Michael Duff: Burnley defender on Joey Barton, Sean Dyche and derby
Friday 23 October 2015 09:47, UK
With just 12 games gone in the Championship season, it's probably premature to start picking Burnley's signing of the summer.
A few new faces have impressed at Turf Moor, though.
Andre Gray has hit the ground running after signing for a club-record fee from Brentford, with six league goals to his name already.
Former England international Joey Barton might only have come into the side in the last month but he brings with him the experience of twice winning promotion to the Premier League.
Tendayi Darikwa has also impressed at full-back, making 13 appearances since signing from Chesterfield.
But, according to veteran defender Michael Duff, the best business the Clarets did over the summer was keeping hold of manager Sean Dyche.
"Keeping the manager was the most important signing we could have made," said Duff, now in his 12th season with the club.
"The momentum, the ethos, the philosophy that he has built and put into the team and the squad, the belief in the town that he has put in as well. If we had lost him it would have been hard to get that back.
"But he stayed and the club have been serious with the signings they have made, showing they want to get back into the Premier League. So does the manager to test himself against the best again."
Duff too, who joined Burnley for £30,000 in 2004, is keen to make an immediate return to the top-flight after relegation last season.
"We want to bounce back," added Duff. "We want to get back to where we have come from, we have had a taste of it and we want a bit more."
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Certainly the Clarets look to have the weapons at their disposal to mount another promotion challenge.
Last season's top scorer Danny Ings may have left for Liverpool, but Gray appears a more than adequate replacement and his partnership with Sam Vokes seems to be improving week by week.
"He's been great," said Duff. "He gives us a different dimension with the way we want to play with his pace and power and obviously he scores goals, which is why you pay the big bucks.
"That's what he's done so far and hopefully he will only get better as he develops his relationship with Sam [Vokes].
"His pace and power makes him a centre-half's worst nightmare because he keeps running in behind you so if he can keep getting on the end of Sam's flicks then he has proven he will take chances if he gets them."
While the signing of Gray on August 21 was the biggest in Burnley's history financially, it was the addition of Barton a few days later that caught more headlines.
The midfielder's arrival on a free transfer caused significant interest, not only because of his top-level experience, but because of disparaging comments he had made in the past about the club on social media.
But the former England midfielder said he hopes to win the fans over on the pitch and Duff has been impressed with what he has seen so far.
"Joey has been great," Duff said. "It's the one question my mates were asking when he first signed: what was he like?
"But I think that's a lot of the media and a lot of nonsense written about him as he's been great with the lads and on the pitch, which is the most important thing.
"He has experience and quality, you don't play in the Premier League for 12-13 years and not be a good player. He has played in this league twice and got out of it twice so that's an important element as well which he can help players with."
Barton might have only featured four times for the Clarets so far, but their promotion bid has picked up in recent weeks.
Wins over Bolton, Rotherham and MK Dons have seen them move up to fifth in the table ahead of the derby with Blackburn Rovers this Saturday lunchtime, live on Sky Sports 1.
"It's the one game the locals look for," said Duff. "It's definitely a fierce rivalry between the two clubs with a lot of history because they are old clubs.
"It will be a full house and it's on Sky so we are all looking forward to it."
Reflecting on the Clarets' start to the season, Duff said: "It's been positive. We had a bit of a slow start but we are starting to build momentum now.
"We have new partnerships developing throughout the team - the two centre forwards, myself and Michael Keane at centre-half - so hopefully we are just starting to gel and build a bit of momentum.
"It's always going to take a bit of time to put together but while we have been doing that we have been picking up results along the way so hopefully we can maintain the momentum that we have started to generate."
At the age of 37, Duff knows he probably won't get too many more chances to play in the Premier League.
He is under contract with the club until the end of the season and is already planning for the future.
"I'll assess everything next summer but I would like to coach and manage in the future," he added.
"I've done all my coaching badges and management is what I want to do, it's my passion. I want to stay in the game and help as many people as I can coaching and then ultimately go it alone and do it myself."
