Sean Dyche hailed Burnley’s record profit – even though he knows he may not be given much of it.
The Clarets’ seventh-placed finish in the Premier League contributed to a yield of £36.6million during the financial year ending June 2018, up from £22.2m the previous season.
Dyche has strongly hinted in the past that he believes Burnley could loosen the purse strings but he does not expect the club’s approach to change.
He said: “After a seventh finish last season and the incentives that are put on top of that, then still to make £36.6million is a really, really positive thing.
“It’s difficult for me sometimes because obviously you want some of that to keep building the squad. But the club’s in a position where it wants to be solid for years to come and it’s certainly showing that.
“It’s been quite clear since I’ve been here we have to take those numbers seriously, the club want me to do that, and work inside a framework. It has its challenges but beyond that it’s still the focus on three points and the performance.
“Myself, my staff and the environment we’ve created and continue to work with, we haven’t got magic dust so recruitment’s a really important factor.
“And it’s very difficult, particularly if your numbers are not as free-flowing. It’s difficult to get the quality that you think first of all is going to benefit you but also to push others.”
Burnley appointed Mike Rigg as technical director in November to support Dyche in the transfer market, and the Burnley boss is hoping the club can cast its net wider geographically.
The vast majority of Dyche’s signings have come from within British football, and he said: “We’ve been trying to build that but it’s had another push forward.
“He (Rigg) can’t do it all on his own. He’s got good knowledge but it takes time for him to get the people around him, the analyst team and the scouts that we think can help us to find the right players.
“I said in the last window, we’re not looking for miracles, but I think he’s fitting into the culture nicely and I think he’s enjoying the task in front of him.”
Burnley boosted their survival hopes with a 2-0 victory over Wolves last time out, ending a run of four successive defeats and moving five points clear of the relegation zone.
Next up on Saturday comes a trip to Bournemouth, who won six of their first 10 league games but have managed only five victories since, including one in their last eight matches.
Dyche and his Bournemouth counterpart Eddie Howe are two of the leading British managers in the country, and the Burnley boss said: “I’m a big fan of Eddie and what he continues to do there.
“He knows that, I send him little notes when he’s done great things. They’re still a good team. They’ve been more up and down in the second half of the season but particularly at their place I think they always like playing there, they bring a bit of energy.
“When you have these odd runs of form, you end up searching for things. Maybe he’s searching to get the right combination. Our job is to stop that, quite obviously, and deliver our own performance. In the last 13 games we’ve picked 21 points up so we certainly know we can do that.”
