AS football management goes, Dario Gradi's position in the Gresty Road hot-seat is pretty well fireproof.

Even Sir Alex Ferguson's grip on power at Old Trafford is no more secure than that of the long serving Crewe supremo.

Gradi took charge in June, 1983, more than three years before Sir Alex replaced Big Ron at the United helm.

Already with the longest unbroken stint in English management behind him and a member of the Crewe board, Gradi has a managerial contract until 2006 and is then expected to prolong his association by taking on a footballing role "upstairs" at the Cheshire club.

Having hauled the club up from the foot of the Football League to Division One on a shoestring budget, Gradi has forged a reputation for producing attractive sides and top quality young players -- such as Craig Hignett, Dele Adebola and Seth Johnson -- who have gone on to bigger and better things in return for healthy profit.

In short, he's going nowhere.

However, it wasn't always thus and Gradi admits that somewhere along the line he would have loved a crack at managing the Clarets, who take on his improving side at Turf Moor tonight.

"It's a sleeping giant club and it's a club that I would have liked to have managed somewhere along the way up from the bottom of the League," he said.

"With a club like that you've got half a chance of developing your team as they go up. I wouldn't want to do that now because I wouldn't want to leave Crewe but that's the kind of club I would have liked to have managed in the game."

Big clubs of Burnley's potential have either passed Gradi by or failed to lure him away from his beloved Crewe at the right time. And while he's worked miracles at Gresty Road, it's apparent that the opportunity to work with a club of Burnley's stature and fan base would have appealed.

The support was apparent to Gradi when Burnley were on the verge of dropping out of the League in 1987 and with the Clarets fortunes having turned full circle, he will see that potential fulfilled with another 15,000-plus gate this evening.

He added: "I remember the first year there was relegation to the Conference and we beat Burnley 1-0 at home towards the end of the season and their supporters were really getting behind their team at the end of the game building them up for the next match to stay in the League.

"I think that's what different between the two clubs. The level of passion of the fans."

In terms of resources Burnley and Crewe might be some distance apart.

But Crewe have the recent experience of life in Division One behind them and have proved themselves the masters of survival in the last three seasons.

"Crewe survive at this level, and all credit to them, so we expect a tough match," said Burnley boss Stan Ternent.

"He (Gradi) brings his own players on and sells them for big bucks and that subsidises their income and that allows them to maintain a First Division status.

"All credit to them. I don't know how they'll go on if they abolish the transfer system, though. There will be big problems there for a lot of clubs." Gradi can't just live on past glories, however, and is embroiled in another battle to stay in Division One.

Two wins in their last two games have helped enormously and lifted the Railwaymen up to 18th-place.

Saturday's 1-0 victory at Gillingham was managed despite a striker crisis which is exacerbated for the trip to Turf Moor by the absence through suspension of Paul Tait.

Rodney Jack and Mark Rivers aren't expected to return but Rob Hulse and Colin Cramb could return to the squad. However they line up, Crewe are still likely to play 'the right way' and it's another challenge Ternent and his troops are relishing.

The Clarets boss added: "You get a good game of football against Crewe. You always have done

"We pride ourselves on being able to pass the ball but whatever way up it is you have to be able to handle it.

"Tranmere is a little different to Crewe I would have thought. They are a very good side and we will look forward to it."