On the eve of Burnley’s English Premier League opener, former Clarets keeper Alex Cisak has backed the “aura” of Sean Dyche to push the club to even greater EPL heights.
Cisak stepped away from professional football earlier this year after 15 years in the game.
But the 31-year-old Aussie with Polish heritage remains a huge Burnley fan.
He still has mates in the Burnley camp and has followed the club's rise as a Premier League force since he left Turf Moor in 2015.
And the Aussie shot-stopper recalls Dyche’s clever management style which he says deserves more plaudits in the Premier League.
WATCH: Sean Dyche on the new Premier League season at Burnley
“Sean Dyche has got an aura about him,” Cisak told FTBL on the eve of Burnley’s Premier League opener from his base in Tasmania, Australia.
“He likes his squads all level-headed. There are no egos under Dyche.
“He had a saying, ‘if you have an ego, leave it at the gate when you train and take it back home later’.
“He didn’t buy players with ego problems.
“That’s why the changing room is so great there at Burnley."
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Dyche has been with Burnley for eight years, getting the club promoted twice and earning a spot in the Europa League.
Dyche is the longest-serving Premier League manager.
Burnley is now a well-established Premier League club with many expecting the Lancashire club can challenge for regular top-half finishes.
“His training was tough, and Sean Dyche expects a high-tempo in training and the boys responded.
“It was all about being a family and respecting each other.
"That was all a part of Sean Dyche’s quality as a manager.
“That’s why they have been so successful in staying in the Premier League, which deserves the plaudits.
“I enjoyed my football the most when I played at Burnley,” added Cisak.
“Not just on the field but off it.
“We had a great changing room. It was a pleasure just to come in each day and train.
“I’ve still got teammates at Burnley and we chat every so often.
“I always look at their scores and want them to do well.
“They’ve done so well these last few seasons.
"If they can keep doing that and keep improving and become a regular in the top half of the Premier League.”
A number of Aussies have starred in the Premier League in the last couple of decades.
However, Cisak wasn’t the first Tasmanian in the Premier League.
The first was keeper Simon Miotto, the third choice for West Brom in the club’s 2004/05 Premier League campaign.
Cisak joined Burnley in mid-2013 battling for a regular first-team spot before a loan spell at Leyton Orient.
But, his appearance in a Cup game against local rivals Preston was a highlight for Cisak.
“Great atmosphere and a clean sheet. But being part of the whole promotion run was pretty incredible.
“We got promoted to the Premier League when I was there and the team was successful.
“Burnley won the majority of games [in the Championship] and played great football.”
Spearheaded by Andre Gray, Burnley were unbeaten from Boxing Day to return to the Premier League in style in 2016 after just one season in the Championship.
“The whole dressing room camaraderie was brilliant.
“We had a great manager in Sean Dyche.
“You’d go in looking forward to training. Which is so important in football and that was what Sean Dyche created.
“It keeps you on your toes, there were no egos, no cliques, the players responded and no doubt it was my favorite time in football.”
Cisak will be watching on in Australia as Burnley face another one of his former clubs.
Burnley FC faces Leicester City today as the Clarets open their Premier League season at the King Power.
It was Leicester City goalkeeping coach Glan Letheren who spotted Cisak at an Ian Rush Soccer School in Adelaide when the Aussie keeper was 15 years old.
Cisak finally returned to Australia almost 15 years later.
But after two years at A-League champions Sydney FC where he played second fiddle to Socceroos keeper Andrew Redmayne, Cisak returned back home to the Australian island of Tasmania earlier this year.
With family in tow, the one-time Oldham Athletic and Accrington Stanley keeper is shaping the next generation of Australian professionals from Tasmania.
Now, Cisak has launched his own academy called Limitless Football where he hopes to uncover Tasmanians ready to make the leap - just as he did - into Australian, European, or Premier League football.
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