THREE weeks have now passed since Barry Kilby called time on Stan Ternent's Burnley reign.

For two weeks, the tough task of sifting through all the wheat and the chaff to uncover suitable applicants has gone on.

And in one week, the guessing game should finally be over as the Clarets name the new man at the helm.

Throughout all their negotiating, Kilby and his right hand man, chief executive Dave Edmundson, have understandably been guarded.

But a clearer picture has developed of the type of manager Burnley fans need - and can expect.

Kilby is ideally looking for an established man to rebuild the youth policy at Turf Moor - a strategy so neglected in the modern era that only Chris Brass, Paul Weller and Richard Chaplow have established themselves in the first team since the long gone days of Trevor Steven.

He is also looking for someone to add forward momentum - certainly maintaining First Division status and hopefully punching for the Premiership again at the tail end of his much-mooted three-year plan.

By tomorrow, I believe upwards of nine men will either have been interviewed or spoken to informally about the post.

Crucially, former interviewee Steve McMahon was yesterday still in Spain awaiting a follow-up call from Turf Moor.

That suggests that the former Blackpool manager's CV is no longer sitting atop Kilby's pile.

Equally, former Walsall boss Colin Lee headed Stateside at the weekend for a family holiday, indicating he too is now out of the running.

Brian Flynn, no stranger to Burnley fans, is I believe still one of the candidates under serious discussion.

And there seems little doubt that Kilby and his cohorts have spoken to serial applicant Steve Cotterill, who has also thrown his name in the hat for the vacant manager's job at Blackpool.

Ronnie Moore's name refuses to go away to the extent that by now the Rotherham chairman must sweat profusely the moment his phone rings.

The Clarets still have to make an official approach to speak to Moore, whose £150,000 compensation clause seems unlikely to scare off the Clarets, given the paltry sum involved in landing what they may perceive to be the right man.

And in any case, should Moore be targeted, any refusal by the Millmoor board to allow discussions to take place could result in the ambitious Scouser resigning his position and effectively becoming a free agent.

One nagging concern the Clarets board do have is how a manager like Moore would avoid nepotism through being in charge of his own son.

However, that never seemed to bother Brian Clough, while more recently former Stoke Boss Gudjon Thordarson - another being linked with the vacancy - slapped son Bjarni Gudjonsson on the transfer list after fearing fans would quickly turn on him.

All of this speculation still leaves three or four others, including Bolton number two Phil Brown who is also out of the country at present and anyhow lacks the experience being sought.

But I still firmly believe the next manager will come from one of the above named men.

Given the nature of the predicament, with only eight Clarets players currently under contract and needing to rebuild a team of First Division standard, it is hard to imagine a manager from the lower leagues stepping up.

It is harder still to imagine Kilby running the risk of employing someone out of work for any lengthy period of time and therefore needing to hit the ground running.

That would rule out the likes of John Aldridge, Howard Wilkinson, Mel Machin, Bruce Rioch and John Gregory, among many others.

Moore, who was today eliminated from Leeds' own shortlist, remains the favourite to land the Burnley job.

Thankfully, we should discover in around seven days if the bookies have it right once again!