Burnley to appoint Technical Director
Written by Simon Austin — October 8, 2018
BURNLEY are recruiting for the new role of Technical Director to support manager Sean Dyche.
The new appointment will oversee scouting and recruitment at the club, as well as the Academy, sport science and medicine. Dyche has been the dominant figure on the football side of the business since arriving at Turf Moor in 2012.
However, this new position is recognition that he needs support and it has the blessing of the manager, TGG understands. Dyche will still report directly to chairman Mike Garlick, not the Technical Director.
Matt Williams has been General Manager at Burnley since 2015, but his responsibilities are more administrative than decision-making.
At the start of the season, Dyche voiced his disappointment that only three new players had arrived in the summer - Joe Hart, Ben Gibson and Matej Vydra - and that all had come in in the week before the window closed.
Burnley have actually had this type of role before - in 2015, when Frank McParland was appointed. However, he departed for Rangers five months later and was never replaced.
The Technical Director role is becoming more and more common in the Premier League. By the start of next year, when Dan Ashworth takes up his Technical Director position at Brighton and the new incumbent is in place at Burnley, there will be 10 staff with Sporting Director responsibilities in the Premier League:
- Brighton: Dan Ashworth (Technical Director)
- Burnley: TBC (Technical Director)
- Crystal Palace: Dougie Freedman (Sporting Director)
- Everton: Marcel Brands (Sporting Director)
- Huddersfield: Olaf Rebbe (Sporting Director)
- Liverpool: Michael Edwards (Sporting Director)
- Manchester City: Txiki Begiristain (Director of Football)
- Southampton: Les Reed (Executive Director of Football)
- Watford: Filippo Giraldi (Technical Director)
- Wolves: Kevin Thelwell (Sporting Director)
