BRENDAN Flood admits there may have been an element of luck in his prediction that Owen Coyle could be the next big thing in management, but he is still in no rush to withdraw his famous comparison to Bill Shankly.

When Flood compared Coyle to the Liverpool legend upon his unveiling at Turf Moor, most thought Burnley’s operational director was getting a little carried away with himself.

Coyle may not have reached those levels yet, but he has earned a reputation as arguably the brightest young manager in Britain since joining the Clarets in November 2007.

Having upset all the odds to guide Burnley into the Premier League for the first time, the Scot has now penned a new deal keeping him at Turf Moor until the summer of 2013.

And Flood, who has now revealed that the club received an approach from Celtic for Coyle within an hour of the end of the play-off final, would not be surprised if the Clarets boss goes on to match Shankly’s feats in the game.

“That comparison was more from when I was listening to him,” said the Rossendale-based businessman.

“When we first spoke, I rang him from the kitchen at home and it was late at night and I had a list of about 35 managers on this sheet. I thought I’ve got time to speak to most of them and I rang him, left him a message and he rang me back.

“We started to chat and I had no idea really about Owen at the time. I started asking questions to fit the prototype we were after.

“A lot of the words Owen was saying reminded me of something and it was Bill Shankly.

“It was lucky, I guess, but who knows?

“He could go and make a name for himself like that. Why not?”

Chairman Barry Kilby admitted that Coyle’s contract extension had always been ‘number one in our priorities’.

As a manager, the Scot has often been hailed as Mr Positive – a quality that impresses Flood.

“Owen is capable and doesn’t fear anything,” he said.

“You’ve got to be fearless to be a good leader. You’ve got make sure you’ve got the hearts and minds of your players and Owen definitely has that.

“This just gives everyone a bit more confidence about the next three or four years.

“It’s a four-year deal, so we can base our plan around that.”