EXACTLY how much doom and gloom can one club take?

If you listen closely, there's a perpetual, low-pitched sound constantly purring around this part of the world, sensed only by battle-hardened Burnley fans.

The only surprise is those boffins at NASA haven't picked up the mysterious boom on eavesdropping, eastbound satellites.

However, species of martian life-forms are thought to be redirecting the hijacked Beagle spacecraft to this part of the universe after picking up a strong signal ... deep moans from Turf Moor!

Seriously though, can anyone this side of the Orion belt say they did not expect a difficult and trying season?

Probably not, yet I can't recall such a negative vibe reverberating around the terraces since the bad old days of the 1980s.

Happy New Year? Let's all hope so because, despite the current struggle there is still so much to remain upbeat for at this great club.

Naturally the league standing is all important and no-one would deny that for so many well-documented reasons, 2003 is best consigned to the history books.

But put the season so far under the microscope and you can focus on so many positives.

In joint £1m record signings Ian Moore and Robbie Blake, Burnley have a strike partnership that could both rack up 20 goals for the first time since the fearsome Willie Irvine/Andy Lochhead duo nigh on 40 years ago.

Fourteen-goal Blake is already closing on his best seasonal total of 17, while Moore's 10 puts him half-way to the magic total and within four of equalling his own annual record - and that's with at least 20 games still to come!

Last summer's cull has also speeded up the emergence of Richard Chaplow who, if he keeps his feet on the ground, already seems destined to be heralded the best young midfielder at the club since Trevor Steven.

Meanwhile, chairman Barry Kilby's unswerving devotion to the club knows no boundaries, as another recent £1m injection proves.

And what of the manager, who in testing times has still attracted players of the calibre of David May, Luke Chadwick, Andy Todd and Jay McEveley to Turf Moor? And all this while vowing to carry on without a contract if necessary to see through the job he started.

The league position does remain a concern, but the anticipation of an FA Cup run similar to last year still sends tingles down the spine - whatever some Premiership prima-donnas feel about the importance of the greatest cup competition in the world.

I reiterate, there are clearly negatives to counteract many of the positives. But right now I'm through with all the moaning and groaning. And that's just from my dad!

Summer is the time for whingeing, so at the start of a new year let's change the tone and really give NASA something to probe!