IT is only four years since Sean Dyche, Brendan Rodgers and Malky Mackay were all working together at Watford.

It was quite a collection of management talent, as the ensuing years have proved.

Rodgers and Mackay have both gone on to the Premier League, and Dyche may yet join them if Burnley can maintain their Championship promotion challenge at home to Blackpool tomorrow.

Dyche has guided the Clarets to second in the table against the odds, just as Rodgers has done with Liverpool in the Premier League.

The pair remain in contact, having dinner together recently, and Dyche could not fail to be impressed by the way Rodgers guided his side to a 5-0 win at Tottenham on Sunday.

“He’s done very well, they had a great result and it was a very good performance,” said Dyche, who was Watford’s Academy coach during Rodgers’ season in charge of the first team at Vicarage Road.

“Brendan is looking to build something there, doing it in the style he wants to and I think he’s enjoying that.

“I think it’s fair to say that his situation is possibly slightly different with Liverpool, because of the stature of the club, there’s maybe a different kind of expectation for them than us.

“But they play some really good football, they press well, they’re organised, they keep the ball – all the things that you want out of a really good side. We want similar things within our side.

“I don’t think I’ve got every answer by any means, and all managers offer each other different things that can be helpful.

“Certainly Brendan did when I worked under him, as did Aidy Boothroyd, as did Malks when we worked together.

“Brendan is a good man, he’s doing a good job and I always know we can have a chat on the end of the phone at any time.”

Rodgers yesterday waded into the controversy between Mackay and Cardiff owner Vincent Tan to defend his former colleague.

Mackay secured promotion for Cardiff last season but has been publicly criticised by his owner this week for saying he wanted to sign three players in January – criticism Rodgers described as ‘astonishing’.

Mackay was Rodgers’ first-team coach at Watford, before the Northern Irishman departed for Reading in 2009. Mackay then stepped up to manager, with Dyche becoming assistant manager.

Dyche, though, preferred to take the diplomatic route yesterday when asked about Tan’s criticism of Mackay.

“Each boardroom has their ways of doing their business and they are free to do that,” he said.

“Most clubs are owned by wealthy businessmen. It’s a company and they can choose to run their company however they wish.

“I think ours are trying to run it in the correct fashion, very open, very honest but align the fans with the realities. I hope to do that myself.

“That’s our choice as a collective to do that. It’s up to other people how they wish to do their business.”

After Watford brought in Giuseppe Sannino as their new boss this week following the resignation of Gianfranco Zola, Dyche is now incredibly the seventh longest serving manager in the Championship – only 14 months after taking the helm at Turf Moor.

“That’s the reality of the task in front of us all in the Championship,” admitted Dyche, who was surprisingly sacked by Watford in the summer of 2012 to make way for Zola.

“It’s a tough business, expectation at any club across the country is always high and it’s a relentless thirst for success that often changes the manager’s situation.

“There are some very good managers out there doing very good jobs but sometimes there are outside pressures or internal pressures, or sometimes it’s obviously factual results of course and then situations change.

“I’ve had one myself, for different reasons. It happens.

“We all know the business. We get on with it and want to do the best we can.

“The League Managers Association is doing a lot of work to continue to educate people.

“The days of throwing the keys at someone and saying, ‘You’re the manager’ are well and truly gone.

“My education process has probably cost more than a degree course.

“Whether you’re going to get it absolutely right every week is a matter of opinion.

“But whether you know your stuff as a manager, trust me they all know their stuff.

“There’s a lot of background done on managers now. There are interview processes, licences, badges, there’s a lot in place.

“Whatever people’s opinions are of managers, they should always bear that in mind.

“You don’t go to the doctor and tell him he doesn’t know what he’s doing, or very rarely anyway!

“The demands are high, the finances are high and there’s constant opinion and scrutiny.

“Twitter can start a debate now that leads to a manager getting sacked.

“But the other side of that is there are a lot of people doing some really good coaching and management.”