THE Turf Moor clock is ticking towards a momentous landmark in the history of Burnley Football Club.

Not since a dark May day in 1987, when Burnley fought to save their Football League status, will there be a more significant or vital episode.

This week the board of directors face a resolution which will shape the policy of the club towards 2000 and beyond.

It will be the most crucial collective decision in a decade at Turf Moor.

So who will be Turf Moor's 17th post-war manager?

It is the six-million dollar question down Turf Moor way right now.

Who will be the management team charged with the demanding task of re-building the Burnley foundations?

Rumours and names abound. Fans desperately want to know. The lads who wear the claret and blue want to hear who their new gaffer will be.

Caretaker boss Clive Middlemass (pictured), who has acted with great dignity and diplomacy over the past 20 days, deserves to know whether he stays or goes.

Everybody with this grand old club at heart wants a rapid decision.

And they will be praying the men in power get it right when they announce the figure to succeed Jimmy Mullen.

So much rests on that vital decision. Most crucially the hopes and expectations of thousands of loyal Burnley supporters.

From a sackful of applications, Burnley have got to find the right name and blend to guide the Clarets back on a steady track.

And with only 16 games left on the fixture card, that individual must use all his powers of motivation to stabilize a club in dramatic decline.

Their league position has deteriorated from potential play-off challengers to relegation candidates - in FIVE weeks!

Right now Burnley are on an unthinkable collision course for a relegation scrap. It hardly seems possible does it?

From those, heady, sanguine, expectant days of August when the bookies predicted Burnley would be the team to emulate this season the steady wane in fortunes has accelerated into free-fall.

Four days into March the Clarets are staring down the gun barrels of Division Three.

Yes, folks, it as serious as that. A quick glance at tonight's Second Division table of woe just hammers home the enormity of the scenario.

Burnley have landed just one point since January 20. And the alarming slide into 16th place - seven points above the relegation frame - is a deeply worrying state of affairs.

Football can be a cruel, unforgiving and brutal business.

Taste the high life and it can be the sweetest sport on the planet.

But when you hit the ropes and land full force on skid row then it ain't a nice experience. Take this frankly dull and uninspiring Lancashire derby for instance.

After all the hullabaloo surrounding this fixture it was a classic case of don't believe the hype.

But Burnley showed enough spirit and drive to have landed a point.

Blackpool, strong, rugged and resilient, clearly have enough in reserve to mount a serious automatic promotion drive.

It would be no great surprise if they accompanied Swindon into the First Division next May.

But, unlike the fiasco at Hull a week ago, Burnley closed the opposition down efficiently.

They worked as a unit to deny Blackpool openings.

But, make no mistake, the Clarets defence had to work extremely hard to contain a lively Blackpool attack while the vision of Steve Thompson was an obvious bonus in the midfield department.

Thompson has fought an incredible battle against injury over the past eight months. But his last two performances prove he has lost none of his quality, vision or sharpness on the ball.

Burnley, though, can point to two excellent first half opportunities and wonder.

The first, a David Eyres header, flew low past Eric Nixon's right hand post with the loan goalkeeper beaten.

Then Kurt Nogan swept over a vicious volley after his opportunity was carved out by some clever understanding and link play between Liam Robinson and Steve Thompson.

Robinson, clearly enjoying his new lease of life under Clive Middlemass, turned in another encouraging performance and his pass to Nogan was a delightful moment.

Blackpool, though, were the more menacing inside the penalty box and only the agility of Wayne Russell kept then at bay.

Russell produced a tremendous reflex save to deny the tall presence of Andy Preece after Micky Mellon had delivered a menacing free kick.

Then he swooped to hold a stinging James Quinn drive at the foot of his left hand post.

With Burnley taking the early second half initiative, the Seasiders clinched the points.

Only moments earlier Liam Robinson had seen a powerful shot smash against the Blackpool crossbar.

However, Blackpool had the excellent Mark Bonner to thank for creating the opening. He skipped away from the attentions of Paul Weller and raced unchallenged into the Burnley penalty area.

Bonner slid his centre across the face of the Clarets goal and Andy Preece saw his left foot shot bobble across the turf and out of reach of Wayne Russell.

His goal summed up this shoddy Lancashire derby which failed to live up to its hotpot billing.

But it proved enough to hand Blackpool their first league win at Turf Moor since 1978 and to leave Burnley with just one win this year.

The new man at Turf Moor faces a mighty task next week.

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