A fan's eye view from Turf Moor, by Stephen Cummings

PRESTON are doing well at the moment aren't they?

So are Blackpool: a 3-1 victory away at the league leaders' place is certainly something to write home about.

And what do you make of the Di Canio business? Oh, and there's the George Graham tug of war too. Leeds United or Tottenham Hotspur, which is it to be?

I know, I know, this is supposed to be a column which takes a look at Burnley Football Club from a fan's perspective. But the problem is if I start talking about the Clarets these days, I end up foaming at the mouth, swearing my head off and behaving in the manner of a deranged psychotic.

In fact my behaviour has certain disturbing similarities with Roy Hodgson's touchline shenanigans from last week.

Why? Because at the moment there exists a greater chance of Blackburn Rovers finishing a game with a full complement of players than of Burnley avoiding yet another season of struggle. Anyone who was at Turf Moor on Saturday will know what I mean. The problems were there for all to see.

And while in the current climate it is relatively unknown for football managers to provoke feelings of sympathy, that is certainly how one feels about Stan Ternent (not that he would want our sympathy).

The man finds himself in an intolerable position. Starved of funds with which to play the transfer market, he is constantly forced to "send boys out on men's errands" to quote the man himself. And it gets worse. The kids he has to send out are often not playing in their first choice position.

Chris Scott for example has tremendous potential, as a defender. He gave his all but was largely ineffective in his midfield role against Wigan. Ditto Chris Brass. Here we have a player who is a commanding presence in the heart of defence, but he too had to take on responsibilities in the middle of the park.

The bottom line is that unless or until the board back the manager, all this will continue. In other words we continue to field inexperienced kids, we continue to play players out of position, we continue to concede late goals, we continue to average less than a point a game. Then we get relegated. It's as simple as that Mr Teasdale, now what are you going to do about it?

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.