Source: Team_Talk
Coyle happy with underdogs tag
The Clarets begin life in the Premier League with a tough trip to Stoke on Saturday and bookmakers rate them as favourites to finish bottom next May.[LNB]A summer recruitment drive which saw Coyle recruit a number of unheralded players has done little to encourage hopes that Burnley are here to stay.[LNB]Nor has their dismal pre-season form, yet being associated with failure sits surprisingly well with the ultra-positive Coyle.[LNB]He said: "There's no doubt we will be written off as the underdogs in each and every match.[LNB]"I don't have a problem with that and, let's be honest, we're in the Premier League on the smallest budget by a country mile.[LNB]"The more money you pay the better players you can get but, as I've said before, it's not always about having the best individuals. It's about the best team.[LNB]"We know we have ability and we have to show it on a game-to-game basis both individually and collectively.[LNB]"Nobody gave us anything last season. We've had to work our socks off to attain this lofty position in English football and we don't intend to give it up lightly."[LNB]It is worth remembering that several pundits tipped Coyle's men for relegation at the beginning of last season.[LNB]Their small squad looked ill-equipped for the rigours of a long season in the Championship.[LNB]Yet Coyle poured so much belief into his players that they emerged as arguably the best footballing side outside of the top flight.[LNB]Victories were registered against Fulham, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham in the Carling Cup and West Brom in the FA Cup.[LNB]The most prized victory of all was recorded at Wembley in May when Sheffield United were beaten 1-0 in the play-off final.[LNB]The former Bolton striker recalled: "People tipped us for relegation because we were in the bottom four Championship clubs in terms of budget, turnover and revenue.[LNB]"But Burnley was an unbelievable story last year and we showed a few people that we are a decent team.[LNB]"This year it's not even the bottom four - we're well detached from the rest of the league in terms of our finances but it doesn't faze us."[LNB]Coyle, a teetotal whose exploits at Burnley attracted admiring glances from Celtic earlier this summer, is struggling for defenders ahead of the trip to Stoke.[LNB]Skipper Steven Caldwell is unlikely to recover from a groin injury in time and Michael Duff is also injured and David Edgar suspended.[LNB]Yet Coyle, as ever, refuses to dwell on the negatives and insists he will not change one iota now he is in the exclusive club of Premier League managers.[LNB]Coyle added: "I will be and I still am the same person as I was in the Championship last year and during my development in Scotland.[LNB]"Nothing has changed. I still have the same ideas about how football should be played.[LNB]"Ultimately you have to be your own person because any other way and players see through you. I'll continue in the same vein again this year.[LNB]"Yes, this season will be difficult because of the pace, power and quality of the Premier League.[LNB]"We're very respectful of it, but we're not fearful of it and we're not here to be bit-part players."[LNB]Coyle also refuses to subscribe to the convenient theory that his side's attractive brand of football will meet its match in Stoke's notoriously physical approach this weekend.[LNB]Coyle added: "I think people do Stoke a disservice because they play some very good football and have some very gifted footballers.[LNB]"They can mix and match it, but we'll still try and play our style.[LNB]"That's the type of football we always look to play and we'll look to get the ball down, pass it and try and hurt the opposition."[LNB][LNB] Stoke v Burnley. Click here to bet.
