Will Still should be considered by Burnley with Vincent Kompany set to depart for Bayern Munich.
Given that Vincent Kompany’s surprise transfer to Bayern Munich is expected to go through in the next few days, Burnley may soon be without a manager.
According to The Guardian, Kompany has agreed to a three-year contract to replace Thomas Tuchel at Bayern, with Burnley owed £10.2 million in compensation for his services.
When the 38-year-old was first hired by the Clarets in 2022, they saw him as a risk. His only managerial experience came from two seasons at Anderlecht, where he finished fourth and third in the Jupiler Pro League.
However, that risk paid off in the Championship, as Kompany’s team easily won the second division and returned to the Premier League at the first attempt.
Even though the Clarets’ recent run in the top flight ended in relegation back to the Championship after finishing 19th, the American owners of the team demonstrated their willingness to take a chance on a manager who is inexperienced and young but has experience in the English game when they appointed Kompany in the first place.
One manager who meets that description is Will Still, an Englishman of Belgian descent who left Reims on May 2 by mutual consent and is now open for hiring.
Burnley should definitely take his appointment into consideration when Kompany departs, but they would need to act quickly because he is expected to be in high demand this summer.
Will Still should be a target for Burnley
Still made his managerial debut in Belgium in 2017 as interim manager of second-tier team Lierse, where he led the team to 21 points out of 27. However, due to league regulations prohibiting managers from holding interim positions for longer than 60 days, he was unable to advance to full-time management.
In January 2021, he became the youngest manager in the history of the Belgian top division when he took over as Beerschot’s manager. However, he was fired the following summer after guiding the team to a respectable ninth place.
He was approached by then-Anderlecht manager Kompany to join his coaching staff, but he ultimately became Stade de Reims’ assistant manager in June 2022. That October, after Oscar Garcia was fired, he was named caretaker manager of the team, making him the youngest manager in the top five leagues in Europe.
He quickly started to establish his credentials as a head coach by leading the Red and Whites, who were in danger of relegation, on a 14-game winning streak and making them contenders for the Champions League—all while the team had to pay a €25,000 fine each time he missed a game due to his lack of a UEFA Pro Licence.
Despite continuing to lead Reims in Ligue 1, receiving international recognition for his love of Football Manager and the fines, he departed the team earlier this month with mutual consent to explore other alternatives.
| Will Still’s Stade de Reims managerial statistics | |
|---|---|
| Games managed | 64 |
| Won | 25 |
| Drawn | 17 |
| Lost | 22 |
| Points per game | 1.44 |
| Stats correct as per transfermarkt | |
He had earlier acknowledged to Sky Sports in March 2023 that he would “love to be a Premier League manager,” but he would also consider a position in the Championship. He even said that Kompany’s managerial journey was comparable to his own.
“Vincent Kompany, who was at Anderlecht last year, has gone into the Championship and has done an incredible job,” the speaker declared.
“The Championship, in my opinion, is competitive with many of the world’s best leagues. Every door is ajar. Nothing is closing on me right now.”
That does seem encouraging for any lower league team looking to sign him, but Burnley would need to move swiftly to get an agreement with other teams who are actively vying for Still’s services.
Latest update on Still’s managerial future
It is no secret that since his rise at Reims, a number of English clubs have been vying for Still’s signature. Sunderland now appears to be in the lead to land him as temporary manager Mike Dodds’ replacement.
After being questioned by the team, the 31-year-old is still very much in the race to be the next manager of the Black Cats, according to Football Insider.
He had previously had discussions with Norwich City to succeed David Wagner, but that move seems unlikely now that Football Insider is claiming that FC Nordsjaelland manager Johannes Hoff Thorup has finalised an agreement to take over at Carrow Road.
There will undoubtedly be fierce competition for Still’s services this summer, but considering that Burnley was recently demoted from the premier league and Sunderland placed 16th in the Championship last season, they should definitely consider themselves heavy favourites if they decide to make an offer.
Still’s hiring makes a lot of sense for the Clarets because he is an exciting, practical, and reasonably priced option for them as they aim to return to the Premier League via promotion.
According to journalist Alan Nixon, assistant coaches Mike Jackson and Craig Bellamy of Burnley are expected to decline Kompany’s offer to join them in Bayern. This implies that Still would fit right in with their organisational structure because he is unlikely to want to bring many of his own coaches from Reims, considering he has already departed the team.
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