Busy Burnley Bid To Bounce Back

Busy Burnley Bid To Bounce Back

Burnley’s bid for an immediate return to the Premier League will get underway this weekend with the opening round of fixtures in the EFL Championship.

The Clarets suffered the disappointment of relegation last season and head into the new campaign with Scott Parker now at the helm after the surprise departure of Vincent Kompany to join Bayern Munich.

Capped 18 times by England, Parker joins the Bristol Street Motors-backed side as he bids to secure promotion from the Championship for the third time in his relatively short managerial career.

Having taken over from Claudio Ranieri at Fulham, Parker guided the London side back to the top flight via the play-offs, and then guided Bournemouth to automatic promotion in his first year in charge – ironically going up alongside the Fulham side he had left the previous campaign following relegation.

Parker’s return to the English game following a short spell in Belgium with Club Brugge comes after a busy summer for the Lancashire club, which included signing both Mike Tresor and Maxime Esteve on permanent deals after initially joining on loan last season.

Dutch U21 international Shurandy Sambo, Beninese forward Andreas Hountondji and Brazilian full back Lucas Pires are amongst the other new names – with veteran Johann Berg Gudmundsson leaving at the end of his contract only to then re-sign in a bid to help the club return to the top flight, having made more than 200 starts since first signing back in 2016.

Amongst those to move on after last season are loanees Lorenz Assignon, Jacob Bruun Larsen and David Datro Fofana who have all returned to their parent clubs, whilst goalkeeper Arijanet Muric and experienced midfielder Jack Cork are also on the list of those to have moved to pastures new.

Pre-season fixtures included a goalless draw with La Liga side Leganes at the training ground, whilst another Spanish side, Cadiz, were held to a 1-1 draw in the Spanish heat. Barnsley, Celtic, Hearts, Newcastle also provided opposition in behind-closed-doors games

That was the final game before the new season begins with a Monday fixture against Luton Town as two sides who were in the Premier League last season go head-to-head in the first round of fixtures.

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