STAN Ternent's office took on a surreal look yesterday. Stripped of all belongings that identified it as Turf Moor's nerve centre, it was left as soulless and tidy as an Ikea showroom!

Hopefully it won't be that way for long. Everyone was swept up in the emotion of Ternent's tearful farewell on Sunday, but soon a new manager will be installed and the office will again be a hub of activity.

However, just how much of the remaining furniture and equipment is utilised depends wholly on the choice of chairman Barry Kilby and his board.

The computer in the corner, never touched by technophobe Ternent, could come into its own should Kilby plump for the "up and coming" manager cited in one of three mysterious profiles.

If the "more established" manager is his choice, then the Nobo board stood idle in another corner is likely to be the preferred method of communication.

And should the tantalising prospect of a "coaching duo" be appointed, then there is more than enough room to accommodate another Ikea desk!

What we should all be happy about is that Kilby wants the new managerial team in situ sooner, rather than later.

With players' contracts all over the country ending, the mad scramble for players is already underway.

And with an embarrassingly small squad left at Turf Moor, it would be nothing short of a disaster if the new Burnley manager is left feeling like the playground leader picking sides and left with a choice of the spotty, bespectacled kid or the boy with two left feet!

The retained list was today announced and as it stands Burnley now have just eight professionals on their books - all that remains from a squad that Stan built on a tight budget.

The out-of-contract six, as well as scholar Paul Scott, all now know their fate is in abeyance until either the new man is in charge, or they find alternative employment.

So it's likely that the one remaining piece of furniture in Ternent's old office, a pristine leather couch, will see plenty of action this summer as countless agents are enticed into the corridors of power.

Whatever the immediate future holds, it's a brand new dawn for Burnley Football Club. For supporters its an exciting time as Chinese whispers spread faster than the Sasser virus!

For the board its a crucial time as they home in on a key appointment crucial to Kilby's much-mooted three year plan.

As for Stan. A blind man on a galloping horse can see he'll be back. Visiting him at home earlier this week he was gearing up to sort out some troughing and get down to other bits of DIY that have taken a back seat to keeping the Clarets in business.

Somehow, I think that troughing may have to wait a while longer!