"Far better choice than Lampard or Parker" - Burnley reportedly close to appointing ex-Man United player | OneFootball

FLW's verdict on Burnley's potential appointment of Ruud van Nistelrooy as manager

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Burnley are close to finding an agreement with Ruud van Nistelrooy to replace Vincent Kompany as manager.

According to Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, the ex-PSV Eindhoven coach could be making a return to English football through the main coaching role at Turf Moor.

Despite that though, the Burnley Express claim that a deal for Van Nistelrooy isn't 'close' as is being reported by the press in his home country.

The 47-year-old spent five years as a striker at Manchester United during his playing career, and now could be set to return to the country with the Lancashire outfit.

Ruud van Nistelrooy’s PSV record

Van Nistelrooy’s previous experience includes managing in the Eredivisie from May 2022 to May 2023, leading PSV to a second place finish behind Feyenoord.

He had a 64.71 per cent win rate during his time with the Dutch giants, but resigned after just one year in the job, highlighting a lack of support as the main reason behind his decision.

Burnley will be hoping he can guide the club back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, much like his predecessor Kompany did.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy could be a shrewd appointment by Burnley

Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether Van Nistelrooy would be a good appointment by the Clarets...

Declan Harte

PSV finished second under Van Nistelrooy in his one season with the club, having finished in that position in the previous two campaigns as well.

He also guided the club to a domestic cup win, and overcame a number of injury issues to qualify the team for the Champions League.

The Dutchman earned praise for his attacking style of play, and only missed out on the title by seven points.

Replacing Kompany will be difficult in some respects because the former Burnley manager’s first season with the club, in the Championship, was so impressive.

Supporters enjoyed the team’s attacking flair, while they earned consistent results to earn 101 points on their way to the title.

But Van Nistelrooy has the coaching ability to deliver similar results, as long as a strong team is kept together after suffering relegation.

It is clear that Van Nistelrooy wants to feel he is being backed by the board given the manner of his exit at PSV, so that is something he will surely want assurances on before signing on the dotted line.

With the proper backing, this has the potential to be a shrewd appointment as he displayed enough coaching ability in his single season with PSV to believe he has what it takes to coach to a high level.

Ben Wignall

Considering the route Burnley went down in the first place two years ago when appointing Kompany, it seemed a bit of a surprise when names such as Scott Parker and Frank Lampard were among the favourites to replace the Belgian in the Turf Moor hot-seat.

Alan Pace had somewhat broken the mould when it came to appointing a head coach when going from Sean Dyche to the ex-Man City defender, so going back to a more traditional route of British with Championship experience, in my opinion, would be a step backwards.

Van Nistelrooy however, could be very exciting. Like Kompany did, the former Man United striker has only had one senior managerial job, but you'd argue that being the boss of PSV is a bigger role than being at Anderlecht, so the 47-year-old already has one over on his potential predecessor.

A 64.71 per cent win record is not one that you can turn your nose up at, and having managed 'Jong PSV' as well, Van Nistelrooy has worked with younger players and is well-equipped to get a tune out of the Clarets' young starlets that have been brought in from all over Europe.

On paper, this is a more exciting appointment than the domestic candidates that came to the fore, and with the squad that Burnley currently have without any transfer moves done, there is no reason why Van Nistelrooy can't inflict the same amount of damage on the Championship that Kompany did, and he is a far better choice than Lampard or Parker.