FRANCE 98 may be around the corner but Stan Ternent could have made his entry to the Euro 96 anthem 'We're in this together' as he made his return to Turf Moor as Burnley's new manager.

In a career that has gone full circle since he started out with the Clarets as a teenager, Ternent has been charged with restoring the club's fortunes in harness with assistant Sam Ellis.

But the former Bury boss insisted it would take a team effort to make Burnley a Second Division force next season as he was unveiled as Chris Waddle's successor yesterday.

"I think togetherness is important," said Ternent. "I would ask the fans to get behind the players and the staff at the club.

"Together, that's the word, because together we've got a chance, but it's a tough League this time."

After being applauded by fans who converged on Turf Moor to throw down the welcome mat, Ternent stressed that the supporters were a "massive part of the team."

"Ideally I would like 20,000 people here like the last day of the season but with something else at stake. That's what we all want," he added.

And he outlined what the supporters would see in his pursuit of the kind of success he brought to Bury when guiding them to successive promotions and then First Division safety last term.

"When the ball moves at three o'clock on a Saturday afternoon those players will show endeavour, commitment, a will to win and a level of fitness channelled into what I consider to be the right direction.

"If you do that you can't guarantee playing good, bad or indifferent but you give yourself every chance.

"If you do that people will forgive a lot of things, provided you have a go and that's the first thing that's got to happen. "Because there's no question in my mind, not just at Burnley Football Club, but the vast majority of footballers under-achieve.

"They can be what they want to be provided they work hard enough to give themselves a base to work from.

"So I hope we will have a together club, a happy club, enjoy it and get some good results.

"At the end of the day it's where you finish really where the improvement is.

"I know what the expectation level is and I would never make any promises except to say that I will certainly improve it."

That level of expectation and the challenge that represents was the primary factor that brought Ternent back to Burnley - and not a huge salary increase.

"I have come here for the same money and did not walk out on any contract," he stressed.

He proved at Gigg Lane that he has the ability to bring out the best from players and making sure they don't under-achieve.

Turf Moor is therefore in for a dose of discipline and intense coaching and the current crop of players will sink or swim.

"I will look at the team before I strengthen," said Ternent. "My expectation is to complete the three years of my contract and if I do that I know I will have been successful.

"I will try and fulfill my ambitions and the supporters' ambitions but the people who will achieve it are the players. Stan Ternent won't put the ball in the net or kick it off the line." In an impromptu forum Ternent seemed to confirm the supporters' initial impression that he is the man for the job and as a former Claret appeared to be regarded by the fans as "one of them."

Ternent's wife Kath and son Dan were also present yesterday, along with Ellis' wife Helen.

That added to the feeling of togetherness and with Ternent breaking his self-imposed rule not to work where he lives, it's apparent that Burnley is a special job for him.

He is also be keen to foster the youth at the club as he bids to recapure the winning feeling that pervaded the corridors of Turf Moor when he was a young Claret.

"It was like getting five caps, getting five first-team games here between 1962 and 1968."

They had so many good players here and that's what we want again," added Ternent whose regular League appearances had to come at Carlisle and Sunderland.

"They have had a tradition from the early 1960s right through and seen some fantastic players, homegrown players and bringing players in and so on and so forth. "Somehow we seem to have lost our way so perhaps I can try and get back to that sort of system."

Meanwhile in the managerial merry-go-round former Burnley manager Jimmy Mullen has expressed an interest in the job vacated by Ternent at Gigg Lane.

Neil Warnock - another linked with the Burnley job - has also shown his hand and could be among the front-runners.

The Clarets Independent Supporters Association holds its annual general meeting at the Sparrow Hawk Hotel in Burnley tonight, start 7.30pm. A hoped for special guest will not be able to attend.

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