RELUCTANT hero - you had better believe it. Paul Cook should have played lead role in The Quiet Man, writes Paul Agnew.

Cook may have caused many a stir during a soccer career crammed with memorable matches, virtuoso performances and outstanding goals ... it's just that he doesn't like to make a meal of it.

Not so much shy, more humble and a touch ill at ease with a microphone pushed under his nose or confronted by anyone holding a pad and a pen.

In short, he doesn't conform to what we except and suspect all footballers to be like - a player who would prefer to be left to get on with his job rather than be congratulated for it.

But Cook is finding it increasingly difficult to side-step the limelight. As a major cog in Burnley's engine - and engine room - he has an ever-growing legion of admirers.

A series of solid performances this season have underlined his immense worth to the Turf Moor cause. But Burnley fans were given a taste of what Cook had to offer right from the word go.

In his very first game, alongside fellow debutant Tom Cowan at home to Preston in March, he scooped man of the match accolades.

He has figured prominently in most games since and contributed three goals. They may not come along too often, but when they do they are well worth the wait, illustrated by not one, but two 30-yard thunderbolts in recent weeks.

Indeed a goal he scored for Stockport against Manchester City in 1997 was recently voted the best County goal of all time by their supporters!

As ever, though, Cook plays it down.

"I'm not particularly bothered about awards like that," he shrugs. "It doesn't matter to me whether or not I score as long as the result is right.

"I actually prefer to see the strikers scoring because it keeps them happy, although there are always times when everyone needs to chip in with a goal or two. "That Stockport goal is probably remembered as being extra special because it brought a win over Manchester City. Perhaps it wasn't so much the quality of the goal but just what it represented. It was a day for everyone connected with Stockport to be very very proud."

In so many respects, Cook comes across as a player of the old school, a relic from bygone days when skill was more important than power, and half-time oranges came without isotonic options.

His crosses are invariably pin-point and his passing is straight out of a dot-to-dot collection.

More than that, he is a genuine team player. His answers are almost always exclusively in the plural. It's not him - it's the team, the club, the town, the fans!

But, still he denies that he shies away from publicity: "It's not that. Football is what you do on the pitch, not what you talk about in the papers. It's easy to say we'll do this and we'll do that, but the talking has to be out on the pitch.

"And I think that at Burnley now the talking is being done on the pitch. I prefer the facts, points won, goals scored etc and to look to everything as team.

"I think if you do well, you do well as a club. By the same token if the club isn't faring too well then I believe everyone should all shoulder the responsibility. It's always the manager who gets the blame, but often it's the players performances that are at fault.

"It maybe nice to be singled out for attention, but at the start of the season our target was to win the league as a team. That is still the goal.

"People like Steve Davis, Mitchell Thomas, Gordon Armstrong and myself, we've all played a lot of games, so there aren't many surprises.

"But we are by no means the complete team, and nobody here is claiming that everything is perfect. But we are heading in the right direction and that's the most important thing.

"It's a long, long season and no one player is going to win it for you. We all have good spells and we all have spells when we need to take a breather.

"Stan Ternent and Sam Ellis haven't changed their attitudes at all - in fact, if anything, they are probably even more critical and harder on us now than they were last season - if that's possible!

"So I wouldn't describe myself as a key member of the squad because we are all key members. You might only get one game, but if in that game you score the goal that gets the club into the next round of the Cup, or into the play-offs, then it could make the world of difference."

Cook signed a one year contract in the summer, which means he could move on a free at the end of the season ... or could be without a job. Given the effort he's put in week after week, he could be excused for expecting more, but does he?

Go on. Say something controversial.

"These days it doesn't matter if you are on a three year contract or not because, if you're not playing well, you won't get picked anyway and I've never been one to go training just to pick up my wage every week.

"I'm as happy playing football now as I've ever been. At every club I've been at the fans always support someone else - Man Utd or Villa - but here the people from the town support their home football club and it's great to drive through and see all the kids with Burnley tops. "Football is unpredictable and I genuinely don't know what will happen in the future but I feel like I've got years to go yet.

"Here? Well, that would be ideal."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.