SPRING is in the air and a spring is in every excited Burnley fan's step today as Gazza-mania sweeps the region.

Yes, the madcap Geordie genius joins the Clarets!

What a masterstroke by manager Stan Ternent and the board. This is not just a crowd-pulling star signing, it's a fantastic commitment to the club's goal of going up.

No wonder the Turf Moor crowd went crazy with delight yesterday. They gave the soccer legend a standing ovation as he watched the Preston match in the stands.

And, by heck, has not the midfield maestro's arrival worked wonders already? Yesterday, it shut up the negative boo boys and got the fans right behind the team as they took three points from their Lancashire rivals and climbed to fourth in the league.

Such a situation would make for a happy Monday for all Burnley fans in any circumstance. But now that ex-England hero Paul Gascoigne dons the famous claret and blue, pulses are racing at the thought of what he can do to help Burnley into the Premiership -- and over how he can do it.

For, though at 34 Gazza might be coming to the end of a magical soccer career, his brilliance with the ball and in crafting match-winning moves still shines strong.

And was there ever a more intriguing entertainer on and off the football field?

That Stan Ternent has captured Gazza for the thrilling climax to what, surely, must be a promotion season now, shows what a strong reputation he and the club have in the world of football. It was the same esteem that brought ex-Arsenal star Ian Wright to Burnley and sent a thrill round Turf Moor every time he took to the pitch.

But super showmanship though it may be, it is also a shrewd and exciting strategy aimed at ensuring that proud and famous Burnley are back where they belong -- up there in soccer's top flight, the Premiership. Here we go!