YOU have to applaud the Burnley boardroom for making fans aware of the state of the club's dire financial situation.

And you can only wish chief executive Dave Edmundson well in his rallying cry to those fans who have turned their back on Burnley.

But unfortunately, everything being said has a rather hollow ring to it unless the team start winning games.

The odd cut price ticket offer might bring a trickle of supporters back through the turnstile, but its a flood we need right now to give the board - and Stan - some badly needed leeway.

Supporters are not thick and generation after generation of Burnley fans have proven down the years that they will turn out in force to support a winning team.

So any money the club can find, from whatever source, simply has to be put into the playing side wherever possible to help stop the exodus.

The squad is woefully short on numbers and I think the picture is now clear that we are locked in a relegation fight.

That is exactly the scenario that is causing people to choose alternative forms of entertainment on a Saturday afternoon, rather than rally round as the club want.

I can, of course, appreciate that managing the cashflow must be a a nightmare at the moment.

But the way I see it, you have to invest in the team to get the results to bring the fans back.

Anything else is pussyfooting around the real issue.

Of course, the situation will get better in the long term for Stan and the board. As contracts expire and are renewed, players sink to a more realistic, manageable wage that improves the finances and loosens the purse strings for more new arrivals.

But it's short term that still worries most supporters - and I'm no different.

On a happier note, how good is it to finally have another home game - the first of 2004?

The fact we've only had one run out at the Turf in a over a month hardly helps the cashflow, but hopefully a decent crowd will turn out to see West Brom.

I went to the Hawthorns earlier in the season and they are clearly one of the better teams in Division One.

But we were a little unfortunate that day and, even though the current Burnley squad is short on numbers, I still feel it's one of the strongest we've had in recent years and capable of giving the Baggies a game.

Stan finally seems to have settled on a central defensive pairing of David May and Mark McGregor and I wouldn't argue that appears to be the strongest on the books.

All that is missing now is for Luke Chadwick to regain the form he showed at the start of the season, when he was a real breath of fresh air.

However, form is temporary. Class is permanent and I'm sure Luke will soon be back on song and terrorising full backs.

What wouldn't we give for that to start tomorrow?