Tormented boss vows to steer Clarets to safety

Ternent shouldered the blame for Saturday's debacle when Burnley were trounced 5-0 by Gillingham to slump within three points of the relegation zone.

But it's clear that the Burnley boss also expects and deserves more from his players who let him down badly and left him feeling "humiliated".

Ternent admitted today that Burnley will go down if they repeat Saturday's performance.

However, he is adamant that his side will improve to beat the drop, saying: "It's up to me to change that, that's the acid test. I will sort it out.

"But I am not going to kick any balls off the line or score any goals. People talk about motivation but what about self-motivation. The motivation I have given them is the opportunity to run out at Turf Moor with a claret and blue shirt on.

"They have got to have some pride. There are no excuses for Saturday. I am the manager and I accept responsibility. That goes with the territory but I came into it with my eyes open and I am not running out on anything."

Ternent said there had been no punches pulled as he and his players thrashed out where things had gone wrong.

And the manager is demanding "mental toughness, a resilience and the players to accept their responsibilities" if they are to pull the club out of its slump towards the relegation places. Ternent admits it's been a tougher job than anticipated and despite the welcome arrival of Barry Kilby as chairman it's obvious he has found deep-rooted problems to overcome in taking the club forward.

"The club's been in this situation for quite a while now. There is a cancer in the club and I will cut it out, that's the best way for me to tell you," Ternent added.

Burnley were 4-0 down at half-time with disgruntled Burnley fans, who at times ridiculed their team, leaving in large numbers.

Those that stayed saw the Burnley side back on the pitch mid-way through the half-time interval.

"The reason I sent the players out early was to see what they have got at Turf Moor. But if it carries on like that they won't have it for much longer.

"We are going to get into a situation where we need to win one in two. With 13 games left we need to win five games or maybe six," Ternent said.

Reflecting on Saturday's drubbing, their sixth home defeat of the season, the Burnley boss added: "I feel humiliated would be a good way of putting it.

"Without a doubt (it's the lowest point since I've been here) but I will put it right. I won't be going anywhere.

"It can only get better, that's all I can say. There are no words that would sum up my feelings and certainly no words that would make the supporters feel any better after a performance like that. It's just totally inept and totally inadequate. "There can be no excuse whatsoever. It was a very humiliating experience.

"We have been in a relegation battle for a while but we will stay up."

The Clarets chief has no immediate plans to change his personnel, although he has players pencilled in that he would like to sign and should they suddenly become available then the situation could change.

As it stands though the current batch of players, who were called in for training yesterday and involved in the clear-the-air talks today, must take on the responsibility of improving a run of two wins in 13 games with their next three fixtures against promotion-chasing Wigan, Manchester City and Preston.

Burnley will at least have the badly-missed Steve Davis back for Saturday's trip to Wigan after a one-match ban and Glen Little provided a ray of hope with a stunning return from injury in the second half of Saturday's game.

Ronnie Jepson made a shock return as a substitute for Burnley on Saturday - only to be disgusted by what he saw.

Jepson is the sort of player who will be needed in the run-in for both his ability and commitment to the cause.

"I was surprised to make a comeback," admitted Jepson, who hasn't played since September because of a ruptured Achilles tendon. "I was dragged back from Lilleshall on Thursday and haven't played a game, done a tackle or anything but when I was asked to go substitute I took it on myself to go there.

"I might have knocked myself back but I haven't luckily and it was a case of all hands to the deck with the injuries and suspensions we have got.

"I was very tentative but going on at 4-0 what do you do? You either go on and go berserk and test it and get silly bookings which I didn't. I felt alright but I was a little bit tentative on it."

And Jepson left no-one in any doubt about how bad Burnley had been.

"We were an embarrasment, an absolute embarrassment," he said.

"It doesn't matter what formation you put out, when you go under like that. Whether you're a footballer or whatever you do in life you've got to work hard before you get anything and we weren't at the races.

"As players we were an embarrassment to Burnley Football Club. You would think we were the away side, I couldn't believe it.

"I don't know what it is, whether it's the will to win I don't know. We look around us in the changing rooms and we've got enough there to be a good side. But if you don't have a desire and will to win in whatever you do it doesn't matter how much ability you have got, you won't do it. "I felt sorry for Paul Crichton because the rest of us from one to 10, that's myself as well, just weren't good enough.

"We weren't good enough for Burnley Football Club and we weren't good enough as professional players. Whatever job we were doing we just weren't good enough. We were poor, pathetic."

He added: "We've got to get down to it and and stop kidding ourselves. You've got to realise you can't hide behind things. If you are going to be successful in football and you want to go to higher clubs and you want to get this club into a higher place there is no hiding place. You have got to work hard and that's what we didn't do as individuals and as a team."

Burnley 'A' beat Tranmere 1-0 with a goal from Tony Shandran.

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