IT is not just the Clarets who have reached the top ten in the past week.
Following the sackings of Peter Reid by Sunderland and George Burley by Ipswich Town, Burnley boss Stan Ternent finds himself standing at number nine in the list of longest serving managers among the 92 in the Premiership and the Football League.
It was in the summer of 1998 that Ternent came "home" to Burnley, the club where he had started his football career as a teenager in 1962 and the fact that he is now one of the longest serving is proof of two things.
Firstly he has had the success that is necessary for any manager to keep his job.
Burnley has been transformed from a club scrapping against the drop to the third division into one that is once again looking up rather than down, despite the horror start to this season.
Every one of the eight managers above Ternent in the longevity stakes has won something, be it the doubles celebrated by both Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger or the promotions won by Ronnie Moore and Barry Fry.
Alan Curbishley at Charlton, Dario Gradi at Crewe and Brian Laws at Scunthorpe have experienced relegation as well as promotion but they have continued to be backed by their clubs in the bad times as well as the good.
That brings us nicely to the second thing that is patently obvious - most football clubs are not very patient.
The fact that Ternent has risen so swiftly to the top ten after just over four years in charge of the Clarets proves that club chairmen continue to be very quick on the trigger.
The annual sack race might have started a little later than normal - except for Tranmere who amazingly got rid of Dave Watson for poor form in pre-season - but the minute one board decided it was time for a change it was like a domino effect.
John Cornforth at Exeter started the ball rolling and he was followed by Reid, Burley and Hull's Jan Molby while Stoke were left looking for another manager because Steve Cotterill decamped to the Stadium of Light.
With two of the managers above him, Moore and Brian Talbot, linked with the vacancy at Ipswich there is every chance his climb up the list will continue.
But with Dario Gradi fireproof at Crewe it is unlikely the top spot will change for some time.
Ternent himself is in the final year of his current deal at Turf Moor and it remains to be seen what will happen in the future.
He did come close to leaving in his first year at the club but was persuaded to stay on, a decision neither the club nor the manager has ever regretted.
And who knows, the fact that clubs that give a manager a decent run tend to be the most successful, may finally persuade boards it is time to back the boss, not sack him.
ENGLAND'S LONGEST SERVING CLUB MANAGERS
1. Dario Gradi, Crewe Alexandra - June 1983
2. Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United - November 1986
3. Alan Curbishley, Charlton Athletic - 1991 joint then alone June 1995
4. Barry Fry, Peterborough United - May 1996
5. Arsene Wenger, Arsenal - September 1996
6. Brian Laws, Scunthorpe United - February 1997
7. Ronnie Moore, Rotherham United - May 1997
8. Brian Talbot, Rushden and Diamonds - June 1997
9. STAN TERNENT, BURNLEY - JUNE 1998
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