Vincent Kompany on his 'philosophy' for Burnley

But, while he knows how he wants his new charges to play, he is aware it is a results business, and, in the short term at least, that is what is required in one of the most challenging leagues there are.

A philosophy can be a certain style of play or a particular mentality, and Burnley have zigged and zagged with their appointments down the years, from Cotterill to Coyle, to Laws, to Howe, to Dyche, who was at pains not to use the word, insisting he was not a zealot to a style of play.

Kompany, asked whether he has a vision, admitted: "Yeah, I do, very clearly, but the difficulty in football when you mention the word project or vision, when you lose the first game, you get slapped in the face with it.

"We need short-term results, and what I've found more important is we just have an environment where we stay together - good times, bad times, we can stay on course for where we want to go, and rather than making a big announcement of 'this is where we want to be'. it's more about having the discipline to believe in each other.”

One thing is for sure, however, Kompany wants his players to play on the front foot: "I'll be buzzing, so happy, if fans can, first and foremost, say we just enjoy going to the games, they want to go forward, they want to go after it, they want to score goals.

"Don't misunderstand, I know we need to be aggressive as well, we need to be a mean place to come to, but I want it to be fun for the fans and if it starts with this, and we have behind it a structure that allows us to keep hold of the players that we think are good for the club, and bring in players we think will be good for the club in the short and long term, sell for a profit so we can grow the club naturally and maybe fight and punch in a place above this level, but with the means to grow again.

"The idea, the structure is there, and every move we make will be towards that idea.

"But for now, I just want fans to enjoy going to a Burnley game, and if it hasn’t been good, we can be honest with each other and turn it around and go again and improve, and we've got a team, the fans and players together.

"That's more valuable to me now than big statements because anyone can make a big statement, but not everyone knows how to get to a winning culture.”