JOE Royle has been installed as the new manager at Ipswich Town and the natives are reportedly restless.

The reaction on Wearside was no more enthusiastic when Sunderland turned to the "experience" of Howard Wilkinson to take over from Peter Reid.

The general consensus seemed to be that he was more of a "dinosaur" than an experienced hand on the tiller - and everyone knows what happened to Tyrannosaurus Rex and his pals.

But David Sheepshasnks and Bob Murray are only following the recent trend that has seen the "wise old men" of football given the chance to show that they can still teach the young 'uns a lesson or two.

Leeds got rid of David O'Leary and turned to El Tel, John Gregory left Villa Park and another former England boss Graham Taylor was handed his second spell under Doug Ellis and when Gullit left Newcastle in less than Ruud health, the grand old man of football, and yet another ex-England manager, Bobby Robson took charge.

It is all in stark contrast to a few years ago when bright young things were very much flavour of the month. Bryan Robson got the job at Boro while Gullit was followed by Gianluca Vialli at Chelsea.

Gregory got a chance at Villa, untried O'Leary at Leeds, Gordon Strachan at Coventry and the step from the pitch to the hot-seat appeared to be getting smaller by the week.

But it was not just in the upper echelons that clubs were trying that route and a quick glance at the recent history at Turf Moor shows that the Clarets have done it themselves.

The reigns of both Adrian Heath and Chris Waddle were short and not terribly sweet and so when neither man managed to turn around the fortunes of the Clarets the board looked at the other end of the managerial scale.

It is not just that Stan Ternent had enjoyed great success down the M66 at Bury, he was a man steeped in the club's traditions and with over two decades of coaching and managing experience behind him.

It took a year for the move to pay dividends but that it has done is beyond question. Promotion to the first division and two successive seventh places are a testament to that.

And at the weekend he and his loyal side-kick Sam Ellis were in like minded company as Harry Redknapp and Jim Smith brought their Portsmouth team into town.

Between them they have more than 150 years of experience and there is not much they have not seen - or rather there wasn't.

The next time Ternent picks up the phone to have a chat with his old mucker on the South Coast he will have another tale to tell, although it may be a bitter one.

Ternent has already admitted he has never been involved in a match like last night's at Blundell Park and surely he is now in a select Hall of Fame as a boss who had a face like thunder after watching his side net five times away from home.

Grimsby boss Paul Groves is a managerial pup in comparison and but for injury would have played last night.

He performed heroics in keeping the Mariners up last season and if his players can show the spirit they showed last night, he might succeed again.

But it remains to be seen whether he will have the longevity of a man like Stan when it comes to working in the game. Many more nights like yesterday might not be good for the health.