Had Brian Laws been under any illusion regarding the difficulty of his new job, a challenging first month in charge will have brought home the enormity of his task.

A spirited defeat at Old Trafford, humiliation in the FA Cup, a bitter blow at Bolton and an undeserved loss at Chelsea all means Laws will be delighted to see the back of January.

Starting February with 17 teams above us is far from ideal. Yet a new month represents a good opportunity to draw a line under a turbulent, messy and disruptive few weeks and start anew.

It’s time to finally forget about Coyle, pull together and focus in the task in hand. Put another, simpler way, Burnley’s season begins on Saturday.

And there are grounds for optimism. Despite having fallen into the bottom three, the Clarets are still in touch.

Then there is the glut of new signings. There have been grumbles in some quarters that the new additions lack the “wow” factor. But it is difficult to imagine which mega-stars would be attracted by the prospect of joining a club in the relegation zone with a wage cap of £15K a week.

Nicky Weaver brings a wealth of top flight experience. Having been deemed surplus to requirements at Stoke, Leon Cort will have a point to prove. Danny Fox arrives from Celtic with a reputation for quality service from the left.

Frederic Nimani will provide competition for Steven Fletcher.

And young Jack Cork will strengthen an area of the team decimated by injuries to Chris McCann and Graham Alexander.