Owen Coyle was coming back to Burnley. Alan Pardew was seen walking through the Bob Lord reception doors with a colleague to offer us two defenders in exchange for first refusal on Charlie Austin. But Charlie was going to Reading for £4million. Burnley were bidding for Everton’s Shane Duffy. And the Costa Concordia captain wanted his job back.
All of those were just on one day – Wednesday, October 10th.
The websites were in near meltdown the next day, Thursday, as Clarets Mad announced that Howe was edging nearer to Bournemouth (aka heaven’s waiting room). It was tempered however by the ‘news’ that he didn’t want to take a drop in salary in the Mirror. The club reported it was ‘business as usual’ with him taking training at Gawthorpe.
But, “Howe set for Dean Court return,” said the Bournemouth Echo, providing compensation could be agreed.
Names of potential new managers flooded the airwaves – Micky Mellon, Paul Cook, Stan, Mick McCarthy, Roy Keane, Graham Alexander, even Owen Coyle.
By lunchtime on Thursday it was “Howe leaving, official statement soon, Bartley also off.”
At 2.05 pm Owen Coyle was the favourite with the bookmakers to be installed as the next Burnley boss.
By 4pm Sky TV was at Gawthorpe. Lee Hoos was at Gawthorpe. Around 4.30 Lee Hoos left Gawthorpe. We were glued to the saga on NewsNow, Twitter, and Burnley websites, all of us gagging for news one way or the other. Where was Darren Bentley’s Twitter account when you needed it?
Nobody from the club had come out and said emphatically that all this was rubbish.
So: if Howe left it was because he was unhappy up north… his family was unsettled… he wanted to walk his dog on the beach… he was fed up of the weather… more unkindly he was a bottler.
If after all this he stayed… surely it would mean his position was untenable.
16.50: Chris Boden tweeted that the Gawthorpe gates were locked but Howe and Tindall were still inside. I had a chuckle at that one. It reminded me of the story that when John Bond arrived at Turf Moor to be sacked, the Board were upstairs but he couldn’t get in because the door was locked.
16.51: Sky reported he had left without speaking to reporters. All was up in the air but Chris Boden “understands” that all parties met earlier in the week and he had Burnley’s blessing to leave; the snag being the compensation.
19.10: Bournemouth chairman Eddie Mitchell confirmed in the Echo that an official approach had been made, they were close to reaching an agreement, and that they hoped that Howe and Tindall would be at Saturday’s game against Orient. It was hoped that comp would be agreed in time.
19.21: Statement on Burnley twitter saying that there would be a statement soon. There was speculation that it would refer to Eddie opening the forthcoming Wedding Fayre in the James Hargreaves.
19.50: Lee Hoos issued a statement. An unwanted approach had been received. Bournemouth were not given permission to speak to Eddie Howe. No agreement was reached and Eddie Howe was still Burnley manager.
What spoke volumes however was Eddie Howe’s conspicuous silence on the matter. Had there been no interest on his part Hoos would surely have had a statement issued to that effect. It was clear that Eddie wanted away.
After the events of the day and Eddie Mitchell’s claim that they were close to making an agreement most of us probably fell off our office chairs in surprise fully expecting Hoos to say everything was agreed and he was off. The websites then hummed with discussions as to what the statement actually meant. Surely it was just the club playing hardball to up the compensation and once that was settled, then they could speak to him. Me and Mrs T agreed though, it was all far more interesting than Lance Armstrong drug stories and would it be Ashley Cole to captain England.
22.38pm and still Thursday the 11th: Just when you thought it was safe to go to bed, there was a report that BBC Northwest announced that compensation had been agreed and there would be an official announcement the next morning. Sometime during the evening the whole thing had been discussed on Talksport with Bournemouth journo, Ian Wadley, confirming to the nation that it was now all about the compensation agreement before the official stuff could begin.
22.47: Post on Clarets Mad from a responsible and informed poster. “I believe that Howe has resigned tonight.” It later turned out to be a hoax by someone who had hacked his account.
General drift of the websites so far (but not unanimous): more poor results and the Board would surely need to sack him anyway, thereby facing paying out huge compensation sums. The Bournemouth approach was surely therefore a gift not to be refused getting the Board out of a deepening hole.
11.25: I went to bed and drifted off counting not sheep, but possible new managers. It didn’t take long to think what was needed, a motivator, and someone with a little black book filled with contacts, and who could skilfully play the loan market.
Stardate, Friday 12. 10. 12: had to go over to Warrington for a family reunion and 90th birthday so was out from 10.30 until 5.30 – it was a big lunch and we’re slow eaters. It was reasonable to think the thing would be settled sometime during the day. First text message from chum number 1 came just after I’d demolished a plate of turkey, veg and all the fixings. “Nothing confirmed but I believe the deal has been done and should be confirmed this afternoon.” The Neil Sedaka singalike had just finished his act (brilliant) and Elvis (uh huh baby) was due on next.
Pudding, coffee, mints (Colombian of course), birthday cake and still no news. The Elvis guy was great. We departed at 3.30 for the slow trudge home along a choc-a-block M62. It was Mrs T who got the all-important message from her pal Muriel in Burnley as we inched along somewhere near the Huddersfield turn-off.
“I see Howe is definitely on his way, compensation agreed so who do we want next?”
