Why Vincent Kompany feels he must 'front up' to Burnley fans in good times and bad

The Clarets boss spent a lengthy period of time watching the away end following Burnley’s 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace this afternoon.

Many of the travelling contingent had already left following Palace’s three quickfire goals in the second-half. As for those that stayed, the response appeared to be mixed to Kompany and his players that came over to show their appreciation.

Kompany also appeared to apologise to the supporters, raising his hands in acknowledgement of another poor display.

When asked if that was the case, Kompany said: “No, it’s not apologising. But look, you do your work really hard every single day so you don’t have to apologise if you work really hard.

“It’s more an important sign for me. It’s easy for me to give them the fist bump when we’re winning 12 games in a row, everyone can do that. In those moments we made a big effort in being humble ourselves.

“Now in a tough time, you still have to face up. You still have to be there. You have to be at the front of it, that’s important for me.

“It’s not too much a gesture other than just a sign of respect. If I was a fan after a performance where you’ve lost or you had hope before the game, if I was a fan and that’s the moment after the game where players leave and run off. Maybe I take it even worse.”