AS the last echoes of the boos from the night before still rattled around Turf Moor, the League Managers’ Association prepared their statement.

Hours earlier, Brian Laws had been asked to step down as manager of Burnley.

Few take pleasure from the news that a man has lost his job, particularly someone so determined to do well for the club with which he started his career.

But few were surprised either. Few, that is, apart from the LMA.

If the managers’ union had gained credit for the robust way in which they defended Sam Allardyce and Chris Hughton following their bizarre sackings, they lost most of it last Wednesday afternoon.

“We find the timing of Brian’s dismissal very strange in all the circumstances,” they said in a statement. “The club is only two points off a play-off place with a game in hand. Burnley have the third best home record in what is a really competitive Championship.

“They have only lost six games this season and have not suffered back-to-back losses.”

The intention to defend a member of their association was honourable but, in future, their words will carry less weight.

It is hard to find anyone at Turf Moor for the Scunthorpe game who did not view Laws’ exit as inevitable. He had taken over one of the toughest jobs in football, following a manager who had got more out of some Burnley players than many had ever thought possible, but it had clearly not worked out.

The circumstances with compensation were complicated, but one wondered at the time whether Doncaster boss Sean O’Driscoll might have been a better option.

Having failed to win over the fans, Laws had been unable to prevent relegation and even promotion was beginning to slip away. A top two spot, which should have been the Clarets’ target at the start of the season, may already have gone.

A campaign that should have been about a concerted push for an immediate return to the top flight was instead becoming merely about how long Laws would remain in charge. That is simply not healthy for a club.

As the ‘Laws out’ chants rang out after that Scunthorpe game, it became clear it could go on no longer.

We wish Laws well, but this was not one of those occasions when the LMA could assert with any credibility that the timing was ‘very strange’.

It was about as right as it ever will be.