Sean Dyche reveals hilarious stories of the ‘fine wheel’ he used on his players at Burnley

Sean Dyche reveals hilarious stories of the ‘fine wheel’ he used on his players during his time as manager at Burnley between 2012 and 2022.

The 51-year-old boss was axed by the Turf Moor outfit in the middle of a Premier League relegation battle last season, sitting 18th at the time, four points from safety. They ad won just one of his previous seven league games.

Sean Dyche guided Burnley to two promotions from the Championship and a seventh-place finish in the Premier League, securing Europa League football, but the threat of relegation was too much for the board, only for the club to go down anyway.

Some may recall that when Dyche was Burnley’s manager, he used a “fine wheel” to punish players.

Sean Dyche said to SPORTbible: ‘The big stuff would come to me but the little stuff so we brought in a fine wheel. Some would be money, some would be payback of money and other things.

‘One of them would be spin again for someone’s car to be valeted – if it comes out with your number he has to pay for your car to be valeted.

‘One that was a good one – they would have to be dinner for you and a mate or your partner, whichever. Of course someone tops it don’t they, they hit the big one – bottle of shampoo and all that. Before you know it, they’re screwed because the bill’s coming in like four hundred quid.

‘They have to pay it. That’s just an example. There was a river by the training ground, they’d have to sit in the river for a minute.

‘Lap dance – lap dance was hilarious. If you got a lap dance, you’d have to spin again and get the number for someone you’d do the lap dance for.

‘[It was] genius. Hideous but genius.’

This method of random, crazy, amusing punishments led Burnley to their highest Premier League finish of seventh, and helped to forge a professional attitude whilst under his management.

Some of the players weren’t so keen on board with the wheel idea, yet it still helped to improve connectivity between the squad, and their staff, as they encouraged their teammates to do their forfeits, or pay up for their minor mistakes.

‘They are negotiable to the point you’ve got to do it,’ Dyche replied after being questioned if everyone stuck to the punishments.

‘The whole group are sitting there saying, ‘No you’ve got to do it’.

‘And it starts with a process. We say, ‘Right lads this is an idea, what are your thoughts?’ At first there you get resistors and all that but once they get involved with it they’re buzzing.

‘Some of them were properly dying – like singing in front of the group. You’d be surprised how you’d just see a grown man crushed singing in front of his mates.’

‘Some would be fined. Some would be fifty quid – never mad stuff – and some would be like you win two free spins, you spin for someone else to spin. You put some fun stuff in so you could actually win from it.

‘One would be straight £350 for leaving a cup on the table. We were big on it. Why can’t you just lift your plate and put it on a trolley? You’re a human, right? They’re just simple life things.’

Dyche is still without a job despite having been named a bookmakers’ favourite for various jobs including AFC Bournemouth a few months back.

In October 2022, he hinted at a potential return to management after shrugging off Bournemouth links as ‘a lot of talk’…. however admitted ‘it’s always flattering to be linked’ with clubs.

‘No, it’s there’s a lot of talk,’ he said on Sky Sports’s Monday Night Football. ‘Obviously, I was under contract at Burnley not under contract anymore.

‘You’re out of contract as a manager so to speak, so that probably changes your views you’d probably get linked a bit quicker.

‘And a few links when I was at Burnley, so it’s not new territory, but it’s often you know, people throwing names around thrown in the hat. It’s always flattering to be linked. Watch this space!’

He was coy on plans for the future after being later asked, implying that he was in no rush to get back into the dugout.

When questioned if he was prepared to wait for as long as 18 months to make his return like Eddie Howe did before linking up with Newcastle, he said: ‘You never know do you? The itch comes back.

‘I mean, and you know, I wasn’t just managing for nine years – I’ve been on the road for nine half years, you know?’