Ex-Burnley coach explains why he wasn’t surprised by Vincent Kompany’s move to Bayern Munich

The 39-year-old spent 18 months at Gawthorpe coaching with the club’s academy and working as a loans manager while Kompany was in charge of the first-team.

While many expressed surprise at Kompany’s move to the German giants, having just been relegated from the Premier League with just 24 points, Adam could see the logic behind Bayern’s decision.

“I wasn’t surprised,” he told the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast.

“A lot of people will be, but I wasn’t - only because of his work in terms of day-to-day, how he built the football club, how he sees the game, then the tactical detail of what he was giving the players, it was just top level. His work ethic was incredible too.

“People will talk about the results and I totally understand that. When you go to the Premier League it’s a different animal and maybe you do have to adapt and maybe you have to consolidate for a bit longer.

“Some managers have gone into the Premier League this season and gone: ‘this is my way, this is the way I’m going to do it and if I get the sack, I’ve done it my way’. That’s fine, everybody is totally different.

“But there is a sensibility of what you’re actually doing. Is it giving you more pressure? Is it giving the players in the team more pressure in terms of being vulnerable to making mistakes? You have to try and find that solution.

“But I was not surprised when Bayern Munich came calling because I had seen how he works. The tactical detail he was giving the Burnley lads, for me, was what the top managers are giving.”

The former Liverpool and Stoke City man left Burnley in December 2023 to take over as manager of then League One side Fleetwood Town, who were mired in a relegation battle.

Despite improving Fleetwood’s results, he was unable to stop their relegation to the fourth tier. He was sacked in December with Fleetwood sitting 18th in League Two.