JUST hours after parting company with Wrexham, Brian Flynn was being invited to help out at Burnley's Gawthorpe training ground by his old friend Stan Ternent.

"Stan has invited me down and that was brilliant of him," admitted Flynn who, until Monday, was the third longest serving manager in the country.

"Stan's a very good friend and he was kind enough to say this is an open invitation and it's one that I am looking forward to taking up."

Flynn has spent 30 years in the game since he arrived at Turf Moor as a 15-year-old schoolboy, the last 12 as manager of the North Wales club.

But now he is ready to do whatever is asked of him to help his first club as they chase a return to the top flight.

"Entertaining is the word for Burnley at the moment," he said. "My accountant is a fanatic who goes home and away and he can't believe what he has seen this season.

"I have only seen them play once, against City, and that was a fantastic game. At 3-2 Glen Little had a chance that was saved, a corner wasn't given and then City scored."

Flynn did not make it to Turf Moor on Tuesday night, the day after his long association with Wrexham ended, and he confessed: "It was a strange feeling that night because it was the first game Wrexham had played in almost 12 years that I was not in charge."

It was November 1989 when Flynn took over at the Racecourse Ground and he said: "Only Dario Gradi and Sir Alex were longer serving than me.

"But we parted on very good terms and that was important to me. The club has been a very big part of my life as I was also two years there as a player.

"After 12 years as the manager there, perhaps it is the right time for a change for both parties and it will work well for both me and the club. I certainly wish them well."

Throughout his time at Wrexham, Kevin Reeves was always his right hand man and Reeves also left the club on Monday, leaving Joey Jones in temporary charge. As Flynn acknowledged, it was a longer relationship than many marriages.

Flynn knows that management is a precarious occupation and so surviving 12 years was no mean feat.

He said: "I am part of the League Managers' Association Committee and it might surprise people to know how many clubs changed manager last season - 42. That is almost 50 per cent and in the last five years the average length of time for a boss to be in charge has been between 18 to 20 months."

Flynn is vastly experienced and he admitted he has enjoyed watching other coaches work, as Wrexham's excellent training facilities have been used by a host of big names.

"When Barcelona played at Man United they trained at our place so I saw Louis van Gaal working with people like Rivaldo," he said. "And England trained with us before they took on Poland at Anfield.

"But really there is no secret to training," he said. "I remember when I arrived at Burnley my first training session was running up and down the Beehole end, different bounding exercises. Now there is a fancy name for it and it does not involve steps, but it is basically the same."

Where the game has changed is in the introduction of experts such as dieticians and sports psychologists. "Football was perhaps a bit traditional and slow to accept new ideas.

"But everything is taken that bit further now than when I was playing," he said. "Fitness levels are monitored more closely and you have a better idea of what stage your players are at.

Now, following Ternent's invitation, Flynn is ready to help out the club he served so well as a player. In two spells at Turf Moor he made 254 appearances, scoring 27 goals, and he has never lost a love for the club.

And with 30 years of footballing experience behind him, Ternent knows his presence on the training ground can only help in the push for promotion.