BURNLEY chairman Barry Kilby says fans can trust new chief executive Lee Hoos to take the club forward.

The 50-year-old American starts work at Turf Moor on Tuesday, becoming the Clarets’ first overseas’ chief executive after Paul Fletcher last month announced he would be stepping down following three years in the role.

Kilby described former Southampton and Leicester chief executive Hoos as the stand-out candidate, and said bringing in someone who was independent to the town and the club was a necessary step.

One leading supporters’ group, the Clarets Trust, has already given their backing to the appointment.

Having been run by Burnley-supporting board members ever since the club was established in 1882, however, some fans have voiced their concerns over the appointment of an ‘outsider’ – particularly given Hoos’ experience at his previous club, Leicester City.

There he oversaw the buy-out of Milan Mandaric by Thai-led consortia Asia Football Investments.

But, while increasing club revenue is among Hoos’ duties, Kilby insisted they were not actively seeking a Turf Moor takeover and that was not a consideration during the selection process for Fletcher’s successor.

“We would look to react to foreign owners than be seeking them out,” said the Burnley chairman.

“That hasn’t come into it. It’s just part of his experience at other clubs.

“He has an experienced background in English football, being at Fulham, Southampton and Leicester before us. I think he will be a great appointment.

“We had a shortlist that we worked off and they were all good candidates, but Lee stood out.

“He has worked under some top people in football and under difficult circumstances, particularly at Southampton.”

Hoos formed part of the new-look board brought in by Michael Wilde at St Mary’s in the summer of 2006, after Rupert Lowe and his board of supporters were forced out.

Hoos stayed on at Saints after three executive directors - Ken Dulieu, Jim Hone and Andy Oldknow - all left in December 2007, but was appointed chief executive of Leicester in June the following year.

“I had dealings with him in his role of chief executive of Leicester and he’s a good guy,” Kilby continued.

“It will be a culture shock coming from Maryland to Burnley, and he’s been at some big provincial city clubs in between, but we are considered a good post being a Championship club and with our reputation.”

Asked if it was important to appoint someone who was independent to the club, Kilby added: “You can go down various lines. It does help sometimes to bring in somebody away from the usual mix.

“He is experienced and knows all the ropes, and he is throwing himself into the role by moving his wife and family up here from Wiltshire.”

Much of Hoos responsibilities for the Clarets are expected to centre around player negotiations.

“I think he will perhaps have more of a classic chief executive role in terms of carrying out the policy of the board of directors,” said Kilby, who added that Hoos would also be looking at commercial opportunities to increase revenue before the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations come into force in 2013.

“We will be wanting to look at that,” Kilby confirmed.

The chairman added that departing chief executive Fletcher would remain with the club until the end of the season.

“We have certain projects for him to have a look at, so we won’t be losing him completely,” he said.

“I’d like to thank Paul very much, I think he did a really good job.”

Peter Pike, chairman of the Clarets Trust, said: “The Clarets Trust welcomes Burnley Football Club's new chief executive, Lee Hoos, and wishes him well in this important position.

“We hope that one of his priorities will be to build on the relationship between the club and the Clarets Trust and the other fans and supporters who are all so crucial to the future of our club.

“The Trust would also place on record our thanks to Paul Fletcher. We know that he is 100 per cent committed to Burnley Football Club and recognise that he will continue to be involved at Turf Moor.

“Paul has had a very close relationship with the Trust over the last three years, and also with other supporters, but we do understand why he feels this is the right time to move on.

“All good wishes to Paul in the years ahead and let us hope that we can all be celebrating success at Turf Moor again in the near future.”