Owen Coyle - Your Views, Updated 22:10

Last updated : 24 November 2007 By Tony Scholes

Coyle was given permission to speak to the Clarets only yesterday but by this morning had agreed a three and a half year deal to become manager and we have asked for your views on the new appointment.

Your views are shown below, but please continue to SEND them to us and this page will be updated as they come in.

It's certainly an interesting appointment that no-one can really disregard as a poor choice as we don't know much about him. Looking forward to the Coyle era - let's hope he can take us to the next step.

Welcome to Burnley Owen, good luck. UTC!

Matt Stewart
Good luck Owen and I hope you can bring us the success we deserve on the Turf.

Rick Farrer
A bit of a gamble of an appointment I think - here's hoping it turns out to be a successful gamble!

He'll certainly be given my backing. UTC!

Peter Davis
A bright new dawn beckons at Turf Moor. The former Bolton man will bring a new hunger and determination to the turf. He will also bring that extra 10% out of the players as they now have to prove they can take a position in Coyle's squad. Perhaps 10% is being kind.

Anyhow exciting times at the Turf bring it on. Lets do it !

Garry Pickles
Congrats to board on "thinking outside the box" with this appointment. A gamble maybe, but I prefer an outsider to much of the known mediocrity on offer. The fixtures suggest this will be a baptism of fire.

Lynn Plummer
I am delighted with the appointment. Although I was an admirer of SC I think he had got a bit stale and had taken us as far as he could, but I wish Steve all the best for the future.

In Owen Coyle I think we have a manager with the same aspirations as the board and the fans. I hope we all get behind him and give him the chance he deserves.

Up the Clarets.

Clive McNamee
I was very disappointed to see the end of Steve Cotterill's reign as manager partly because of the potential quality of his replacement. The names of people like Paul Jewell cropped up ,but he was never a real candidate after turning down a reported £40k a week at Wigan.

The alternatives of Micky Adams, Peter Reid etc seemed a massive backward step so the appointment of a young and ambitious manager in Owen Coyle fills me with excitement.

Up The Clarets.

Rev Dave Alty
With the Club announcing that they were looking for a manager able to attract players to the Club, this for me, constitutes a surprise appointment and one that in truth, is probably a bit of a gamble, hopefully a calculated gamble.

Of the names mentioned, none other than the probably unattainable Paul Jewell got my pulse racing. I was of the opinion that it was time for Cotterill to go but have we really taken a step forward with this appointment, only time will tell?

Hopefully we have unearthed a gem, someone that will get us playing some exciting, attractive football and more importantly, someone that will push us on to the next level and get some of the missing fans back on to the Turf.

Welcome to Burnley, Owen and the best of luck.

Up the Clarets

David Watson
I must admit Owen Coyle's name never entered my head when Steve Cotterill left the club. Now after doing some reading up about him and looking at the fact he has started his managerial career with St.Johnstone with some success his appointment has started to excite me.

I remember when Moyes and Davies got their jobs at Preston they were both unknown quantities and they both took Preston into the play-offs and they are both now managing clubs in the Premiership.

I am hoping Owen Coyle can do the same for us.

Good luck to Mr Coyle and welcome to Burnley Football Club.

Dave Wynne
I believe this is a good appointment for the long-term future of Burnley Football Club. I was very impressed with his comments at the press conference. He spoke of pride as being a major factor, and there is nothing Burnley fans crave more than pride in the performance of the 11 men who put on a Claret and Blue Shirt every Saturday.

Nothing, that is, apart from success. This is my one reservation about the appointment. Success will come under Owen Coyle, the club will move forward. However, I think that this is in that respect too much of a long-term appointment. He will take time to bed in and with the run of fixtures we have coming up time is precious with respect to this season.

This is why personally I would have liked Peter Reid, or someone with greater "pulling power" in the transfer market. We have been in the current division for long enough now and Burnley fans, as shown by the falling attendances, crave a play-off berth at the very least soon.

Whether or not Owen Coyle is them man to bring this, only time will tell. However I would like to wish Owen Coyle all the best as manager of Burnley Football Club.

