Bold Alan Pace decision at Burnley paid off for Premier League legend - He's earning millions elsewhere now | OneFootball

Alan Pace's decision to appoint Vincent Kompany as Burnley manager was a gamble, but he was certainly rewarded.

It is fair to say that Burnley owner Alan Pace's decision to sack long-serving manager Sean Dyche in April 2022 raised a few eyebrows.

Dyche had been in charge of Burnley for almost 10 years, during which time he led them to two promotions from the Championship, kept them in the Premier League for five consecutive seasons and even guided them into the Europa League.

However, with their top flight status hanging in the balance after picking up only four wins from their first 30 games of the season, Pace opted to part company with Dyche with just eight games of the campaign remaining, sending shockwaves around the football world.

It initially looked as though Chris Wilder would be named as Dyche's replacement, and the then Middlesbrough manager did little to shut down the speculation, but after picking up some impressive results early in his tenure, Pace decided to stick with caretaker manager Mike Jackson until the end of the season.

Unfortunately for the Clarets, Jackson was unable to keep them in the Premier League, but after Pace made the bold call to appoint Vincent Kompany as Dyche's permanent successor, it would not be long until the club were back among England's elite.

Alan Pace's Vincent Kompany gamble was a masterstroke

Kompany established a reputation as a Premier League legend at Manchester City, winning four top flight titles, two FA Cups and four League Cups during his illustrious 11-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, and he took his first steps into management with Belgian side Anderlecht in August 2020 after his retirement from playing.

The 39-year-old won 41 of his 90 games in charge of Anderlecht, giving him a strong win record of 45%, but there was no guarantee that he would be able to replicate that success in the Championship, making him a risky appointment for Burnley.

In a sign that a new era was well and truly underway at Turf Moor, the Clarets brought in a number of players from abroad in the summer transfer window, including the likes of Jordan Beyer, Vitinho, Manuel Benson and Anass Zaroury, while Kompany also used his contacts to recruit players with English football experience such as Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Ian Maatsen, Josh Cullen and Nathan Tella.

If some Burnley supporters had reservations about the appointment of Kompany, those doubts would only have increased after an unconvincing start to the season that saw his side win just one of their opening five league games, but it did not take long for him to really start to make an impact in Lancashire.

As the Clarets began to emerge as an increasingly dominant force, they went top of the Championship table on the 25th October after a 1-0 home win over Norwich City, and incredibly, they remained in that position for the rest of the season.

Burnley played some of the most attractive, entertaining football ever seen in the second tier under Kompany, and while on-loan Southampton forward Tella was their star man as he scored 19 goals over the course of the season, they had goals coming from across the team.

The Clarets stretched their lead at the summit after a 10-game winning run between November and February, which equalled the second tier record for the most consecutive victories, and not content with that, they then broke the record for the earliest ever promotion after securing their return to the Premier League with seven games to spare following a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough on 7th April.

To top off what had been a remarkable season, Burnley sealed the Championship title in the sweetest way possible with a 1-0 win over local rivals Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park, and they ended the campaign with a total of 101 points, having scored 87 goals and lost just three games along the way.

Vincent Kompany was given unexpected reward for Burnley relegation

Given the way Burnley stormed to the Championship title under Kompany, many expected them to be competitive in the Premier League, but it certainly did not work out that way.

Poor recruitment during the summer transfer window left the Clarets with an arguably weaker squad than they had in the second tier, and the warning signs of the struggles ahead were there right from the start of their time in the top flight as they failed to win any of their first six league games.

There were some brief moments of optimism along the way, most notably a run of just one defeat in eight games in March and April, but Burnley's improvement came far too late for them to save themselves, and having spent the entire season in the bottom three, they were relegated with a dismal total of just 24 points to their name.

With that context in mind, it was a huge surprise when speculation emerged linking Kompany with the vacant job at Bayern Munich following the Clarets' relegation, and it proved to be more than just mere paper talk as the Belgian did end up making the move to the Allianz Arena.

It was difficult to see the logic behind Bayern's decision to appoint Kompany, and many questioned what he had done to deserve one of the biggest jobs in European football, as well as a significant pay rise, with the former Manchester City captain believed to be earning between £5.97 million and £7.67 million per year, which is around £2 million more than his predecessors Julian Nagelsmann and Hansi Flick.