BURNLEY'S players witnessed at first hand Portsmouth's promotion party and there is no doubt it will have given them a taste to be in their position next season.

When I covered Stockport County their last match one season was at Swindon Town, where they saw the home fans celebrate the championship won by Steve McMahon's team.

"I want that to be an incentive to my players for next season," said manager Dave Jones and, sure enough, 12 months later they were up, albeit in second place behind a Bury side managed by a certain Stan Ternent.

But Pompey's turnaround in fortune is quite remarkable given the struggles they had just 12 months ago.

And the fact that they are going up this season adds more strength to the argument that clubs managed by more senior men have a better chance of success than if they are run by a young gun who is still wet behind his ears.

Graham Rix was Pompey boss last season, a man with a good coaching pedigree having worked with success under Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea.

But he soon found being number one is a whole different ball game and the only way he was likely to take the South Coast side out of Division One would have been down rather than up.

When he left the club, ambitious chairman Milan Mandaric moved swiftly to install Harry Redknapp as the man in charge, persuading him to have at least one crack at getting the team up into the Premiership.

As if having the former West Ham boss as the number one did not bring enough experience, he has brought in Jim Smith, the "Bald Eagle" who has had a brilliant career in management, coming through the ranks from non-league football and gathering a wealth of experience.

While Rix was out of his depth by the sea, it has been virtually all plain sailing for Harry and Jim and they deserve every plaudit.

Burnley's better times came along when the board turned to another pair with a lifetime of experience after a couple of flirtations with younger men. Adrian Heath and Chris Waddle came and went without ever threatening to get Burnley promoted to the first division, in fact the latter came close to taking them down.

It was when Stan Ternent and Sam Ellis came along that the good times did, although it did take 12 months to get the Turf Moor House in order.

At the very top of the English game there is more evidence of what you can do with an experienced man at the helm. Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger go head to head tonight with their status as grandees in the game assured.

But the Grandaddy of them all is the brilliant Sir Bobby Robson at Newcastle, 70-years-young but with the enthusiasm of an Andrex puppy. Ruud Gullit and Kenny Dalglish both struggled on Tyneside but he has transformed them into a Champions League side that will be challenging for the title in years to come.

There are exceptions on both sides that help to prove the rule. Micky Adams is a younger manager who may yet pip Harry to the first division title but he has at least learned his trade the hard way.

Teflon Tel, THE most over-rated manager in football, brought his experience to Elland Road and transformed them from top six to bottom six.

At Sunderland age and innocence combined as Howard Wilkinson and young Steve Cotterill made a far better job of getting the Wearsiders relegated than Peter Reid ever could have.

All managers and coaches need to start somewhere and are at one stage lacking experience but I like to see them come through the ranks. One name to watch out for is Nigel Clough who could yet follow his dad to glory.

But for now, as they look forward to playing at Old Trafford, Anfield and Highbury, you can be sure which side of the fence Pompey fans are on.