Chairman Mike Garlick knows Burnley must remain ambitious if they wish to keep manager Sean Dyche from being prised away from Turf Moor.
Dyche is currently the seventh longest-serving boss among the 92 Football League clubs and in his four-and-a-half years he has twice guided the Clarets to the top flight, this time defying the bookmakers to keep them from slipping back into the Championship too.
That feat was recognised with a Premier League Manager of the Season nomination recently and will surely have been appreciated elsewhere as speculation suggests Crystal Palace are considering him for their current vacancy.
Garlick admits those inevitable links are a by-product of Dyche's work in east Lancashire and he wants to ensure the Clarets keep pushing on so their boss remains invigorated.
"If we're successful, he's always going to be on lists," admitted Garlick.
"We just have to make sure we're hungry enough to keep driving things forwards and keep improving, and hopefully that keeps him motivated.
"It increases speculation but on the other hand, players we're looking to recruit look at Sean and think, 'Yep, I want to work for this guy', so it can only improve the recruitment.
"We've got to constantly improve and look to strengthen year-on-year, otherwise the challenge for any manager would decrease, the stimulation of the project would decrease.
"We've got to look forward and improve year-on-year. Staying in the league has to be the priority. But look at where the table was four weeks ago, I think half the division could have gone down if they had a bad run."
In maintaining Burnley's top-flight status, Dyche did something no Clarets manager had done in more than 40 years.
So while he may not be able to boast of a championship-winning campaign like Harry Potts in 1959-60, Garlick thinks it is fair to favourably compare Dyche's achievements.
"Harry Potts won the ultimate prize, but given the amount of money in the game, and what we've achieved so far, he's got to be in the top two or three, hasn't he, c ertainly in the post-war era," Garlick added.
"Sean's got to go down as one of our best managers in history, I think. If you are that then you are constantly going to be linked with opportunities as and when they arise.
"He's been here five years in October, personally I hope he's here for another five years until 2022, and if we can achieve that I'm sure we'll have more success together.
"The football side speaks for itself, but for me, the number-one thing is more him as a person - h is character and the way he conducts himself.
"I got a very good reference from someone I know before we hired him, and it was a good call."
Source: PA
