AFTER almost two seasons of writing the Turf Talk column this is my final one and I can't help but feel that the fortunes of the Clarets since I joined the LET have been a microcosm of the club's proud history.

There have been the very heady days enjoyed in the first part of last season as the club headed the first division table on New Year's Day.

At the same time there was the almost unbelievable start to the current season with just one point and one goal from the first five games. The team that had started the year top of the table was suddenly at the bottom.

There were similarly contrasting fortunes in the cup with a mixture of glory and gory. This season the Clarets have had their longest runs in both the League and FA Cups, knocking out Premiership sides Spurs and Fulham along the way.

Yet twice I have seen them surrender their place in the FA Cup with deeply disappointing performances, at Cheltenham last season and at Watford, in the quarter-final no less, just a few short weeks ago.

Incredibly I have reported on the arrival of one of the greatest names in the history of English football with Gazzamania hitting Burnley last season and I was within a Swedish World Cup star's fingertips of seeing him secure the Clarets place in the first division play-offs.

But at the end of a season that saw Gazza arrive and the club pay £1million to Bradford City for Robbie Blake, Stan Ternent was forced to let the likes of Kevin Ball, Mitchell Thomas ad Lennie Jonhnrose go.

And has Bally been missed this season, or what?

But those decisions were made in the light of the biggest story to hit football in the time I have been covering the Clarets.

If I have written the name of ITV Digital once, I have written it 1000 times - make that 1001 - and its collapse will be felt for many years to come. In fact, it is safe to say that from the moment ITV Digital (1002) went belly-up, the face of football changed.

This summer is going to be a new experience for the game of football and footballers in general.

For many years the players and their agents have called the tune, getting what they can from clubs financed by the massive influx of cash from television.

But the map has changed and this summer instead of jetting off to exotic locations with their families, players will be anxiously waiting for the phone to ring to see if they have a job and where.

The one certainty is that it will not be on the sort of wages they were on before.

Football did need a sense of realism but it has not been the guilty party in the way it has been introduced. I have repeated it many times but that lies firmly at the door of ITV Digital (1003) and the Football League officials who signed the deal without getting guarantees.

Stan Ternent knows the players he wants in his squad for the start of next season and whoever takes over from me will be the first to let the fans know who they are.

There will be a different side kicking off next season at Turf Moor but knowing Burnley one thing is certain - it will not be dull!