Burnley manager Vincent Kompany has spoken candidly about the realities of managing a lower-level Premier League side.
“There’s very few managers that win trophies” was his admission. “It’s usually the same guy and he’s bald like me”, alluding to Kompany’s former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Burnley is Kompany’s second managerial role following a spell in charge of Anderlecht in his native Belgium.
At 37, he is the youngest boss in the Premier League. The former central defender is also a potential successor to Guardiola having been his club captain during their domination of English football.
His latest comments serve to connect Kompany to his former club too. The Burnley manager is in the top flight on the back of an excellent season in the Championship, where Burnley won the title with a massive 101 points.
Managing a club such as Manchester City may well be an eventual aspiration, but Burnley and their impending trip to Arsenal is his focus for now.
He added: “You have to do it because you love the job. I’ll never ever let myself be drawn in to a situation where I don’t look at the context of this league and the context of who we are and where we are.
“Our goal is to out punch and to be in that league, but there’s not a scenario in which it’s not a tough road. We stay calm and put in the hours.”
Kompany suggested that there may be a silver lining to the challenge of managing a struggling side however, adding: “You learn so much about people in moments where it’s little bit tough”.
Kompany also described Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta as having a mixture of “intelligence, passion and resilience”. Arsenal go into the weekend three points shy of Man City at the top of the table with the three points essential to maintaining their title hopes as they are to Burnley’s quest for survival.
