Jay Rodriguez comments on Burnley manager search amid Van Nistelrooy rejection | OneFootball

It's been almost a month since Vincent Kompany officially left Turf Moor, and there is still no-one new in the hot-seat

Jay Rodriguez seems relaxed about Burnley's manager search as he and his teammates enter into pre-season without knowing who their next boss will be.

The Burnley managerial rumour mill is in full swing now.

After a few targets seemingly turned down the opportunity, with Ruud Van Nistelrooy looking likely to join Erik ten Hag's backroom staff at Manchester United, and Bo Henriksen downplaying the links between him and the Clarets, the hierarchy at Turf Moor may feel that their collars are getting a bit tighter.

There are still some very viable options on the Clarets' reported list of targets, including Liam Rosenior, Scott Parker and Carlos Corberan, as per the Lancashire Telegraph.

Club chairman Alan Pace is believed to want a recognisable name in charge of the team, which is why someone like Arsenal legend Thierry Henry may have an outside chance of succeeding Vincent Kompany.

Burnley want to announce their next head coach next week, according to Belgian reporter Sacha Tavolieri, but the lack of presence of a figurehead hasn't disturbed the players.

Jay Rodriguez responds to Burnley FC manager situation

The Burnley squad is back for pre-season ahead of the 2024/25 campaign. Without a permanent boss, Craig Bellamy has been the one leading things since Kompany's departure, with interim assistant Mike Jackson helping him. Bellamy could be one of the people being looked at as the next Burnley manager, as per the Burnley Express.

Veteran Claret Rodriguez has said that things are normal at Gawthorpe Hall as they gear up for the new campaign, even though there is uncertainty around who will be the next head coach.

It’s been nice to see everyone, you start off with all the testing and then getting back to training.

"Bellers and Jacko have done a great job so far and the lads have worked really hard, so it’s just continued to keep improving and looking forward to the first game.

The 34-year-old stressed the importance of the team being prepared for the start of the season. He said: "You want to get ready as soon as you can and get the momentum going for the season, so the first six games are really important.

"It’s obviously a long season, so it’s really important to have a good start. The Championship is so difficult, it’s physically and mentally [draining] and the fixture list is quite full on, but it’s a great league to be in and it’s something that we look forward to.

"Hopefully we can have a similar season to what we had [in the Championship] last time round."

Lack of manager presence isn't as much of an issue for Burnley

A fair amount of the clubs that will be hoping to challenge for the play-offs, at least, next season have had to recruit a new boss over the summer. Alongside the Clarets, Sunderland, Hull City and Norwich City have all brought in new management to lead the team into the 2024/25 campaign.

It's only been two seasons since Burnley were last in the EFL, and they sure made good work of it then. The good thing for them is there is still a decent amount of residue from that league-winning squad left on their current one.

Compared to how easy they made the Championship look last time, they underperformed once they got to the top flight.

However, that doesn't take away from the quality of players that they still possess. Had Kompany opted for more of a pragmatic approach, rather than one that was more likely to land him a good job, Burnley could have stayed up.

They don't have the added headache of having to overhaul their team all while trying to find somebody to lead it, although you'd still expect some sales to come to balance the books - the new permanent manager will have a good squad to choose from whatever happens.