My chum texted shortly after: “Confirmed by Burnley that Howe has left the club.” At that exact moment it was difficult to know exactly what to think. Relief that it was sorted at last so that Burnley could now sort out a new man; astonishment that it had all blown up in the first place; satisfaction that he was leaving because I strongly believe this club was going nowhere with him at the helm and that he was out of his depth, or just total amazement at the near suddenness of it all. You couldn’t really have made it up could you, that Burnley, Blackburn and Bolton would all be managerless at the same time.
He cited family reasons for leaving. The club official line outlined that the death of his mother had hit him incredibly hard and had widespread repercussions for his family. You cannot argue with that. Charlie Austin tweeted that family comes first, that’s life. There were unconfirmed suggestions that his wife and family had already returned south a month earlier. In their statement the joint chairmen expressed surprise and disappointment. If they really were surprised at his personal unhappiness and need to return south, had they had no prior indication or awareness of it? If they were taken aback – should we be surprised at that? They are genuine and committed but London based and do not spend time at the club in the hands-on way that Barry Kilby and Brendan Flood did as operational directors; in at the club for a regular proportion of every week. Barry Kilby remains ill; Brendan Flood seems to be taking a back-seat. Lee Hoos is the man who now seems to hold things together.
Whatever the reasons and background, it left Burnley looking for a new man and Coyle was the immediate bookies favourite. It was Lee Hoos on Radio Lancashire who discounted any chance of his return. Lee Hoos in fact came out of the whole thing well, it being reasonable to assume that any compensation favourable to Burnley for a manager that clearly wanted to leave, was down to him.
Fans’ reactions came thick and fast. Possibly this one was for me the most apt: “He took a fortune off our club in wages (he really was on a mouth-watering salary); totally re-structured everything to suit him and his preferred staff, and had yet to achieve anything for us on the pitch.” You could add to that that he took over at a time when there really was still a damned good chance of a top six play-off place at the end of the season, and over his near two years brought in an unprecedented number of his own people at all levels. Graham Alexander was later adamant that he made changes too soon.
What also emerged was the danger of allowing a manager to re-structure an area of the club such as the youth and development section, fill it with his own people, and then up-sticks and leave. Several posters argued that this area of the club should be run independently of any new manager so that continuity would be maintained. There was also the clear suggestion that in any case the changes had not been for the better.
Given time would he have turned things round, got better results and tightened things up? There were those who thought he might. Other posters pointed to the record of just 8 wins in the last 30 games and suggested not. Another that, “From a purely footballing perspective he looked out of his depth from the off.” Attendances bit by bit were decreasing. From the Bob Lord Stand there were the beginnings of regular abuse that had him and Tindall turning round shaking their heads (guaranteed to make his decision to leave even easier). The point was coming (perhaps another month of poor results) when the Board would surely have had to review his position at the club anyway, consider dismissing him and pay him a sizeable compensation sum? There was little indication that he would have been able to massively improve things. His departure with Bournemouth paying Burnley compensation was therefore timely, if not even a huge stroke of luck.
Andy Payton spoke out: “Being a lifelong Burnley fan and an ex player I personally would not want Owen Coyle back as manager. And Eddie Howe’s departure doesn’t surprise me one bit; I never had him down as a leader. Who to go for is a tough one.”
From the websites you could build up a composite picture of the ideal candidate. Someone with experience of success; would command instant respect, had good contacts within the game and familiarity with successfully playing the loan market, was a motivator both in the dressing room and on the touchline, would lift the spirits of supporters where apathy was slowly developing after poor results, and – someone who wouldn’t get homesick working in Lancashire. And then presumably from a boardroom and financial perspective someone who wouldn’t want to replace all the remaining backroom staff thereby creating costly compensation packages.
All in all – a pretty tall order.
Whilst one guy, Coyle, left with universal derision, scorn and abuse ringing in his ears; Eddie Howe left with many people’s best wishes and sympathy for his personal plight. But not all: a small number saw the whole scenario as a handy excuse to return to his comfort zone when the opportunity arose. You can take the man out of the south; but not the south out of the man, sort of thing. He came, he tried; he undoubtedly did his best and put his heart and soul into it. If he never really looked really comfortable and at ease, he was thoughtful, considered and articulate. A word I often used to describe him was beguiling. To be fair to him he saw Mears, Eagles, Fox and Elliott sold at the beginning of his first full season. We assume they were part of his plans. Then he lost Rodriguez.
Has he had any real impact? Sadly no and he becomes just another few pages in the Burnley story – unless someone comes in and can shake up the players that formed his inconsistent team – in the same way that Coyle galvanised Steve Cotterill’s team; or Jimmy Mullen got Frank Casper’s team firing. Then we can say “ah but they were Eddie Howe’s players.” Only then will his time here have seemed worthwhile.
But: top Championship scorers, averaging over two goals a game, Austin already with 15 goals; there is surely something to work on. Burnley FC remains a plum job at ‘a proper football club’, attractive to any of the usual out of work suspects, or somebody lower down the leagues with ambition. Barry Kilby once referred to the appointment process as the ‘beauty parade’. One assumes that knocks out Iain Dowie, Steve Kean and Peter Reid. Whatever: from the superb opening display against Bolton to the shambles at Crystal Palace; the new man whoever he is, has a job on.