And it’s what made his transfer into administration — first with Anderlecht, the membership the place he began and completed his taking part in profession, after which at Burnley — appear so pure, so apparent, so clearly destined for achievement. It’s unimaginable, after all, to foretell with any surety which gamers will make superb coaches; Kompany, although, appeared a fairly protected guess.
Protected sufficient, actually, that Burnley was not his solely choice final summer season, or his solely supply since then. Kompany has a coverage of not partaking with hypothesis on any degree; the one time he grew in any respect flustered, throughout an interview at Burnley’s coaching facility this month, was when his willpower to not focus on it chafed towards his pure inclination to openness.
And so whereas he did acknowledge that he turned down a lot of “really big clubs” final summer season in favor of becoming a member of Burnley within the Championship — thereby volunteering to partake in what even he describes as a “fight with a load of hungry dogs” — he wouldn’t be drawn in anyway on what has occurred since.
Fortuitously, others usually are not fairly so discreet. These voices mentioned Tottenham acquired in contact after it fired Antonio Conte. Chelsea, a workforce seemingly completely on the hunt for a brand new supervisor, approached him, too. Leeds thought-about him as a alternative when it fired Jesse Marsch. He mentioned no to all of them.
This summer season would, probably, have introduced extra affords, not simply due to the truth that Kompany led Burnley to promotion, however the method of it. Within the house of 10 months, he has utterly refashioned the membership’s fashion, taking a workforce that had for years been outlined by a gruff, battle-hardened, pared-back fashion and filling it with youth, and aptitude, and élan.
Learn the total article here