NEW Burnley manager Eddie Howe is aiming to emulate the success of Owen Coyle, but has vowed to be his own man.

The 33-year-old faced the media yesterday afternoon after being named Brian Laws’ successor 24 hours before, and through his youth and football philosophy, there have been instant comparisons between the former Bournemouth manager and counterpart Coyle.

While the Scot left Turf Moor under a cloud just over 12 months ago, after steering the Clarets into the Premier League, Howe departed Dean Court with dignity at the weekend. And it is with his arrival that it appears the gloom is only now beginning to lift.

That’s certainly how operational director Brendan Flood views the situation, after announcing their third manager in three-and-a-half years as “a winner”, and someone he believes can bring the feelgood factor back to Burnley.

“Ultimately when you get promotion to the Premier League you get that special glow of a promotion season, but when you go down you get dragged down with the negative emotions of relegation,” said Flood.

“That isn’t easy to shake off I don’t think, and to an extent that was still with us, and it made the job of Brian Laws difficult.

“A manager can change everything and let’s hope that happens. It’s a very instinctive, emotional game, football, and unless you’re in touch with that life can change.

“Clubs rise and fall on the back of emotion. Our winning spirit was slightly depreciating and hopefully we’ve restored it with picking a winner.”

Asked to pinpoint what it was that made Howe stand out, Flood added: “He’s a different personality to Owen. He clearly doesn’t get wooed easy.

“He turned down four clubs, as you know, and wasn’t in any respect in awe of Burnley Football Club when we made contact with him, but fully respectful of us.

“So I think he’s got a lot of humility, he’s very intelligent about the game and very independent minded. You could feel the determination.

“In any good winner they hate losing, and you could see that he’d hate it.

"That’s the key recipe for a manager, they’ve got to hate losing and have good man-management skills.

“You see how the lads celebrated the goal at Bournemouth (against Colchester in Howe’s last game in charge). They all went over to him and that said it all for me.

“That’s what we’d seen as being the likely engagement in the group.

"They were all for one and one for all, and I think he has, in everything he says, he has a total team mentality, which I think is going to be vital for us to get success this year.”

Coyle, too, thrived on the togetherness of his squad, notably in reaching the Carling Cup semi finals and winning the Championship play-offs, but Howe isn’t keen on being a clone.

“People have made those comparisons. I don’t know Owen very well.

"I think I’m my own man and I’ll do things my way and be judged on how I do the job,” said the former Bournemouth and Portsmouth central defender.

“The comparisons are that we’re both young managers. I know he was very successful and I would love to match his success here for sure.”