BURNLEY boss Sean Dyche believes Premier League managers have to accept fans telling them how to do their jobs.
The Clarets chief has taken a novel approach to dealing with the critics - by quizzing them on their own professions.
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But he insists he wouldn’t have it any other way, despite admitting that an increasing fascination with tactical debates has fuelled an army of football fans who think they know more than the manager.
Dyche’s counterpart at Turf Moor tomorrow, Manuel Pellegrini, has been criticised lately for his decision to play 4-4-2 in the games against Barcelona and Liverpool, but the Clarets chief thinks managers do know best.
Of the fascination with tactics and analysis Dyche said: “There’s some good education now, there’s some good people doing it, the downside is that you get a little bit of knowledge and then decide you know more than the manager.
“You sit at home, watch a tactics board and say ‘that’s what you do’, then get on Twitter, get on Facebook, tell the manager you don’t know what you’re doing then everyone bombards with me you don’t know what you’re doing.
“I’ve just had my house done and I don’t tell the plasterer how to plaster and I don’t tell the plumber how to plumb.
“People forget we are professional in what we do. My football education is probably £30,000 worth.
“The A-licence, pro-licence, unbelievable amounts of miles, an unbelievable amount of meetings, flying around Europe watching other managers and watching coaches.
“You wouldn’t go up to a lawyer and say you don’t know what you’re doing when they’ve studied for a law degree for five years.
“All my life has been football, that’s it. Football and football education.”
Despite that, the Clarets chief thinks the endless debate is all part of the fabric of football in this country.
“It’s part of the game,” he said. “Part of the tradition of football. I grew up in a house that loved football, we all shouted at the TV during the game.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. That’s how I rationalise it.
“So when the bloke comes and tells me, good or bad, I say ‘what do you do mate?’. ‘I’m an IT consultant’. I’ll say ‘oh, that’s interesting, I don’t know anything about that’. Do you know much about football? Because you’ve been in IT all your life but think you know more about football than me, when I’ve been in football all my life?
“You find they usually backtrack quite quickly, or at least calm down.”
Despite winning the Premier League and League Cup last season Pellegrini finds himself under pressure at the Etihad, with reports of dressing room unrest between senior players, but Dyche has sympathy for the Chilean.
“I think it’s a natural occurrence, you’ve got highly talented and highly motivated people in a working environment that is very challenging,” the Burnley boss added.
“There’s always going to be challenges within that because they’re powerful minded people who are at the top of the game.”
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