Owen Coyle's Claret and Blue Army!!!

Up the Clarets.

Martin Cichocki
This is an adventurous appointment by the Club. There will be those disappointed that we haven't gone for a bigger name, but I have confidence that the Board have chosen someone whose new ideas can take us forward.

Welcome to Burnley, Owen. See you on Saturday!

Neil Pilling
Welcome aboard Owen. Hope you bring the good times back to the Turf.

Chris Hogan
Is this a cheap option from a second rate footballing nation? I hope not but have real concerns. Being a Burnley fan we give one hundred percent and that's all we ask , but all the things said so far are the same as was said for SC and 13th was our best position.

Paul Haworth
Here's wishing Owen all the best for his tenure, I like to think that the board were right with their appointment of Steve Cotterill at that time, and so I back the board and manager to again take us forward.

Kurt Leeming
There has been a lot of ill-informed nonsense about the new appointment, and indeed, some of the other supposed candidates, and yes, before that, about the previous incumbent. But that is what it is all about, I suppose, opinions, ill-informed or not.

I cannot pretend that I am any better informed than some, but living in Scotland and having a father who supports Bolton Wanderers I know at least something about both Scottish football and Owen Coyle.

It is easy to be disparaging about the standard of football north of the border. How many though speak from any real knowledge? Alright, what I saw at Montrose v. Arbroath last season was patent dross, but the standard of football often played by the likes of Motherwell and Hibernian - fast, skilful, attacking football played by eager, young home-grown talent is what I would like to see played by Burnley, home and away. And it is paying off - and as a neutral which international side would you have rather watched during the qualification for the European Championships?

I trust that Owen can continue to develop on the good work by Steve Cotterill, et. al., and use his obvious credentials to firstly create a team in his own guise and secondly take that team onward and upward.

He will have good contacts to exploit, and hopefully this will allow BFC to exploit talent from further afield in the British Isles than of late, maybe cheaper options as well, but also young, skilful players keen to progress.

Brian Minshull
Initially stunned to be honest-this could be an inspired appointment or a disastrous one.

Fifty percent success rate in the second tier of Scottish football, is Mr Coyle the man to lead us to the promised land?? Are his credentials worthy of the ambitions of Burnley FC? Only time will tell of course but having said all this I do wish him luck and as always 'up the Clarets'!!!

Colin Lansdown
This An interesting, some might say brave, appointment. I have little knowledge of Owen Coyle apart from during his pretty successful period at Bolton.

Will he be a good Championship manager? Only time will tell. Looking at the comments made by St Johnstone's directors and fans, they are very disappointed he has gone so he must have been doing something right. By all accounts, his side played football on the deck and were attractive to watch, so that bodes well.

He'll have my support for as long as he's here and I wish him the best of luck.

Richard Lupton
Like most people I am surprised that Owen has seemingly appeared from nowhere. His candidacy certainly never did get my pulse racing but then what do I know? I got excited when John Bond and Martin Buchan became managers!

I presume Messrs Kilby and Flood know what they are doing and of course time will tell. On that basis I wholeheartedly welcome our new manager but I too would like to say thank you and Good Luck to Steve. I am not convinced he did a lot wrong and definitely did a lot of good things.

I would certainly shake his hand and buy him a pint if I ever had the good fortune to meet him. Up the Clarets! The King is dead Long Live the King!

Andy Woodward
I'm really pleased to have Owen as new clarets manager and I'm glad he has been given the chance.

Maybe this could be the key to a promotion to the Premiership , one of the clever managers with a non- high profile.

Good luck Owen.

Nathan Rawlinson
Firstly good luck Owen and welcome to Burnley...lets hope we haven't just gone for potential again, Hopefully this time there will be a finished article in this 'era'.

Secondly I really hope Mr Flood gives our new gaffer the freedom to spend money in transfers as much or more than he is spending on ground developments otherwise the development of our ground will be pointless because only Leeds get a decent crowd in league 1 and that's where were heading if we continue to groom young mangers then let them go and also sell our hot prospects and replace them with ageing players.

