Alan Pace must listen as Kyle Walker drops new Burnley claim | OneFootball

Burnley defender Kyle Walker's comments about the club's ongoing managerial search should act as a warning to owner Alan Pace.

It has been a frustrating summer so far for Burnley as they prepare for life back in the Championship.

Burnley were relegated from the Premier League last season after another disappointing top flight campaign that saw them accumulate just 22 points, and the club parted company with head coach Scott Parker by mutual consent in April after their fate was confirmed.

However, over two months on from Parker's exit, the Clarets are still yet to name his replacement, and it has been a chaotic managerial search for the Lancashire outfit, with a number of targets rejecting the chance to take over at Turf Moor.

It looked as though Burnley were closing in on the appointment of former assistant Craig Bellamy, but he is set to remain in his role with Wales after the deal collapsed due to issues over backroom staff, while ex-Wolves manager Rob Edwards is also out of the running after he turned down an approach just a few weeks after leaving Molineux.

The Clarets squad reported back for pre-season training this week following their summer break, with Mike Jackson, who took charge for the final four games of last season after Parker's departure, continuing to oversee proceedings, but comments from defender Kyle Walker suggest the players are less than impressed by the absence of a permanent manager.

Kyle Walker speaks out on Burnley manager wait as Alan Pace pressure builds

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Walker was an eye-catching signing for Burnley when he made the move from Manchester City for a fee of up to £5 million last summer, and he made 36 appearances in his debut season at the club, but he was unable to prevent their relegation from the Premier League.

Despite revealing his desire to return to former club Sheffield United before hanging up his boots, Walker confirmed in April that he would be remaining with the Clarets in the Championship next season, with one year left on his contract at Turf Moor.

Walker has been in the headlines this week after Wayne Rooney suggested that he should have been included in the England squad for the World Cup amid Thomas Tuchel's current right-back problems, and as well as responding to those claims, the 36-year-old gave his thoughts on the situation at Burnley during an appearance on talkSPORT on Thursday.

After he and his team-mates returned for pre-season without a manager in place, Walker admitted that he hopes a solution can be found as quickly as possible, particularly as the Clarets are due to fly out to their training camp in America next week.

"No, we haven’t got a new manager as yet," Walker told talkSPORT.

"Hopefully for the club and the players something can get sorted ASAP, because going into the season without a manager is not ideal. But hopefully they’re just waiting for the right person to come.

"We started pre-season last Monday just gone. Mike Jackson is still in charge and we’re just cracking on, getting the minutes in our legs and getting the fitness back in our legs, then we fly to America on Tuesday."

Alan Pace must listen to Kyle Walker's Burnley warning amid ongoing manager delay

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Ahead of their last Championship season, Burnley did not confirm the appointment of Parker until early July, and they went on to finish second in the table with a total of 100 points, so there is no need to panic just yet.

However, on that occasion, Pace is likely to have been caught out by Vincent Kompany's shock move to Bayern Munich, but, this time around, he opted to part company with Parker in April with four games of the season still remaining, which should have given him plenty of time to put a proper plan in place ahead of the summer.

As a club just relegated from the Premier League with two years of parachute payments ahead of them, the vacancy at Turf Moor should be one of the most attractive jobs on the market, but with Bellamy and Edwards both turning down the Clarets, it seems something is deterring candidates from accepting the role.

Jackson has done a respectable job in his two caretaker spells, and he is a safe pair of hands to oversee the early stages of pre-season, but it is difficult not to feel that Burnley are falling behind their Championship promotion rivals by not having a permanent manager in place for the start of the summer programme.

With the Clarets due to play three friendlies during their upcoming tour of America, further crucial preparation time would be wasted if an appointment is not made before the squad jet off on Tuesday, so Pace must resolve the managerial situation swiftly.

While it is unclear exactly how much influence the incoming manager will have on recruitment, whoever takes charge of Burnley could have a big rebuilding job on their hands, with a number of the club's stars currently attracting interest from elsewhere, including the likes of Maxime Esteve, Jaidon Anthony and Zian Flemming.

Even though it did not cost them promotion, the Clarets will surely be keen to avoid a repeat of the mass exodus that took place in the final stages of the transfer window during their previous Championship campaign, but no decisions on transfers can be made until a manager is installed.