Sharing the stage with the Happy Mondays at a music festival isn’t where Sean Dyche expected to find himself when he took a break from directing.
But that’s where the 52-year-old former Burnley boss ended up after being pressured into it by Line of Duty star Vicky McClure.
And Dyche admits his nine-month absence has reminded him “there is life out there”.
“When I came out of it, there are managers I trust who have a lot more teeth than me who I talked to and said ‘take a break,'” Dyche said. Radio BBC Nottingham.
“And that was good advice like don’t start obsessing over football, don’t watch all the football, walk away from it. Do other things that you promised to do when you were doing what you’ve been doing since 10 years old, rattling up and down the highway.
“I don’t hide the fact that I like concerts, I like going out at night, I like a few beers like everyone else, and I like seeing friends, my family and socializing.
“Football managers are human believe it or not.”
Dyche was the longest-serving Premier League manager when he was sacked by Burnley after a decade in charge of Turf Moor.
He lost his job with eight games of the campaign remaining – one which he said he told the club owners “would be tight” – with the Clarets relegated to the Championship on the final day of the season.
“I didn’t lack the energy, I didn’t lack the fight and the desire to do what we had to do,” Dyche said.
“I thought we could do it.”
Dyche makes no secret that ‘stress and pressure’ was a big part of his life when in charge of Burnley, but he accepts it all as a ‘normal’ part of management.
Spotted several times in Nottingham, the city where he now lives, Premier League side Forest – a club he played for as a young player – have become the latest team to be linked with him.
“Watching games has become awkward,” he admits.
“With Steve [Cooper] seven or eight games ago, showing up at Forest would have made people think I’m after his job.
“I happen to live here. Lots of people don’t know about it, which I find odd. But it’s not like I’m promoting it.”
Spotting Dyche at music events has also become a more common location, with famous local venue Rock City being a regular haunt.
His appearance on stage at the Splendor Festival, however, surprised even him – having been encouraged by McClure and his partner Jonny Owen, the actor, presenter and film producer, who also both live in Nottingham.
“The guys who run Splendor invited me over and said you wanted to go backstage on the stage?” said Dyche.
“When Happy Mondays first came around, I used to go to the Hacienda and all that stuff. I’m there [at Splendour] with my son and he says to me “go ahead dad, you would like that”. When you were my age, you would have buzzed for it.”
“I’m there with Jonny Owen and Vicky McClure and they were like ‘come on’.
“Then I did this weird thing, only going about a third of the way and I thought, ‘I’m not going to take center stage. No chance “.
“When you have a break, it’s good to do something else.”