But let's think positive, Owen Coyle the next best thing to hit the Premier League, with the Clarets.

Adi Moore
Good luck Owen.

I'm a St.Johnstone fan and wish Owen and Burnley all the best for the future. Owen's very passionate and the fans and media will love him. It's a gamble but one worth taking when you could've had Peter Reid!

Steven Bonthrone
Let's look at the facts. We have a board who have taken strides forward in the development of the club. I think it is safe to say that we are hopefully in a better financial position than we have been for a number of years. We are a club that is in terms of attendances and finances punching above our weight.

What we do have though is ambition and a desire to return to the glory days….after all even in those halcyon days of the past Burnley proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with clubs that were much bigger in terms of support catchment area, finances etc.

We cannot afford the likes of Paul Jewell and other candidates were looking for work due to past failings. We can't afford the over priced players in the transfer market. I think the appointment of Owen Coyle is shrewd.

Here's a guy who appears to be highly ambitious and has a good record at an unfashionable club in Scotland. He has contacts in the Scottish leagues which will hopefully unearth a few quality players at reasonable prices.

After England's poor performance compared with the passionate efforts from Scotland I'm all for a bit of Scottish enthusiasm. Let's all get behind Owen and move forward into a bright new dawn.

Come on you Clarets !!!

Phil Simpson
A brave and forward looking appointment by our go-ahead Board. I look forward to adventurous, exciting, winning teams full of Celts!

Our future is bright.

Ian McLennan
We have to trust in the board's judgement, if they think Owen Coyle can take this club forward then we should give them (The Board, Owen Coyle & Burnley F.C.) our FULL support.

Welcome to Turf Moor Owen and may you and Burnley F.C. have a very successful future.

Steve Ashley
Wow, what a two weeks this has been. Things changing so quick hardly time to get my head round them before they've changed again.

In the cold grey light of day, this is how I see things with the appointment of Owen Coyle, who undoubtedly will become known as Owen Theclaretsgomarchingin.

Steve Cotterill - brought much needed stability to the club after a period at the end of Stan's reign when we were pitching and yawing from week to week like a ship in a hurricane. Having said that, I think he reached a stage where stability was changing to having our feet glued to the ground and unable to move. The 3 games I saw during my October visit back to England (Palace, Ipswich, Cardiff) were flat and uninspiring, and there was a sort of pall of stagnation around the place, like a spark was needed on and off the pitch. Never met Steve C, and he was undoubtedly a passionate coach, but I detected a bit of smugness at times in regard to the supposed approaches previously made to him, and the decision made is bold - kind of 'we need to get up of the couch and moving again' - I just hope it is in a forward direction.

The candidates - I was hoping from the start that we would get someone looking to establish or better their reputation rather than someone looking to re-find past 'glories'. For me, I am happy that we have not gone for Royle, Souness, or Reid. Think we would have been referred to as "Peter Reid's Burnley", with the name of the manager taking more attention than the club. I would also have been concerned about their commitment to the cause, and thus over players' commitment and fitness. I must admit, I felt relieved when Reid dropped out of the frame after appearing to have the job sewn up. I would have liked Jewell, but as Brendan said, he is likely to get calls from Premiership or international level. Steve D is only a year younger than Coyle, and I really hope he will be able to stay at the club in some capacity such as coach again. Seems the players wanted him as boss, and I hope there will be no harmful antagonism to the new man because of this.

Grayson was interesting, and he was the one I initially hoped we would go for, even over Laws, in the first days after Cotts went, because the football it appears Pool have been playing has remained positive after they have moved up a division.

Coyle I had never heard of until his name cropped up on here. (Maybe BK and BF had a crackly phone line and the message really was "Let's go for Royle"). But he is in the age range we were supposed to be most keen on (41), and has a good reputation north of the border. This is his huge chance to make a name for himself and build his reputation, and he has everything to gain. We can only hope that he is up to the challenge. I have no idea whether he will have the contacts for dealing successfully in the transfer/loan market, or whether he will be able to command the respect of senior players such as Gray, Blake, Caldwell. This is my main concern, but presumably BF and BK will have tried to establish that he will have the nous to use any funds available and not waste them, and he must have come highly recommended. This use of funds is a key requirement, unless a more experienced guy is in mind as a no.2.

