BURNLEY'S board of directors were today ready to make a last-ditch bid to persuade Adrian Heath to stay at Turf Moor.

The Clarets five-man board were expected to meet to discuss the managerial crisis - and contingency plans if Heath decides to join Howard Kendall at Everton.

Chairman Frank Teasdale was unavailable for comment, but Director Bob Blakeborough confirmed: "We would sincerely hope that Adrian stays with Burnley and continues the good progress he has made over the past 15 months."

The prospect of losing Heath has caused a furore among the Turf Moor faithful and today several anxious fans gathered at the ground to plead with the board to offer Heath an extended contract.

The Clarets manager is expected to meet with Kendall tonight - but he was eager to stress that he had not made a final decision over his future. "I've had an approach from Howard Kendall but it is premature to presume I will be walking out on Burnley to join Everton," confirmed Heath.

"I don't know what the offer is until I speak to Howard Kendall again.

"Nothing concrete has been decided yet. I am a bit surprised that people think it is a foregone conclusion.

"I'm still the manager of Burnley until someone decides otherwise."

However, sources on Merseyside suggest Heath will link up with Kendall before the weekend and renew a "dream ticket" partnership with his mentor.

Everton's three-month search for a successor to Joe Royle descended into farce when Andy Gray became the latest target to resist their overtures on Monday.

And Everton are desperate that there will be no hitches with the Heath-Kendall appointment with Goodison fans becoming increasingly restless.

Gray, who signed a four-year deal, believed to be worth £3 million, to continue with Sky TV as the country's number one soccer analyst, hit back at accusations that he had betrayed Everton by turning down the manager's job at Goodison Park.

He insisted: "I was never offered the job in the first place so I don't feel I've let anyone down."

Previous sport story

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