THE FOOTBALL League insist that Stan Ternent was not a forgotten man after being overlooked for the October manager-of-the-month award.

The First Division prize went to Watford boss Graham Taylor, despite the fact that his side collected one fewer point than Burnley from the same amount of games.

There was a school of thought that with the Clarets playing a re-arranged game on Tuesday night and the award winner being announced first thing on Wednesday morning, the decision, made by a panel of representatives from the Football League, sponsors Nationwide and the League Managers' Association, was already made before the Clarets beat Crewe.

But the League insisted that the verdict had been made taking into account the full six results of each club, which saw the Clarets win five and lose one and Watford win four and draw two, as well as losing to Manchester United in the Worthington Cup.

And that 5-0 defeat for Burnley at Nottingham Forest evidently counted against Ternent.

League press officer John Nagle said: "They (the panel) were aware of the two records of the clubs.

"When the awards were announced Burnley were complimented and although Watford got one less point, as they had gone top of the table and overhauled Fulham and as they are now the only unbeaten team in the League is was thought it was fair to reward Graham Taylor. Also that 5-0 defeat did count against Burnley in the final verdict."