So, it is an appointment that has come as a surprise, but that I view with optimism. Given the huge splits in opinion on this board, I don't think he will get much of a bedding-in period. I think some early wins are going to be essential in establishing a feeling of confidence in Coyle within the squad and on the terraces (sorry, in the seats).

So let's hear it for the new man:

"Owen the Clarets; Go marching in; Owen The Clarets Go marching in…."

Lorne Hayhurst
Terrific news about Owen Coyle. I hope he can bring Doc. D with him too.

Very Best wishes to Steve Cotterill though. A supremely model professional.

David Harrison
I am personally content with the appointment of Owen Coyle; I would hope however that he has been encouraged to retain the services of at least Steve Davis from the existing staff.

I have had concerns about the supposed pulling power of other names mentioned for the job, as we do not have a great history of big names covering themselves in glory at the end of their careers whilst playing out time at the Turf.

It is clear that we need to continue to improve our Youth systems and compliment young players with hard working professionals as the club strives to move forward. I feel it is unlikely that we will progress sufficiently to trouble league leaders but surely can mount realistic challenge to play off status that can be springboard for future progress and success.

Michael Derbyshire
Well done Burnley Football Club - the appointment of Owen Coyle, a young manager with a decent track record and a bright future in front of him, is a very shrewd, progressive decision.

We have replaced one very good manager with another, which is unusual in this day and age. Today Burnley fans have a reason to celebrate, which takes some of the pain away in the after Steve McClaren's England debacle. And thank god we didn't end up with Peter Reid.

Live & die for The Clarets!

Gareth Knight
Welcome to Turf Moor Owen. We welcome you and applaud our Board for appointing a young, forward thinking, ambitious manager. Here's your chance - help us to create that magical atmosphere at Turf Moor!

UTC!

Sharon Osborn
It's obvious that Kilby and Flood have gone for the cheapest option. When there is a man like Peter Reid ready to take the job, you don't employ an untested and inexperienced manager, for any other reason except money.

I wish Coyle all the best and hope that he can do great things with Burnley but I think that his employment only goes to prove that all Kilby and Flood are interested in is the re-development of the ground and how much money that will make them.

Adam Jackson
In April 05 when Owen Coyle was appointed as manager of St Johnstone to say I was disappointed was a huge understatement!

Fast forward to November 07 I am equally disappointed at Owen's departure. Three semi finals in a year, losing out on promotion in the cruellest of circumstances and on the verge of winning our first national trophy Owen has taken the team forward from where it was two and a half years ago. The timing of the departure sucks though and what impact this will have on Sunday's final remains to be seen.

It seems the Burnley fans share the sentiments I had all those moons ago. He will succeed in the same way that another of our former managers did. Paul Sturrock is another Saintees reject and look at all the promotions he has enjoyed in England!

Derek Powell
Saints fan
When looking to bring in new players, many will say "Owen who?" as I did. We all expected a bigger name but the board have presumably/hopefully done their homework and not just gone for a cheap option.

Good luck Owen, you'll get our support. It's in the blood.

Up the Clarets !!

Peter Hebden
Owen Coyle's win rate in Scottish football is over 50%. A phenomenal statistic. Away from the number, I think it's a massive statement that senior players at St Johnstone are coming out to praise the job he's done at the club.

Let's hope his obviously popular and successful methods, allied to the strong squad we have here, will give us a winning formula.

Daniel Kendall
I am not sure that Owen Coyle is going to bring success to Burnley but I wish him all the luck in the world. I think it was the right time for a new manger after Steve Cotterill. Steve has done a lot of good work with the club unearthing John Cofie and bringing Blake and Akinbiyi back to the club after his hands were tied regarding money issues, earlier in his tenure.

I think many Burnley fans were growing tired of him playing people out of position such as Lafferty and constantly tinkering with formations that just didn't work. As reported on Clarets Mad and elsewhere. Lets hope Coyle is given the funds to bring in a ball winning and creative central midfielder (Chaplow anyone?) which the team is crying out for.

