"Hand on heart" - Pundit reacts to Thierry Henry, Burnley news | OneFootball

The Arsenal legend has been named as a surprise potential candidate to replace Vincent Kompany

Burnley are still on the hunt for a new manager, and one surprising name has popped up as a potential option.

Arsenal legend, and one of the greatest footballers of all time, Thierry Henry has been linked with the Burnley job.

The club's owner, Alan Pace, is said to want a standout name in the dugout at Turf Moor, according to journalist Alan Nixon, and Henry's name, as well as former PSV boss, and Manchester United striker, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, has come into their thinking.

Three of the other main candidates that Nixon named were Scott Parker, Liam Rosenior and Frank Lampard, plus an outside shout for Steve Bruce.

Whoever comes in has the tough task of trying to get the Clarets promoted straight back to the top flight. Football pundit Carlton Palmer doesn't see Henry as the most obvious candidate to do that.

Carlton Palmer's verdict on Burnley, Thierry Henry links

The ex-French international star is not seen as the right profile of manager that Burnley should be going for, according to Palmer.

"It's been two weeks now since Vincent Kompany moved to Bayern Munich, and they still haven't appointed a new head coach," the pundit said to Football League World. "The latest name to be linked to the job is Thierry Henry.

"It's a name that has been plucked out of the blue. You'd think the likes of Burnley would look at those who are out of work, like Graham Potter. The bookies have the Arsenal legend at 16/1.

"He's currently in charge of the French under-21s side, and has previously coached at Monaco and Montreal. "I'm assuming that Burnley would be looking for an immediate return to the Premier League. They have a very good squad of players, and it's about getting the right manager to do the job.

"I don't know, hand on heart, whether Henry would be the right man.

"I just really don't know. I thought Kompany, with the way that he played the game, would be a successful coach at one point. Although they didn't stay up in the Premier League, they won the Championship playing very good football. We'll now get to see how good he is at Bayern. He's got all the tools so let's see how good of a coach he is.

"At the end of the day, you don't know. You can give somebody the opportunity and, hopefully, they can show you what they can do. Without that opportunity you'll never fully know what a manager can do.

"I'm just looking at the people who are available now, who have managed at that level. You've got Steve Cooper who's out of work, Potter who's out of work, David Moyes who's out of work, although he might not want to drop down a division.

"You've got good managers there, and I keep coming back to Heckingbottom all the time. I'm surprised he's not been snapped up because the job he done at Sheffield United was outstanding.

"I'm not opposed to Henry, but I'd have thought that they'd have wanted someone who had a track record of being able to get a side out of the Championship."

Burnley appointing Henry would be a shocking and odd decision

Most of the choices that the football club has made over the past couple of years have been very much forward-thinking; this isn't.

It should be a bit concerning to Clarets fans that your owner wants a move like this to happen. They should be happy that they have a team of people underneath the owners who will ultimately guide the decision making, and should make a smarter choice than this.

Henry's record as a coach isn't glistening, it isn't one littered with experience in England or the EFL. It'd be an appointment purely based on interest and intrigue, and not much to do with the main things that you need to look for in a manager.

On top of the fact that, football-wise, it doesn't make sense, they would also probably need to pay something to the French football authorities, as he is contracted to be the nation's under-21s coach until the summer of 2025. He's also leading France's under-23 side at the Olympics this summer, which would make appointing him even more difficult and time-consuming.