One Door Closes, Another One Opens

Steve Cotterill celebrating winning the Conference with Cheltenham in 1999

About five years ago, I read an article about Cheltenham Town, and their then bright young manager Steve Cotterill. It made an impression. He came across as knowledgeable, articulate and well respected, a man with a bright future.

At the time, I think Cheltenham were striding towards the Conference title and the Football League. In the cursory manner in which one follows the progress of many teams, I noted their progress up the leagues, and came across Steve Cotterill again when his team dumped us out of the FA cup in 2002. Since then, he’s been about, gathering experience away from the public eye, excepting a brief period at Stoke.

As the dust settles on his appointment at Turf Moor, many of the more heated reactions – both positive and negative – will have given way to more rational thoughts, and a whole host of questions. How will he react to the challenge, one he has never faced, of bringing in an industrial quantity of players over the next few weeks? How will he cope with the first division?

The starting point of all the answers is that Steve Cotterill is a good choice. It was that article, and the things I’ve subsequently read about his continuing career, which prompted me to nominate him for the job some weeks ago in a previous column. His status within the game as a coach cannot be underestimated. He is progressive, ambitious and well connected.

The contrast with Stan Ternent is marked, and it seems to me Burnley have taken a short-term gamble on the promise of long term gain. To keep Stan in charge for the next difficult season might well have increased our chances of staying up – Stan knew the players, knew which ones he wanted to keep on, and presumably knew who he wanted to sign, whereas Steve will have to start from scratch, and has less experience of keeping his own team afloat. But whilst we might miss Stan’s wily ability to make just enough of what he has to keep a team up, the plan is that, with Steve, if we can get through that first year then better things will follow. It is a brave change of direction, and Barry Kilby must be applauded for his courage even if not his conviction.

What cannot be disputed is that the appointment of Steve Cotterill opens up a new chapter in the history of Burnley Football Club. Rarely does a change of manager bring such a wholesale change of personnel. It is entirely likely that, come August, only three members of the squad will remain from the team that topped the league at Christmas two and a half years ago; the team which won promotion will be a fading memory, with only Graham Branch remaining from that era. The two teams which Stan built – forgetting the last two years when his hands were tied – have been well and truly dismantled.

And the players who defined the six year long Ternent reign have now gone too. The last to depart was Glen Little, the player signed by Adrian Heath, when there was a Tory Government and Glenn Hoddle was England manager.

Glen Little - intertwined with the fabric of the club and its support

It is difficult to know how to describe Glen. I don’t want to go over the top about him, but then I’ve only been watching the Clarets since we were in the fourth division (now, apparently the new second, but that is a different and far more absurd topic). He was, quite simply, the most magical player I have seen playing for Burnley, the player whose ability made him the most important cog in all Stan’s biggest Burnley achievements. Perhaps Robbie Blake, with his neat touches and clever passes, is a more complete player, but few players outside the Premiership are capable of more audacity in beating a man than Little.

I’ve always thought that one of the most appealing things about Burnley and Burnley fans is the way we take certain players to our hearts. Sometimes, it goes too far when returning heroes are showered with affection upon their return, but there is something very earthy about the way certain players become intertwined with the fabric of the club and its support. Glen was one player to achieve that celebrity; of modern clarets, Andy Payton and Steve Davis are the most obvious other examples.

But the sentimentality which runs through Burnley Football Club, and which is also extended to Stan Ternent, must be held in check. This is Steve Cotterill’s Claret and Blue Army now, just as it was Jimmy Mullen’s once upon a time. And in that special place reserved for Super Glen Little, will no doubt be another crowd hero. Perhaps Robbie Blake will succeed to it, or even Richard Chaplow will occupy that most prominent place in the hearts of the Claret and Blue faithful.

By next season, there will be a new look Burnley side down on the pitch, as well as off it. The intrigue and debate about potential signings (a goalkeeper, three centre halves, a midfielder, striker and winger as priorities, please, with a left back preferably as well) will start now. This is a new era; sit back and enjoy the ride. But close the old book first.