“I’m not entirely surprised” – The dominance of Burnley in the Championship: The verdict | OneFootball

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 have blown away the Championship this season with Vincent Kompany’s team all but assured of a promotion place.

The Clarets are now eight clear of Sheffield United and 17 clear of Middlesbrough in 3rd while also having a game in hand.

Here we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether Burnley’s dominance of the division has come as a surprise given pre-season expectations…

Simmey Hannifin-Donaldson

In some ways, I’m not entirely surprised, but that’s not to say they do not deserve huge credit for doing so.

I think following their relegation from the Premier League the club really committed to a rebuild under Vincent Kompany, shipping out plenty of players and backing their manager in the transfer market and it is showing.

From that very first game of the season away at Huddersfield, the Clarets looked strong with a clear identity and style of play, and they have only gone from strength to strength since then.

The real test for Kompany and this side will come in the Premier League next season, barring a collapse of monumental proportions in the remaining months of the season.

Brett Worthington

Burnley’s season in the Championship so far shouldn’t surprise many.

The Clarets were very strong coming into the season, as their squad options were full of players who had plenty of Premier League experience. However, the Lancashire side improved that further by adding more quality players to their disposal.

Players like Josh Cullen, Ian Maatsen, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, and Scott Twine are all players that have either played at this level before or have been standout performers for their teams previously.

Burnley were always going to be right up there in terms of promotion, but the one doubt many will have had would have been in Vincent Kompany. The Belgian never managed in England before and never played in the Championship, so there was an unknown as to what to expect.

The Burnley boss soon ended that unknown, as he got his team playing attractive, free-flowing football and got players that had previously struggled firing once again. This Burnley team could go down as one of the best the Championship has seen in recent years.

Quiz: Are these 20 Burnley FC facts real or fake?

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Burnley play in the Championship

Real Fake

Declan Harte

Burnley’s level of summer business was exhaustive, but it would’ve been easy to expect Kompany to have some kind of growing pains.

After all this was his first coaching role in English football and only his second in management.

But the manner in which he has got this new squad to adapt to his style of play, as well as the Championship itself, has been mightily impressive.

There is a reason his name has been touted as a potential successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

While it is still too soon to say just yet whether Kompany can aspire to that level, his work with Burnley has rightly received plaudits.

While a top six finish was seen as likely, this level of domination of the division wasn’t as easy to foresee which has made it all the more remarkable.