We need someone with an eye for the lower leagues who can unearth gems, lets hope Coyle is our man!

All in all I am happy that at least we are getting someone with a positive reputation coming into the club. All the best Owen you will be a hero if you succeed for us!

Chris Wood
The search is finally over, and the appointment has definitely taken me by surprise. I don't think anyone would have predicted Owen Coyle to be a front runner, but now he's here we need to get behind him. If we can show him the same support and loyalty that was accorded to Steve Cotterill he will be the best supported manager in the game.

As for management style, it is impossible to predict what his favoured tactics will be as we haven't come across them yet, but that's good, as no misguided preconceived ideas will be touted by fans beforehand.

I think you have to give credit to the Board for presumably acting on instinct and going for a man who is not a big name, but in whom they have obviously seen some talent. A bit like Cotterill. But let's not go there too much.

Daniel Smith
I like most had never heard of OC, I listened to the press conference live and thought "he's saying all the things I regularly think of late on the match about why players must really want to wear the shirt, that they must be totally committed to the club and the fans and show it in every performance". I can indeed forgive bad passes and mistakes when I feel the player is giving us (the fans and the club) his absolute all + some.

We needed a change and my first impressions give me hope, I also liked the fact that he (in my humble opinion) did not talk in the standard clichés and explained his team always went out to win, with a system where everyone knows what their 'remit was' (his words) and the job they had to do.

As a salesman I know talk can be cheap (never from me off course) and some people have the gift of the gab - but let's get behind him and see what happens, my cup is always ½ full and we are not so far away from the right end of the table.

He's got my 200% backing and I can't wait for Saturday good luck Owen, I am looking forward to seeing some rejuvenated players out there.

Steve Murphy
I find it incredible that anyone can think Owen Coyle was appointed as the cheap option. Do these people think Brendan Flood and the rest of the board find in excess of £3 Million every season to keep the club solvent to then take the cheap and easy way out?

If Coyle is the easy way out then so are Jewell, Boothroyd, Bruce, Robson, Moyes, Davies etc who managed to get clubs at least into the play offs with little or no managerial experience. It could all go disastrously wrong but I'm glad the two main men on the Burnley board were making the decision and not some of the hysterical fans who have frequented this message board over the past week or so. They saw something in Coyle and that's good enough for me, let's sit back and see what is dished up most importantly on the pitch.

All I want to see for my cash on a Saturday is a team who has a go and attacks with vigour and purpose. I want us to fear nobody at home and make Turf Moor a fortress, that is our ticket out of this division.

Let the fun begin.

Steve Goodwill
First things first, Owen Coyle has one major advantage over Peter Reid - he's not Peter Reid.

Young manager, building a reputation for himself. Arguably, he's arrived at Turf Moor with his stock a lot higher than Cotterill's was when he turned up.

Cotterill's team and tactics had gotten stale, a change was desperately needed. Coyle's a gamble? So would anyone else have been. Inexperienced at this level? Couldn't care less. For the first time in about three seasons, I'm excited at the thought of a Burnley game. Bring it on.

Neil Lavery
I was gutted when we parted with Steve.

I was looking at his possible replacements and was very underwhelmed- I thought we had made a big mistake. Now I am feeling very excited about our club again, to be honest for the first time in years.

Good luck and God speed Owen, I think we are in for a very exciting period in the clubs recent history and I believe that all the staff and the great majority of the fans feel that we are all in this together.

If that is true then the sky is the limit!

Jim Pilling
I feel after the events of the last couple of days, English clubs should encourage the development of English manager's careers rather than giving opportunities for non-English ones. Here is an unproven manager at Championship or equivalent level, St Johnstone is comparable to the likes of Bury and Rochdale, not Burnley.

Maybe if clubs looked a bit nearer home for "young managers" as was the remit from the Burnley board, the Football Association would have a better choice than McClaren to lead the national side when everyone calls for an English manager to manage England.

