It's okay complaining that the fans are having bit of a pop, but there's an old adage about stones and glass houses.

The players have to put their house in order first before the fans will forgive and forget. Far too often at the moment, we sit there waiting for that defensive mistake that will prove our undoing yet again.

Until that particular problem gets sorted, the fans have every right to have a moan.

The defeat to Stoke reeked of relegation and, given the current scenario, I actually think the supporters have been pretty restrained so far this season.

Life isn't easy as a Burnley fan at the moment, watching a club go from the brink of the play offs to forever moaning about money. Meanwhile, Stan has had his side ripped apart and the season ticket prices are always on the up while casual fans sit around and wait for the cheap deals.

So much for Christmas cheer.

The players have to give fans something to cheer and they will gladly reciprocate the gesture.

Confidence is not something the manager can do much about either. You can't give someone like Graham Branch a confidence pill and watch him go.

All the players - Graham is far from alone in this unholy mess - have to pick themselves up and make things happen because we are sadly lacking in leaders.

And speaking of leaders, the board also have their part to play. The cutbacks they have made over the past 12 months must be necessary, but surely they could be kept to a minimum if someone else did the honourable thing and joined chairman Barry Kilby by putting their hand in their pocket.

He has put around £5m into the club he supported as a boy, but I don't recall anyone else putting their head above the parapet when the bullets are flying.

If things don't alter soon, we are going to end up relegated and even more money will be lost through lack of season ticket sales.

Right now, what wouldn't we give for a couple of clean sheets? Well I wonder if Stan is contemplating changing his approach to something that used to be the norm.

I remember when we got out of the Second Division, Stan liked to play with three centre backs and wing-backs.

We were very difficult to score against and we always carried enough of a threat at the other end to grab a goal.

There are some pretty tough matches coming up in the New Year and the cushion between us and the bottom three is down to four points.

Jay McEveley is still waiting in the wings and I'm sure he would tighten things up in the centre.

It's only a thought - but with the FA Cup bringing a welcome break from the league this weekend, what better time than the New Year to to try something new?