Interim boss Mike Jackson admits Burnley fans have deserved more this season
Burnley’s interim boss Mike Jackson says he and his players must work to get the fans back on side before the season is up.
The Clarets return to Turf Moor this weekend for Jackson’s first home game in charge in what is his second caretaker spell.
The club’s first-team coach oversaw Burnley’s 3-1 defeat at Leeds United last week, which came barely 24 hours after Scott Parker’s departure.
The relationship between the club’s fanbase and Parker had been sour for some time, not helped by a miserable home record – with the Clarets not tasting three points at Turf Moor since October 18 against Leeds.
If the club are going to head into next season’s Championship campaign with a renewed sense of optimism, Jackson knows how important it is to have the fans on board.
“I’ll always try and be honest with you, I don’t know any other way of doing it, I’ve always been like that myself,” he told the club’s YouTube channel.
“In a way we’ve let ourselves down at home, we should have done better at home. That’s not blaming anyone, because I include myself in that. I include everybody that’s been involved with the club.
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“The fans deserve more, so we’ve got to give the fans something to get them with us and that’s important.
“They came in good numbers [to Leeds], they paid good money in the times it is now, which is understandable. But if we can get next week, if we can give them something. If they can back us, and I know it’s not easy, but that would be brilliant. But we do want them.”
It comes as Jackson admits he’s been given a pretty straight-forward remit for the final three games of the season.
“To strip it all back,” he told Match of the Day.
“It's about trying to win a game of football from now until the end of the season. Give our supporters something to hold on to, to go into next year.
“It's difficult when you're down there like this and what's happened, but that's no excuse for some of the errors and our start the game [against Leeds].
“It's our responsibility and the players' responsibility to start the game better.”
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