I understand that all the foreigners (including other Brits) now dominating our game have improved the level of the Premiership, but for an average Burnley and England fan like me, I feel it is to detriment of our national team, and also the wages these players command make being in the Premiership even further away for a club like ours. Firstly, our own top players cannot break into Premiership teams so the standard of the England team goes down as they don't play regularly. Secondly, to be able to sign decent Premiership players to get us promotion we need a Dave Whelan / Jack Walker, not Flood or Kilby.

I wish Owen Coyle well and hope he can perform the goods for the clubs sake, but would have preferred a younger similarly experienced English manager coming up from League 1 for example being given a chance at Burnley.

Bob
Exiled Claret
It makes me laugh, the number of people who make reference to his management track record and antecedents.

I have a question for those people, "What do Workington, St Mirren, East Stirlingshire, Huddersfield Town, Grimsby Town and Carlisle United have in common?"

A. - All clubs managed by Sir Alex and the late Bill Shankly before they made Man U and Liverpool into the great clubs they are today.

I am indebted to The Pointer Sisters for their help in summing up my feelings:

"I'm so excited and I just can't hide it I'm about to lose control and I think I like it."

Shaun Furlong
I cannot for the life of me understand why any Clarets fan can be disappointed that we have appointed Owen Coyle instead of Peter Reid or any other so-called "big name". Examine Reid's record - it sucks! Also, ask yourself the question, why has he been out of management for so long if he's any good? (Only Paul Jewell of the big names mentioned would, in my mind, have been acceptable and we never really had a chance of getting him.)

Burnley's experience of appointing high-profile managers is not good, to say the least: Buchan and Bond have been mentioned, but what about the disaster that was Chris Waddle?! Great players rarely make great managers: if you look at the most successful managers, most have been good, solid players without being really exceptional.

Of course, time will only tell how successful Owen Coyle will be at our great club, but I applaud Barry Kilby's and Brendan Flood's decision to appoint a young, enthusiastic and ambitious manager and I wish him all the best. I just hope that the directors back him fully with a decent amount of money for players.

Peter Reaney
I'm pleased with the appointment. I wasn't happy about Cotts leaving, but I think that in Owen Coyle we have a similar character.

He sounds like a chap who likes to play attacking football and that will be something I look forward to watching at The Turf. All the best Owen, we're behind you.

Up the Clarets.

Adam Stephenson
Seems to have the right attitude and good motivating skills. We are right behind you Owen.

Be assured of our support.

Alan Grosschmidt
Welcome to Burnley Owen and the best of luck! I hope this appointment will prove to be as inspired as it was unexpected.

I felt the time had come for a change and the Board have shown that they are prepared to act promptly. Having said that SC left the club in a better state than he found it and should go with our thanks and best wishes.

To the doubters I would say, using the words a certain Stan Ternent, the proof of the pudding's in the eating.

Peter Bateman
OWEN COLUMBA COYLE! WOW What a name, that name has showbiz, superstar and success written all over it BRILLIANT. This is it finally this is our time we cannot fail to rocket all the way to the Premiership AND BEYOND having a manager with such a cool name.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND

I have always loved the way Scottish folk pronounce 'BURNLEY' ever since my time working in the various William Hill's bookies in Burnley and Pendle. The Lancashire dwelling Scottish punters would put a bet on the Clarets and the word 'BURNLEY' would just explode from their mouths which was in stark contrast to how us locals would pronounce the same word so long and drawn out, y'know BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURNLEEEEEEEEEEEY.

It's difficult to recreate in written word the Scottish pronunciation but I will give it a go here B'NLEY! or BUNLi! just listen out for OC's press conferences he'll say it with such force purpose and passion which inevitably will rub off on the team taking us all the way to the Premiership via Wembley in a playoff final for the glory or maybe we can save the Wembley trip for the FA cup final and take automatic promotion by taking the Championship title.

WELCOME TO B'NLI! OWEN YOU'LL BE REET AT TURF OUR EXPECTATIONS AREN'T TOO IGH

COLUMBA COYLE'S CLARET AND BLUE ARMY!

Rik Goddard