Wily Reid happy to tough it at Turf Moor

WHEN the Chelsea team bus snakes its way past the rows of terraced housing surrounding Turf Moor, Jose Mourinho and his players will be left in no doubt they are a long, long way from the stucco-fronted piles that surround Stamford Bridge.

The welcome afforded them inside Burnley’s compact stadium will be equally forbidding. A Monday night in East Lancashire is a hard sell, and for Diego Costa and Filipe Luis — Chelsea’s Brazilian-born newcomers — the culture clash will be profound. For Steven Reid, though, it will feel like home.

The midfielder is back in the area, just down the road from Blackburn’s Ewood Park where Reid spent seven successful seasons, after mixed four years at West Bromwich Albion. After narrowly avoiding relegation last May, the player has signed up for what he knows will be another relegation fight, without a scrap of regret.

The prospect of being reunited with Sean Dyche, an old playing colleague who Reid must now treat as the boss, was too attractive, and the 33-year-old is already looking forward to assuming the role of underdog, as Chelsea are about to find out.

It is no longer the case that the three promoted clubs fight it out between themselves to avoid finishing bottom. A succession of teams have shown that with the right amount of organisation and determination, they can gain a foothold in the top flight and while Dyche’s budget would barely be regarded as petty cash by many of their rivals, Burnley are here to have go.

“We’ve seen it over the last few years the teams have gone up have had that ‘no fear’ attitude,” said Reid. “Most have done well and many have gone on to keep their positions in the Premier League.

“Don’t get me wrong, we will be favourites to go down and we will be underdogs most weekends. But there is a real determination and a real good set of honest lads here — exactly the same as the manager, who is just the same as I remember as a player.”

By his own admission, Reid was left frustrated and at a crossroads at the end of last season. The possibility to take on a coaching role emerged, but his bond with Dyche rekindled his desire and offered him the chance to add experience to the newly-promoted side’s midfield.

“It had to be the right challenge, the right club and probably the right manager as well and luckily for me all of that seemed to fit into place,” said Reid. “And on the back of an unsuccessful season and a disappointing campaign with West Brom, I managed to get a good few Premier League games in and I just felt this opportunity was too good to turn down.

“I spoke with a couple of clubs about coaching but I have been in contact with the manager ever since we were together at Millwall, and we have become quite close personally, although that’s going to change a little bit now, with him being the gaffer which will make it a more professional relationship.

“It’s a move that nearly came about last summer but I had the opportunity to stay in the Premier League with West Brom. But now with the promotion for Burnley, it’s another great opportunity to play in the best league in the world, and hopefully go on to have a good season. I am not going to say I expect to play week-in, week-out but hopefully I can play my part when required.”

Few give Burnley much hope of staying out of the bottom three, and the consensus view is that to have any chance of surviving, they must make full use of Turf Moor. Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United visit after Chelsea and while the opening fixtures are daunting, positive performances will give Dyche’s side valuable belief and momentum.

Reid, though, knows there will be more downs than ups and accepts that is where he and Matt Taylor, another summer arrival, must play their part. “There are a couple of experienced Premier League players have come in over the summer in myself and Matty Taylor and hopefully at times we can be that calming influence when things maybe get a bit sticky,” he added.

“Every team in the league has those sticky patches and it’s about keeping your head when that does happen. You can easily go 10 or 12 games without a win so it’s a case of keeping a cool head and continuing to do what you’ve been doing in training. Sometimes it can be testing.”

Yet sometimes it can be testing for the bigger teams too. As Mourinho and his players are about to find out.