Burnley favourite Clarke Carlisle on Vincent Kompany, squad harmony & role of elder statesmen

The Clarets make their return to the top flight after taking the Championship by storm in Kompany’s first season in charge.

There is plenty of anticipation among the fanbase as a result, with reigning champions Manchester City up first on Friday, August 11.

The only downside from Carlisle’s perspective is that Kompany will prove to be a man in demand should his success continue this season, although that’s a welcome problem to have.

"If you look at names in football, of players or coaches, the name 'Vincent Kompany' is right up there across the world,” he told the Burnley Express.

"If he continues to be successful, especially if he does it in the Premier League and Burnley are in a respectable position 15/20 games in, you've got to be fearful of losing him to one of half-a-dozen teams who will undoubtedly have sacked their manager by that point.

“It's impossible to say, but you couldn't blame him for moving on to a club of larger historical stature Premier League wise, but as a fan you would hope that he'd want to see this job through.

“That first season after promotion can be one of the most tumultuous seasons, but if he saw that through, which I expect him to do and he gave Burnley one more year, I think every Burnley fan would send him off with their blessing and good wishes to go and succeed Pep [Guardiola] or whoever it is.”

One of the other advantages Burnley are benefiting from is the pull Kompany has with new signings.

“This is a man whose little black book is going to be extensive globally,” Carlisle added.

“With that comes the challenge of who you're going to bring in in order to maintain the dynamic that you've established at the club.

“I don't just mean the different types of international players, because they've already done that, but what is most important is the salary balance that you bring.

“If you've got a squad of 25 players that have achieved promotion to the Premier League and then you sign three players who are on twice the salary of everyone who'd just completed the job, then it can be quite disheartening.

“It's a balance I'm pretty sure he'll be well aware of.”

While Burnley continue to expand their horizons with their new signings, with many coming from the continent and Belgium in particular, Carlisle believes there’s still an important role to play for some of the more elder statesmen.

“Jay Rodriguez and Jack Cork are two outstanding players and they have been for well over a decade now,” the 43-year-old said.

“The influence and experience that they'll share with the squad can't be overrated, especially with a young squad. They've been there at multiple clubs and they've done it.

“When you're growing up playing football in England your two goals are to play in the Premier League and to represent your country. The pair of them have done both of those and they've both done them with aplomb.

“They'll both retire happy, but they've got plenty of football to play before that.”