Burnley have found their man, and it took them only four days. Fabio Celestini has been named head coach at Turf Moor, replacing Nicky Hayen, who was shown the door after a 4-1 home defeat by Lincoln City on Saturday.
A Swiss double and a Moscow detour
Celestini is 50 and comes with a decent CV, even if most of it was built far from English football. He led FC Basel to a domestic double in 2024-25, taking both the Swiss Super League title and the Swiss Cup. His last job was at CSKA Moscow, where he won the Russian Super Cup before leaving by mutual agreement in May, after 11 months.
Before that he worked at Lausanne, where he had also been a player, plus Lucerne, Lugano and Sion. His managerial career started in Italy with Terracina. As a midfielder he won 35 caps for Switzerland and played for Marseille, Levante and Getafe along the way.
What he walks into
The picture at Burnley is not pretty. The club are 22nd in the Championship after a poor start to life back in the second tier, with a single league win all season. The trouble stretches back to last season's difficult Premier League campaign, and they have not won a league game at home for more than a year.
Hayen lasted just 14 games. Diego Lopez was appointed as director of football earlier this week and was handed the job of finding a successor. He seems to have moved quickly. "Fabio brings the passion, experience and knowledge we were looking for," Lopez said, adding that Celestini "showed extraordinary determination and conviction to come to Burnley."
The new man's pitch
Celestini was equally upbeat in his first comments as Burnley coach. "I look at Burnley and I see a club with big potential and players with real quality," he said. He also admitted he knows what kind of situation he has inherited and has been in it before. "Our supporters deserve to see a team playing with belief from the first whistle."
That last line is the real test. Belief is hard to manufacture for a side that has not won at home in over a year, and a manager who has spent most of his career in Switzerland will need to adapt fast to the weekly grind of the Championship. The club has not disclosed the length or terms of his contract.
Appointment context: Fabio Celestini, 50, Burnley head coach. Predecessor Nicky Hayen sacked after 14 games following a 4-1 home loss to Lincoln City. Burnley 22nd in the Championship with one league win. Contract details undisclosed. Source: BBC Sport.
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