No employer can rewrite history! | Rebecca Jane column

I, along with many others witnessed Burnley Football Club put out a statement declaring Sean and Burnley Football Club have ‘parted ways’.

Behind every public statement from an employer will lay three stories. One side, the other and then the truth. No public statement is a tale of ‘just two halves’.

I’m no football expert, but apparently there’s not many games left until the end of the season. Do the chances of the back up team coming in to manage the players really stand a chance of turning their fate around, over the man who got them promoted and saved them from relegation before?

Was the mental impact on the team considered by removing Sean from his post? It feels not only futile, but significantly more damaging to ‘brand Burnley’, the players and many people involved. A decision that many of the fans will refuse to stand by.

What was the point?

Did humanity not play any part in making this decision? Maybe it did, but on the face of it, I highly doubt it. How could humanity have been considered when they begged him to stay 6 months ago, signed a new deal and now he is out on his ear?!

Asking people to ‘pull together’, the club, the team and the fans feels entirely insincere. How does anyone who releases such a statement about one of their own expect people to show loyalty or respect, when they couldn’t?

I’ve seen a few public statements released about former employees of businesses within the last year. The main feedback I have heard is that it makes the general public think nothing except dismay and contempt for the entity releasing said ‘statement’.

With any employee, in the world of football or ordinary business, the employer has a duty of care towards the person they once trusted to manage their business, or in this case, an entire PREMIER LEAGUE football team. They trusted this man, and his team for nearly a decade. How can they possibly not trust him enough now to see the season out?!

This situation reminds me of bitter feuding exes. We all have those people we have encountered in life that have nothing but negative, nasty and bitter behaviour towards an ex. Most people often know, that isn’t the full picture. Personally, even as a twice divorced person, I have very little negative to say about my ex-husbands or partners, because I picked them! I chose to have that relationship, I invested in it, to stand and slate them publicly, or in private reflects nothing but bad decisions on my behalf.

Sean Dyche did Burnley a world of good. He took a very unlikely team and transported them through heights we could have only imagined. The relationship pairing between Burnley and Sean was, for most of his tenancy, quite literally, magical.

Now Sean has been cast in a light of being a naughty school boy, sat on his naughty step and the headmaster has put him on display. Long forgotten is the almost a decade of incredible hardworking and probably heartfelt service he provided to our club.

My job is not ‘football’, my job is ‘people’. I’m no expert, but for me, as a lifelong supporter of the club, even I won’t forget. Football may be fickle, but at this point in the season feels completely unnecessary. It also feels highly unnecessary to disgrace Mr Dyche to this extent.

A club, an employer or any person cannot rewrite the history books. The truth will ALWAYS prevail, and people will remember. A statement will never take away his achievements.

Sean will not be remembered for this disgraceful and inhumane exit, he will be remembered by the people as the man who catapulted Burnley into dreams that fans never thought was possible. A long-serving and devoted man to one town and their football club. A genuine miracle worker, and that will never be forgotten.

So, to Sean, Ian, Steve and Billy. May your next appointment be all you hope for, and thank you for the memories.