A fan's-eye view from Turf Moor, with Stephen Cummings

THE Burnley fan a couple of seats down from me sprang to his feet. He looked like he was about to explode. His face was redder than Bristol City's shirts. His body language was more animated than that of Martin O'Neill with fiery jack on his nether regions. And his language was more industrial that a David Batty tackle.

The cause of his raging apoplexy? The Clarets lack of attacking threat to their West Coast hosts. In one sense I could sympathise with Mr Angry's sentiments. After all, 1,500 Burnley fans had spent three or four hours on the road to sit through a match so dull and uninspiring it would have cured even the hardiest of insomniacs.

But - and here's the bottom line, folks - we came away with a point and a clean sheet.

Of course, in an ideal world the Clarets would go away from home and win with all the swagger and elan which saw them polish off Colchester recently. But let's face it - there's more chance of John Gregory smiling than there is of that happening.

Not that you'll catch me moaning. Those in the know will tell you that following Burnley on the road in recent seasons has traditionally held all the appeal of sticking your head in an industrial cement mixer.

The word 'abysmal' might have been invented for our away form. Indeed, so generous have we been on our travels, there was once talk of registering the club as a travelling charity. In short, the problem has needed addressing for a long, long time. And now that has happened we are beginning to reap the rewards.

This is borne out by the stats. Away from Turf Moor, the Clarets have kept three clean sheets from a possible five. They have lost only once in the process - and that occurred in highly dubious circumstances at Bristol Rovers.

So whilst I have a degree of sympathy as I watched Mr Angry work himself up into a seething rage, I have to say I'm quite happy with the way we are playing at the moment.

Stan Ternent's job is to get Burnley Football Club out of this division. And I for one don't particularly care how he does it, just as long as he does.

And let's have it straight - if we grind out a boring 0-0 at Scunthorpe on the last day of the season and go up as champions, I think Mr Angry may well change his tune.

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