wrong direction. The Clarets would hit 101 points and, like Leeds in 2020, win the division by 10 points.

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How did Burnley bounce back at the first time of asking?

Burnley were able to bounce back immediately thanks to two things: getting the manager right and getting the recruitment right. That was the bedrock of their success.

Bringing in Vincent Kompany has proved to be a masterstroke, with him overseeing a revamp of the Clarets squad which, it should not be forgotten, shed several stars following their relegation from the Premier League. Kompany brought in many several relatively unknown players from Belgium, such as the likes of Anass Zaroury and Manuel Benson, as well as several players on loan, many of whom went on to be key players including Jordan Beyer, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Ian Maatsen and, of course, Nathan Tella.

Kompany imposed a new passing style of play which differed from the past decade under Sean Dyche. Ultimately it proved a resounding success with Burnley reaching 101 points as champions and winning promotion with seven games to spare.

What did Burnley do in the summer of 2022 to prepare for that coming promotion push?

Burnley sold key assets last summer, which, had they not been replaced properly, would have caused a real issue. Fortunately, that was not the case.

Funds of approaching £70m were raised through the sales of Nick Pope, Nathan Collins, Dwight McNeil and Maxwel Cornet. That money was reinvested wisely in the likes of Aro Muric, Josh Cullen, Zaroury and Benson, as well as the likes of January signings Hjalmar Ekdal, Ameen Al-Dakhil and Lyle Foster.

The players brought in on loan, particularly Tella, Harwood-Bellis, Maatsen and Beyer, also went on to become regulars and key members of the starting XI. Not every signing has proved a resounding success, that rarely happens at a football club, but time has proved Burnley got the big decisions in the transfer market right.

Is it as simple as pinning it all to the critical appointment of Vincent Kompany? Or was there more to it than simply that one decision?

While all the success cannot be solely attributed to Kompany, he has undoubtedly played a huge part. Many of the players have highlighted playing under the former Manchester City captain as a huge motivation behind wanting to play for Burnley and, hypothetically, it would have been interesting to see if, say, a different appointment had been made in the dugout, would some of those players be at Burnley now.

We’ll never know the answer to that and we won’t have to now. Kompany has been a big part of the success, but, as hinted in previous answers, getting recruitment right on the pitch has been key to it too.

Jack Cork was the only player over 26-years-old at the start of the season who would play more than 2,000 minutes. Were there ever any concerns about a lack of experience in the side? How important was Kompany’s rotation of Gudmundsson, Barnes, Rodriguez and Taylor to bring that know-how?

Naturally, there were perhaps some question marks heading into the season given the vast upheaval in the playing squad last summer. Several players were sold, while the likes of Ben Mee and James Tarkowski also departed on free transfers.

The Clarets themselves did not expect to be champions in the recently concluded campaign and were prepared for a stay of two to three seasons back in the Championship before a return to the Premier League. Some of the signings made last summer were also unproven in English football so there is always a question mark when that is the case.

However, a core of experienced players you list above made key contributions to the Clarets in the campaign. Johann Berg Gudmundsson was almost reinvented as a central midfielder by Kompany and has secured a new deal.

Jay Rodriguez led the line admirably for the first half of the season and Ashley Barnes, who thought his Burnley career was over following the away comeback win over Sunderland in which he admits himself he was poor, had a renaissance in the second half of the campaign when Rodriguez was out injured. Charlie Taylor plugged a gap in the heart of defence at times for Kompany’s side and proved key in the early stages of the campaign, while mention must also be given to Josh Brownhill too, who was crowned the Championship player of the season with his performances for the Clarets in midfield.

What did Burnley do in the summer and winter transfer windows of that season? How did transfer business help with the promotion push?

The transfer business was huge to Burnley’s promotion push. As mentioned before, Pope, Mee, Tarkowski, McNeil, Cornet, Collins and several others departed last summer and the Clarets had to rebuild the squad essentially last summer.

A new goalkeeper was needed, much of a new back four, central midfield reinforcements as well as new bodies on the flanks were brought in and many of these decisions paid off. Muric has been the new number one at the Clarets, while Maatsen became first choice left-back, with Harwood-Bellis and Beyer slotted into the heart of defence.

Josh Cullen proved to be a revelation in central midfield and was understandably awarded the club’s player of the season award. Zaroury, Tella and Benson all looked unplayable at various points in the season and were key weapons in Burnley’s armoury.

In January, central defenders Al-Dakhil and Ekdal ended up being heavily relied upon in the heart of the rearguard owing to injuries and it proved to be a masterstroke to buy them when the Clarets did. Lyle Foster has been purchased with the Premier League in mind, but both he and Michael Obafemi were largely used off the bench by Kompany, though the former was handed a clutch of starts after promotion was sealed with next season in mind.

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