FLYING to West Ham seven months ago, a supporter elected to have a whinge.

"How come everything reported about Burnley is doom and gloom?" he boomed in my direction.

Naturally, his comments came on the back of the dismal 6-1 hammering at Ipswich, which surely darkened his mood somewhat.

But as I tried to point out at the time - don't shoot the messenger!

This has, without doubt, been a traumatic season for Clarets fans everywhere. And imagine how I felt stepping into the shoes of my two previous colleagues, who both had nail-biting play-off chases to hang their copy on!

For my sins I've had a mass player exodus, financial instability, a dour relegation battle and supporter apathy to contend with.

But finally, out of the darkness comes light.

Survival is all but secured (I know we're not quite there yet, but surely there can't possibly be a final twist of the knife) and fans are finally walking round with beaming smiles restored.

Season ticket queues are forming quite nicely at Turf Moor, where club chiefs are hopeful of inching close to the five-figure mark for another season of First Division football.

All three relegated teams (assuming Leeds or Manchester City complete the set) will bring healthy crowds to Turf Moor next season - something that has hardly helped the atmosphere inside the ground over the past nine months.

Behind the scenes, in chief executive Dave Edmundson, the club seems to have a pro-active figurehead who listens to the fans and is hell-bent on driving the club forward (the new season ticket deal and bank-busting shirt sponsorship deals being fine examples of both), while chairman Barry Kilby remains unswerving in his devotion.

Manager Stan Ternent will be far from content at seeing his squad ripped apart by the black hole that engulfed the club, but he too can bask in the satisfaction of a minor miracle achieved.

On the field, it's been a struggle - no-one would ever deny that. But the green shoots of a recovery would appear to be peeking through.

The summer should see the club re-aligned through many players' lucrative contracts expiring.

This will hopefully provide Ternent with some financial clout to do what he does best - sniff out transfer targets and take this great club forward again.

Meanwhile, the emergence of young talent cannot be ignored. Only last week, Joel Pilkington became the latest in a steady procession of teenagers fast-tracked towards first team action.

Paul Scott, Ryan Townsend, Matt O'Neill and Marc Pugh have all had little nibbles and will now be desperate to follow in the footsteps of Burnley and England's Richard Chaplow.

And watching the Clarets youth team in action in this week's Lancashire FA Youth Cup final, it's easy to see more youngsters like Neal Trotman and Tom Ince breaking through.

So it's my duty to report that all is not doom and gloom. However, I wouldn't mind a tilt at the play-offs next season, Stan!