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Burnley’s decision to sack Nicky Hayen last week has had direct consequences for Alan Pace’s other club, Espanyol.

Burnley parted ways with Hayen this week after just 14 games in charge. Hayen’s final game in charge at Turf Moor was Saturday’s 4-1 defeat to Lincoln City.

Burnley had led in that game, but the hosts came back from 1-0 down to condemn the Clarets to a sixth defeat of the campaign and leave them 22nd in the Championship.

That saw Burnley and owner Alan Pace take the decision to part ways with Hayen. He had been appointed in July to succeed Scott Parker. Parker left Burnley in April after the Clarets’ relegation from the Premier League was confirmed.

It’s a disappointing end for Hayen, who arrived with a big reputation after impressing in Belgium. He won the Belgian title with Club Brugge in 2024 and was appointed to lead Burnley back to the Premier League. Instead, he has now departed, and Burnley are hunting for their next manager.

Espanyol consequences

And his departure has had a direct consequence on Espanyol. They are currently 18th in La Liga, with eight points from ten games so far and six defeats to their name.

Pressure is growing on manager Manolo González, who is ‘on thin ice’ say El Desmarque. That is something he knows, with more expected at Espanyol after a ‘revamped project’ began this summer.

That included the appointment of Monchi as the club’s new sporting director. The plan was to move up the league and target a bright future. Instead, they find themselves in the bottom three.

Espanyol fans are already calling for a change, and he essentially has two game to save his job. Espanyol take on Sestao River in the Copa del Rey before a visit to Villarreal in La Liga. If he fails to secure two wins in those games, Monchi will be tasked with bringing in a replacement.

Alan Pace problems

Burnley

But it seems that grace period was only granted because of Burnley. Journalist Quique Iglesias claims that Pace doesn’t want to deal with two sackings in a week.

“He [González] knows he’s on thin ice—he’s no fool,” he told El Partidazo de Cope.

“He’s all but finished; however, my impression is that the Espanyol president—who recently had to fire his own manager at Burnley—doesn’t want to deal with two ‘fires’ in a single week.

“He’s going to make him endure the ordeal of four press conferences over the next five days. In short, Manolo’s fate is all but sealed; he will only remain in the job if he wins tomorrow and then wins again at Villarreal.”

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