Saturday Interview with Lenny Johnrose

Burnley boss Stan Ternent has done, Ray Harford and Johnrose's father have not.

The 29-year-old was just two when his dad turned his back on a wife and seven kids and walked out of the family home never to return.

These days, whenever the pair meet as strangers, they do not pass the time of day.

And that suits Johnrose fine.

"I don't have a lot of memories of living with him. In fact I can't remember living with him at all.

"I presume he must have walked out on us when I was two but I didn't miss out anything.

"I've never wished for this or that.

"I sometimes see him walking around Preston now but I don't give him the time of day because he never gave it me - he never had the inclination to see me at all.

"But he's now missing out on a lot.

"I've got a little girl and he won't see her grow up.

"He'll probably die a lonely old man but it's just one of those things that happens in life."

His mum Agnes filled the void throughout his childhood, bringing up the family single-handedly on one of the less affluent council estates in Preston.

And while his friends played on the streets outside, Johnrose found it hard to cut himself free from the apron strings, preferring instead to stay in by her side.

But in the last four years, it's Ternent who has suddenly become a sort of father figure.

For all the Burnley's chief's hard-man image, he provides that personal touch which has brought the best out of the former Blackburn Rovers prodigy.

"You've got to know what Stan's like first and foremost.

"I've heard a lot of players say they couldn't play for him, but I like the man.

"When he's shouting and bawling you know he's doing it for your and his benefit.

"When we were at Bury players would run through brick walls for him.

"Straight away he believed in me and that's what makes you want to go out and play well.

"He doesn't mollycoddle you.

"He'll have a go at you if you deserve it, and sometimes when you don't, so it's not preferential treatment or anything like that.

"But you just know deep down he has faith in you."

If only Harford had adopted the same approach, Johnrose might well have prolonged his Rovers career.

For during the early days of the Kenny Dalglish revolution it was Harford's iron fist approach which forced him into exile in the north east with Hartlepool.

"Ray Harford used to lay into me at training all the time and, because I was only 20, it got to me.

"In the end I was desperate to get away, basically because of him.

"I had no time for him - I just didn't like the man at all."

That was a sad end to an Ewood career which had begun so brightly.

Johnrose was just 18 when he made his Rovers bow at West Brom.

According to urban myth, he only travelled down to the Hawthorns for the ride but was dramatically hauled out of the stand when Scott Sellars got injured in the pre-match warm up.

"That really annoys me when I hear that because it's complete rubbish.

"I went down as part of the squad and John Millar missed the coach so Don Mackay put me on the bench with Alan Ainscough.

"Scott Sellars then got injured in the warm up so they had to call Tony Diamond down from the stand onto the bench.

"But that wasn't a story, was it? It was me that ended up making my debut so that's what the papers got told." It was nearly two years before he got a first team chance again and he seized it in spectacular style, scoring on his home debut as Rovers came back from 2-0 down against Ipswich.

But with Simon Garner, Andy Kennedy and Howard Gayle first choice in the strikers' pecking order, he had to make his mark from the bench.

That he did and five goals in as many games earned him the title of 'super sub' as Lenny mania swept through Ewood Park.

But it was a tag he never enjoyed.

"I hated it to be honest because I just didn't think I should have been a sub.

"To be fair to Don Mackay I struggled in my first year as a pro and I didnt really warrant a place.

"But in my second year I definitely feel I should have played more games than I did but he was too reluctant to leave out his old pros."

When Mackay got sacked Tony Parkes restored him to the side, playing him in midfield in his preferred position.

He scored the last of his 12 goals in a 3-1 away win at Millwall but got injured the following Tuesday, just days before Dalglish took over for the 5-2 win over Plymouth, and never got picked again.

Without realising it, he had become the exact cut off point between the old Rovers and the new. His escape route led him into the wilderness at Second Division Hartlepool United, a move which came as something of a culture shock.

"When I went to sign we didn't go to the ground, we went to a hotel in Darlington.

"So when I went down to training I just thought 'No way'. But the fans were quality. No disrespect to the Blackburn fans but Hatleppol's 2,000 fans made far more noise than the Rovers ever did. They were brilliant."

His three season stint in the north east ended in a transfer to Bury and it was there where he forged a successful central midfield partnership with Nicky Daws under Ternent which proved instrumental in back-to-back promotion campaigns.

But the departure of his mentor to Turf Moor in the summer and the subsequent dismantling of the side under Neil Warnock left Johnrose disenchanted.

So when Ternent came back looking for his prodigal son he had no hesitation in answering the call.

Johnrose hopes that his playing days will end at Turf Moor and he intends to start university in September after completing a computer with the eventual aim of teaching physical education.

He realises that it may take time and that Burnley fans may not forget his Blackburn roots in a hurry.

"I'm bound to have the odd nightmare and I'm sure I'll get slaughtered for it because of my Blackburn connections.

"Stuff like that used to get to me as a kid but now I'm older I don't get fazed by it so I won't let it worry me."

Johnrose has so far been able to fend off the Turf Moor dressing room jibes about his love of rock band The Smiths - he is a frequent patron of Indie club The Warehouse in Preston.

And 'This Charming Man' hopes to earn the respect of the Clarets' faithful.

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