Dan Burn a towering inspiration for all.

Plus a look at Keith Andrews, Morgan Gibbs-White, Dele Alli, Big Ange and more.

Dan Burn has taken more than a decade to become an overnight sensation. He’s 32, training with England for the first time today, and feted across the country for his match-winning performance in Newcastle United’s EFL Cup triumph over Liverpool at Wembley. He’s also an inspiration for all those who struggled early in their careers, and not simply in football. Burn’s journey carries life lessons for all.

Dan Burn. Photo: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images.

Released aged 11 by his beloved Newcastle, 21 years later Burn is their local hero. Persistence rewarded. He played for Blyth Town and Blyth Spartans, studied sports science, worked in a supermarket, joined Darlington and got his chance in League Two and then dropping into Blue Sky Premier. Even when Fulham swooped and he got a taste of the Premier League, Burn was still despatched on loan to Yeovil in League One and Birmingham in the Championship. Wigan twice and Brighton & Hove Albion followed before Newcastle bought him for £13m.

Even then, Burn was considered a strange fit, almost too tall, and at risk of being caught out by more nimble, quicker opponents. But through humility and commitment to hard work, to learning from Eddie Howe and his staff, Burn elevated himself into a vital player for Newcastle, even contributing well at left-back. Dan Burn’s a triumphant reminder that attitude matters as much as aptitude. Never give up.

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Brentford have a successful history over the past decade of employing and nurturing set-piece coaches, first Gianni Vio, now at Watford. Then Nicolas Jover who went on to Manchester City and currently, and very prominently, at Arsenal. Matthew Benham’s data-driven approach inevitably leads to marginal gains such as profiting from working on set-pieces. Brentford also have a proven track record of scouting and appointing well. When Bernardo Cueva left for Chelsea last year, Brentford brought in Keith Andrews. He was coaching at Sheffield United and Brentford felt he could make a specialist coach.

Andrews’ initial impact was on kick-off strategy, and quick attacks, targeting the other flank to where the opposition were more lined up, leading to early goals. Andrews’ expertise has expanded as Brentford’s win at Bournemouth showed. Concept and practice on the training ground is one thing, execution in a match is another. Bryan Mbeumo’s inswinging corners occasionally hit the first man. But at the Vitality, Mbeumo cleared the first man after 30 minutes and dropped his corner exactly where planned on the edge of the six-yard box. Bournemouth’s keeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, lacked authority in coming for the ball, which was as much in his centre-backs’ domain. Yoane Wissa knew where the ball was coming, rose to head in and then ran to Andrews to share the love.

For Brentford’s winner, a long throw from Kevin Schade brought clever movement by his team-mates, pinning the first two lines of Bournemouth’s defence. Kristoffer Ajer occupied Milos Kerkez and Marcus Tavernier. Ethan Pinnock distracted Tyler Adams. The way was cleared. The ball carried on through to Christian Norgaard, who knew the area to run into and moved ahead of Ilya Zabarnyi to score. Andrews’ work had paid off again.

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Brentford’s clever, personable head coach, Thomas Frank, would do a better job at Tottenham Hotspur than Ange Postecoglou. Fulham’s Marco Silva would do a better job. So would many others. Spurs continue to drift further into mediocrity under Postecoglou. Maybe form will turn when his injured players are all back and have regained match fitness. But, really, Postecoglou has run out of excuses. With every utterance, he runs out of credibility. He risks becoming a divisive figure at Spurs, setting fans against each other.

But it’s pointless jettisoning him while Spurs are still in the Europa League with a quarter-final next month against Eintracht Frankfurt. The second leg, away, comes four days before one of his predecessors, Nuno Espirito Santo, brings his vibrant Nottingham Forest side to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Nuno failed at Spurs which simply serves to highlight the cultural issues inhibiting the club.

