"I BELIEVE we should be judged at the end of negotiations not during them."

Chairman Frank Teasdale has publicly said agonisingly and damagingly little since the prospect of a Turf Moor takeover became reality.

But the above statement at least should be borne in mind by those currently holding Kangaroo Courts on the buy-out issue.

On the face of it, a £4.9 million offer from Ray Ingleby, for a club which has suffered in modern times from a chronic lack of investment, might appear to be a gift from the Gods.

But is Burnley Football Club worth that little?

Granted, the bargaining position of the board of directors, with the club languishing in the Second Division relegation zone, is not the strongest.

It is plainly obvious that some level of cash injection is an absolute necessity.

The fact that that money is now unlikely to be made available to manager Chris Waddle for his battle against the desperate prospect of relegation is baffling and, for many, infuriating.

It has not helped the speed of negotiations that Mr Teasdale has been heavily involved in detailed business dealings with his former company, in which he retains an active interest.

However, the delay between the initial interest shown by Mr Ingleby in the summer of last year and any eventual resolution, is another issue and one for which acceptable answers must be provided.

Ingleby is still, though, the perceived Knight in Shining Armour.

That is largely down to the highly secretive nature of negotiations with the mystery third party.

His craving for anonymity is entirely understandable and any leak of identity would have scuppered the deal.

The board should, therefore, be commended for maintaining confidentiality.

But the chairman's failure to respond to Ingleby's camp by the February 28 deadline was both an affront to the multi-millionaire and entirely unprofessional.

The fact that their revised offer was considered to be unacceptable was revealed in this newspaper early last month.

Yet STILL this has not been conveyed to Ingleby despite talks with Teasdale on Monday.

It does not take the brains of a rocket scientist to deduce the board has been focusing on the mystery bid, considered to be a better package both in the long-term interests of the club and in financial detail.

While the projected image of Ingleby is of a Midas, and in some spheres this is undoubtedly true, there are strong doubts whether he is the right man for Burnley.

Ingleby has no football background and no affiliation with the club.

There are question marks over just how much of his fortune is available as hard cash.

Doubts have also been expressed over whether he is merely acting as a front man for a number of potential investors.

The board must be totally assured that the club is not being bought as a plaything with a novelty value which can disappear just as quickly as it has surfaced.

The board also have another duty which is often both overlooked and also misinterpreted.

Legally, the directors are responsible for protecting the interests of the shareholders, employees and supporters - in that order.

Ingleby's offer for the unissued shares would be of no benefit to the current shareholders, although the present emphasis must surely be to inject cash into the club and not to line the pockets of those shareholders.

However, should any buyer, further down the line, act in such a way as to weaken the position of shareholders, the Board could be sued for compensation.

That said, certain board actions still need to be explained by the chairman.

But this is a momentous chapter in the history of Burnley Football Club.

The phrase 'Marry in haste and repent at leisure' has never been more applicable.

The suitors have, however, made their intentions clear and the courting period has produced a desirable bedfellow.

It is now high-time the other parties were given the elbow and the board sets a date to consummate the marriage.

Only then can the performance of the board be fairly assessed.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.