A frank admission by Burnley Chief Executive, Paul Fletcher today suggests that even Sir Alex Ferguson would have struggled to do a better job than Brian Laws after the devastation Coyle left behind.
According to Fletcher the way things happened over Christmas and New Year had a massive impact on the club.
Fletcher speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph has been coming out in support of Brian Laws who has been under some pressure recently following criticism by some supporters. The Clarets have managed just one win in eleven league games since his appointment in January this year so it is perhaps not unexpected or unreasonable for some fans to be asking whether this was the right appointment.
There was also an outrageous report in the Sun last week suggesting the Board were already looking for a replacement for Laws. This was flatly denied by Burnley FC with Barry Kilby describing the article as ‘a ludicrous, irresponsible, damaging and inaccurate piece of journalism`
The online version of the damaging article was also soon taken down, no doubt following complaints by the club and it will be interesting to see if they take any further legal action against the paper.
It is clear however that the club are now putting our misfortunes in 2010 mainly down to Owen Coyle leaving in the January window
“I don`t think any of us expected that we`d have to deal with as much off the pitch as on it this season, with the unexpected disappointment we had at Christmas,” Fletcher told the Lancashire Telegraph.
“We know managers come and go but to lose seven or eight staff was something we did not anticipate and was really tough to deal with.
“Brian was left with a massive job to do and I`m not sure Sir Alex Ferguson could have done any better.’
If we could have afforded Sir Alex that would certainly have made an interesting ‘Fantasy Football’ experiment.
I just wonder how these highly rated managers would cope if they had to work with the budgets that Brian Laws and his predecessors have had to work with over the years at Burnley FC. On a level playing field would the likes of Sir Alex, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger be able to do much better if they couldn’t afford to bring Ronaldo, Drogba and Fabregas to the club?
I would think that really would be a challenge for them and it is just a pity that we will never get an answer to that intriguing question.
Share this article