The underwhelming Postecoglou is only part of the problem. The absence of a winning culture holds the whole club back. It’s not simply about the unpopular chairman, Daniel Levy. The “Spursy” problem predates Levy. Spurs need to target the right coach to succeed Postecoglou in the summer, and work more broadly on getting the balance better between style and substance.

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Morgan Gibbs-White replacing Cole Palmer in the England squad raises a couple of issues. First, Palmer needs a scan on a muscular injury and probably needs a break anyway, having made 75 starts for Manchester City (1), Chelsea (70) and England (4) and 17 appearances from the bench since the start of last season. Palmer is 22, his form has dipped and an element of that may simply be pure mental and physical fatigue. PFA concerns held broadly over player workload ring true.

Secondly, Gibbs-White’s performance for Nottingham Forest at Ipswich Town highlighted even more the bizarre nature of Thomas Tuchel picking Jordan Henderson ahead of him. Gibbs-White deserved to be in and only the unfortunate incapacitation of Palmer opens up a space. Tuchel’s argument for selecting Henderson centred around “values” and character to help set the tone in the camp. That tone became ingrained under Gareth Southgate, who applied the All Blacks “no d*ckheads” ruled. The England squad doesn’t need a guardian figure.

Gibbs-White, 25, is a good character, by all accounts a focused professional, and capable of playing in more positions than Henderson. He can operate as a 10 or deeper as at Portman Road, still pulling the strings. He provided an assist for Jota Silva with a late run down the inside-left channel, as well as breaking up Ipswich moves. Forest fans made their point very caustically about Tuchel’s decision-making. His swift response to Palmer’s injury - and acknowledging Gibbs-White quality - is to be commended.

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Talking of those who have graced England’s midfield, Frank Lampard continues to deliver at Coventry City. The head coach tweaked his midfield against Sunderland, bringing in Jamie Allen to play with Matt Grimes and Victor Torp following the midweek loss at Derby County. Allen’s insertion liberated Torp to attack more. The 25-year-old Dane, a £2m signing from Sarpsborg 08 last year, set up Bobby Thomas for an early chance, then assisted Haji Wright for the striker’s first and third goals with neat passes through the middle.

Lampard’s tactical adjustments and strong people skills (he’s always worn his stellar status as a player lightly) have helped Coventry fly up the Championship. Since Lampard took over on November 28 they’ve risen from 17^th and flirting with relegation to fifth and focusing on the play-offs. CBS Arena gates reflect growing belief: from mid-20,000s, they now regularly pass 30,000+. As well as inspiring Coventry players and supporters, Lampard’s also a role model for aspiring English coaches. Forty miles to the north of Coventry, the young English coaches gathered at St George’s Park on the Uefa Pro Licence discuss Lampard’s name. Once again, he sets the tone.

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Bruno Fernandes more than sets the tone at Manchester United. He defines and carries United. He’s had quite the week: a goal against Arsenal, a hat-trick against Real Sociedad and two assists and a goal at Leicester City. He has either scored or assisted 17 of United’s 37 goals in the Premier League. He has 16 goals and 15 assists in all competitions. United’s difficult season would be even worse without him. However aggravating he may be at times, Fernandes’ passion for United - as well as his goals and assists - are vital.

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You would think that after two years without playing that Dele Alli would ease his way back into action. The 28-year-old has been given a fantastic chance to rebuild his career at Como by head coach Cesc Fabregas. He’d not played since being subbed off at half-time for Besiktas against Antalyaspor on February 26, 2023. He was on loan from Everton at the time. Como signed him on a free in January and he has since trained and rebuilt his fitness. Dele was sent on by Fabregas against AC Milan with nine minutes remaining at San Siro. As the game headed into injury time, Dele tried to clip Ruben Loftus-Cheek’s heels, went in far too hard, could have injured his former England team-mate, and was deservedly sent off. Dele needs to heed the words of Fabregas, who criticised him for letting the team down. He has this chance at Como. Don’t waste it.

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Enjoy the week…