Burnley were eventually successful in their desire to escape the Championship in 2015/16, but Sean Dyche didn’t want to leave anything to chance in the January window, doing everything he could to enhance the squad so that they could easily cross over the line.
He didn’t have much luck improving his squad in the January 2016 window, with James Tarkowski from Brentford being the only prominent signing, although the groundwork had been laid in the summer with the arrivals of Andre Grey and Joey Barton.
Burnley didn’t give up trying, as they pursued one individual in particular throughout the window, but despite tabling offers, they were unable to attract him to the club.
Alan Judge was the subject of considerable interest for the Clarets in 2016 amid some fines from Brentford, but the deal never materialised as Brentford dug in for a higher sum.
Looking back, Burnley will undoubtedly be grateful for Brentford’s reluctance, whilst the Bees will have a quite different reaction.
Burnley should be grateful that Brentford rejected their Alan Judge approaches.
Burnley fans may not have realised it at the time, but Judge’s decision not to join was a gift in disguise, since they might have lost millions.
At the time, Judge was one of the division’s top creators, playing off the flank and grabbing the eye most weeks for Brentford, who were a middle-of-the-road Championship outfit.
Judge shined for the Bees in the 2014/15 season, scoring three goals and providing 15 assists as they advanced to the play-offs, but it was the next season that he truly became a household name and no doubt got the attention of the Clarets. Judge scored 26 goals in 38 games during the 2015/16 season, including one against
Burnley in January, just days after Dyche’s side made an initial bid.
| Alan Judge 15/16 Championship stats (Transfermarkt) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 38 | 14 | 12 |
It was also the season when everything fell apart for him, as a horrific injury suffered away to Ipswich Town in April cruelly terminated the best season of his life, and he never recovered to reach the same heights again.
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