"THIS is the job I've always wanted ever since I came to be connected with Burnley Football Club.

"It is a club of tremendous potential. A superb place to work. I'd love to think I would be the man to help revive it.

"I want to get Burnley back to the top. It is a big challenge, but I am confident I can meet that challenge head on and make Burnley great again.

"I had an unbelievable rapport with the Burnley fans as a player and hopefully that will be a big plus in turning the fortunes of the club around.

"I have never known a town have so much affection for its football club - everybody in the town is right behind the club.

"We can make this club very successful and the potential here is enormous.

"I am hoping to be the one who realises that great ambition no matter how many hours a day it takes.

"The expectations here are very high, but if we move the club forward the rewards will be enormous.

"In the immediate future I want to help Burnley climb the table fast, but the long-term aim is to reach the Premiership inside five years.

"I wouldn't have left Sheffield United for anybody else, but the lure of Burnley was too great for me to resist.

"It is a job which anybody who has ever played for Burnley would find very hard to turn down.

"The timing was perfect with the great stadium plans and if I had turned the job down it is something I would have regretted for an awfully long time.

"I have a great deal of affection for Burnley and I simply could not say no.

"They are an ambitious club and I have been given full support by the chairman and the board and I am looking forward to working in tandem with them to achieve success.

"It is great to be coming to a great family club with a great family tradition."

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