EFL pundit Don Goodman casts serious doubt on Burnley's ability to bounce back

The former West Brom, Wolves and Sunderland forward, speaking to FreeSuperTips, was asked whether he fears for the Clarets following relegation.

FreeSuperTips

And the 56-year-old admitted he doesn’t expect Burnley to repeat their last two campaigns at Championship level, which saw them promoted as runners-up in 2014, and as champions two years later.

He said: “It’s a tough one because there’s a lot of reasons why they might struggle.

“But we’ve got to see in June and July who stays, who goes and what manager comes in before we can make any genuine assessment.

“In this juncture, it looks very much as if a lot of players will be leaving such as Tarkowski, Cornet, Dwight McNeil possibly, Weghorst, who are the best players.

“I believe there’s a lot of other players also out of contract, there’s been lots of changes in the backroom staff and the academy status is under review.

“There’s also this financial issue with a large portion of this £65 million loan having to be repaid following relegation.

“The Premier League TV revenue in the last accounts accounted for 90% of Burnley’s revenue.

“On the face of it you look at Burnley and you don’t see a club who will do a Fulham or a Norwich and bounce back at the first attempt.

“There’s an awful lot going on and a massive overhaul will take place, but whether that restores some positivity remains to be seen.”

Goodman feels the side stagnated over recent time: “For me, Burnley are a classic example of; if you stand still in the Premier League, then you go backwards.

“It feels like although they’ve had a heck of a journey, 7th placed finishes, 10th placed finishes the season before last, it’s a big achievement.

“But slowly but surely over the past five years in the Premier League, we’ve seen this club stand still with the same players, playing the same way with the same manager.

“They haven’t really invested in players, last summer there were a few additions, but they only really spent money on Nathan Collins and Cornet.

“Really the only upgrade they had was from Cornet as well and whilst they’ve stood still the average age of the squad kept going up.

“Eventually you felt it was going to catch up with them, they finished fourth bottom last season and didn’t invest enough in the summer.

“They’ve paid the price ultimately and it’ll be interesting to watch what happens at Burnley over the summer.

“I hope for them and their supporter’s sake, but will they be financially sound and capable of building a squad capable of challenging, that’s the question hanging over them.”