STAN TERNENT remains favourite to land the Burnley manager's job despite his assertion that he won't walk out on Bury, writes PETE OLIVER .

Ternent has indicated that it would take the permission of the Bury board for him to take on the Clarets job if he chose to accept any forthcoming offer.

But I believe that his freedom would be secured one way or the other should Burnley hand him the challenge of restoring the fallen giant.

Ternent, who was chosen by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph readers as the man to replace Chris Waddle, has been described by Shakers' owner Hugh Eaves as the best manager in the club's history.

And his record of taking Bury to successive promotions and keeping them in the First Division this season would surely be rewarded with the opportunity to talk to prospective new employers.

And that would prevent Ternent, who is not under contract at Gigg Lane, from having to walk out on Bury to move in at Turf Moor if he wants to take on the task of reversing Burnley's fortunes.

Ternent told the Bury public in a local paper: "If Burnley do make an approach and my chairman turns round and says I'm not going then that's that, I don't go.

"But at the moment I've no idea if Burnley want to speak to me. This talk is all based on speculation and nothing more.

"I have always enjoyed it at Bury and still do. "The whole thing depends on three things, one, whether Burnley are interested in me, two, whether Bury want me to stay or not and three, whether I would want to go and that would depend on the ambition of the clubs."

In terms of ambition, Burnley's is likely to exceed that of Bury simply because of the financial clout the anticipated takeover is expected to bring and the support the club attracts.

That would probably offset the fact that the Clarets are currently a division below their Lancashire neighbours and make it a more tempting proposition for Ternent who may feel he has taken Bury as far as he can.

The protracted takeover at Turf Moor still continues to cast something of a cloud over the managerial situation with confirmation still awaited that Peter Shackleton's consortium has come up with the promised funds.

And the door may still be open for rival bidder Ray Ingleby to come in if the Shackleton deal isn't quickly signed and sealed. "It's dragged on and on and things can't go on forever but at the end of the day it's a very, very good deal for the club and if you've got to be patient you've got to be patient," said director Bob Blakeborough.

However, he added: "If the right deal is available elsewhere more speedily you may have to be prepared to talk."

Blakeborough said he hoped the Shackleton deal would be verified any time but said that it was also important to remain open-minded.

"Any deal is only a good one when it's materialised," he said.

And Blakeborough said he felt sure Shackleton was under no illusions that the deal needs to happen "sooner rather than later."

Meanwhile, another of Burnley's potential managerial candidate has left his current job.

Former Burnley player and Southampton boss Dave Merrington has left his post as chief scout at Wolves, making him readily available to take over at Turf Moor if the board was to turn to him.

Previous sport story

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