Burnley Championship Odds: Can Scott Parker secure third promotion?

The last 12 months at Turf Moor have been bizarre. A title-winning season, with Vincent Kompany at the helm was meant to lead into a strong Premier League showing and survival, at the very least. Instead, the Clarets amassed just 24 points across the season, finishing 19th and massively underperforming their own expectations. 

Oh well, at least they would be able to go again in the second tier with Kompany at the helm, having loyally stuck by the Belgian all season. Nope. In the weirdest managerial appointment since Newcastle United hired Joe Kinnear, Bayern Munich came calling for the former Manchester City captain. 

Now Burnley have turned to Scott Parker to get them back into the top flight at the first time of asking, but can they bounce straight back? Below I’ve taken an in-depth look at the Burnley Championship Odds, and they are one of the favourites to win the division.

Last Season: 19th (Premier League)

Top Scorer: Jacob Bruun Larsen (7)

Transfers In: Mike Tresor - KRC Genk (£16m), Maxime Tresor - Montpellier (£12.5m), Andreas Hountondji - SM Caen (£3m), Lucas Pires - Santos (£1m), Shurandy Sambo - PSV (free), Vaclav Hladky - Ipswich

Transfers Out: Arijanet Muric - Ipswich (£8m), Bailey Peacock-Farrell - Birmingham (£450k), Charlie Taylor - Southampton (free), Lawrence Vigouroux - Swansea (undisclosed).

First Game: Luton (A)

Prediction: 9th

Championship Odds

*Please click on the link above to be taken to the main Championship Odds page on betfred.com (or app) for all the live betting prices.

I’m not half as strong on Burnley as the market appears to be. They are currently second favourites to win the league, behind Leeds United, yet that feels a bit of a stretch right now. Make no mistake, they could be brilliant, but I fail to see them being as good as they were last time they were in the second tier for a variety of reasons. 

First of all, the manager. Kompany had welded himself to this club while in the Championship, and the players hung on his every word. He was a huge success and although he struggled in the Premier League, there was a real harmony between him and that Burnley side. It was also a team built in his image, but potentially it was built on sand. 

Four of the top eight appearances makers of that 101-point season were on loan, including Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Nathan Tella and Ian Maatsen. None of that magnificent trio would return and perhaps that led to Kompany’s downfall. But that’s enough about the Bayern manager and what could have been, let’s focus on Burnley heading into 2024/25. 

Parker is a manager who has already achieved two promotions from this level, winning the play-offs with Fulham and finishing second with Bournemouth. However, after a 9-0 defeat to Liverpool and some comments criticising the board, Parker was sacked just four games into the Premier League season. A failed spell at Club Brugge followed and now, he finds himself in charge of another team expected to go well in the Championship. 

If there’s praise to be given to the former England midfielder, he gets teams over the line. However, critics would point to the fact that his Fulham team was the strongest in the league that year and he only just won the play-offs, while Bournemouth’s squad featured Dominic Solanke, Lloyd Kelly and Jefferson Lerma. Simply incredible players for the level. 

It brings into question whether he is a top manager, or whether he is just able to get by with superior individuals. Even though there is a lot of talent in this squad, including the likes of Vitinho, Manuel Benson and Lyle Foster, I’m not sure Parker is the man to utilise the attacking qualities of this group. 

Another concern I have is the sheer number of players currently on the books at Burnley. Their squad is extremely bloated and needs trimming before the window is shut. There’s a whole lot of players that need to leave, yet Parker is still likely to be left with a squad that is too large, and could cause him issues. I can appreciate the massive quality that Burnley possess this season, and if the manager gets things right they will be serious contenders.

But there’s too many question marks for me to place them in the top six right now. I think they will be in for a season of disappointment as the play-offs just escape them. 

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