Burnley verdict issued over Nicky Hayen, manager links - "It screams that we've rang Kompany!" | OneFootball

FLW's Burnley fan pundit has given his opinion on the recent reports surrounding their manager search

Burnley's search for a new manager has gone on for over two months now, but it may finally be in its final act, with Nicky Hayen emerging as their number one candidate.

The Clarets have been without a permanent boss since April 30, after Scott Parker left by mutual consent following their relegation from the Premier League being confirmed.

Mike Jackson took over as interim for the final four games of the campaign, but not many expected him to still be in post as Burnley begin their pre-season, with the club jetting off to the USA on Tuesday, 7 July for a series of friendlies across the Atlantic.

Ideally, former assistant coach Craig Bellamy would have been in situ by now, but the Wales National Team boss chose to remain with his country ahead of their home Euros in a couple of years.

A move for former Wolves boss Rob Edwards in the aftermath of Bellamy's decision fell flat, but now, they are in advanced talks with Genk boss Nicky Hayen, per Pete O'Rourke, who won the Belgian Pro League with Club Brugge two seasons ago and took his current club to the Europa League's Round of 16 this past campaign.

Burnley fan pundit reacts to Nicky Hayen, managerial update

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Other than a five-month stint in Wales managing Haverfordwest County in 2022, Hayen's dugout career has taken place solely in his native Belgium.

Not many Burnley fans are very aware of Hayen's work, and FLW's Clarets fan pundit, Aaron Wright, is caught between two minds on how to feel about the recent reports. Initially, his thoughts were rather positive, as, at face value, he looks to have brought success to his former clubs.

"I'm in two thought processes," he explained. "The first is that he did superbly at Club Brugge, coming in, walking the play-offs in his first year and having a solid enough second season before they replaced him.

"At Genk, he looked to have done alright. The Belgian league works weirdly, so I couldn't fully say how well he did, but he looks to have done okay. He plays heavy possession-based football, so he should be exciting, and we should score lots of goals."

Ultimately, though, his positive views on Hayen's style and his recent history at the top of the Belgian Pro League are clouded by the thoughts that the higher-ups have just consulted former manager Vincent Kompany to see who he feels is up to the task.

The current Bayern Munich boss was in charge for a couple of years at Turf Moor before his move to the German giants, and the likelihood would have been that the Belgian would have remained with the Clarets in 2024 if not for Bayern's approach.

Kompany evidently has a good relationship with Alan Pace, and Wright feels that the Burnley owner has relied on that to single out a new manager ahead of the new campaign.

"My second thought is that this screams of us ringing up Vincent Kompany and going 'who do you think is alright for us?' He still has a good relationship with the owners, so I think it's a fair assumption," the fan pundit admitted.

"It's not like they've come up with someone brilliant out of the blue; I highly doubt that. I could be thinking the worst, but it screams that we've rang Kompany and seen what he says, so we'll see how it goes."

Nicky Hayen could be a hit at Burnley if Vincent Kompany has suggested him

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While it may be a rather cheap and easy route to consult a former manager, rather than go and find someone off your own back, if that is even what has happened, there may be fewer stamps of approval better than Kompany's currently.

The 40-year-old is arguably one of the best managers in world football currently, winning back-to-back Bundesliga titles in his two years in charge, the DFB Pokal last season, and he took Bayern to the semi-finals of the Champions League last year, too.

If he has put forward Hayen to Alan Pace and co, too, it's not as if the Burnley board will just blindly agree. They'll do their research and decide themselves whether they believe he's good enough to lead the Clarets back to the Premier League.

Hayen will have big shoes to fill when it comes to bringing success in the second tier, with both Kompany and Parker overseeing 100-point campaigns and promotion at the first attempt.

Only time will tell whether he'd be able to, if he is, indeed, the man they choose. If he were to follow in Kompany's footsteps, Burnley may have yet another brilliant manager on their hands.