Burnley will not attempt to compete with Sir Alex Ferguson’s leaving present for Arsene Wenger, but manager Sean Dyche has promised his side will be worthy opponents at the Emirates.
Wenger received an unusually warm welcome and a commemorative silver vase from his old rival Ferguson ahead of last week’s defeat at Old Trafford and will lead the Gunners on home turf for the final time on Sunday.
The Clarets will form a guard of honour before the match, but Dyche has no plans to outgun United’s memento.
“I couldn’t see what it was, but knowing the class of Manchester United…if it was a vase I’d be thinking maybe not from a chain store,” he joked.
“There’s a fair shout Sir Alex’s wine cost more than the vase. I’m a lager man. From these parts it would be a pint.”
Dyche went on to ponder the merits of the East Lancashire speciality Benedectine and hot water, but whatever the toast at the end of the match there is no suggestion Burnley will be distracted by what could be an unusual atmosphere.
“We’ve made the players aware there’ll be a lot going on and rightly so,” he said.
“Massive respect to Arsene Wenger, but when the whistle blows it’s all out the window. It’s a real game of football. We want as many points as possible.”
When the Frenchman does vacate the dugout, Dyche will move up a place to become the second longest-serving boss in the top flight behind the man he replaced at Turf Moor, Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe.
Despite taking Burnley from Championship also-rans to the brink of Europa League football, he is not expecting to challenge Wenger’s two-decade reign.
“I think it’s changed, even here,” he said.
“I think I’m well thought of by the board and by the fans but it changes. Eventually my rhetoric will get boring, what we go on about will get boring and the model of the club will get boring.
“Not because I’m being negative but because life is changing.
“Whether it’s buying, selling, kids at school, parenting, football, behaviour. It’s all changing and usually the patience level is getting less and less.”
