Sean Dyche heaped praise on Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez for the job he was able to do this season considering he has to cope with different problems than normal.
The Burnley boss, whose side sit seventh in the league, discussed his candidates for manager of the year and raved about what Benitez had accomplished this season.
“You look in the Premier League at Brighton manager Chris Hughton, who has done a great job again, there is David Wagner at Huddersfield keeping them up,” said Dyche in an interview with Sky Sports.
“Then there is Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez for different reasons, like noise off the pitch and seeing that through and getting the team to where they have got to.”
Dyche went onto state that his overall choice to win the accolade was Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as the title-winning manager is the obvious and right choice.
OPINION
Dyche is a contender to be Premier League manager of the year himself, after guiding Burnley to such a high finish in England’s top-flight this season. It’s crazy to think that the Clarets will be competing in Europe next season and it’s a testament to their manager. So it must be nice for Benitez to hear a fellow Premier League boss like Dyche commend him on a job well done. While everyone is aware of how hard it is to manage the Magpies, given their expectations but lack of transfer budget, Dyche can appreciate what Benitez has achieved on a different level. As the 46-year-old is a manager himself, he can no doubt imagine what it’s like to be in charge of St James’ Park based on what he hears in the media. Therefore the Burnley boss is no doubt aware of the mammoth achievement Benitez has accomplished by guiding the Magpies to safety, with games to spare. Hopefully Dyche will get an opportunity to praise Benitez for the job he does at St James’ Park next season as well, because that would mean that the Spanish manager would have decided to stay put.
