BURNLEY fans made their voices heard in defeat at Barnsley. “Sort it out Eddie!” they urged.

Others might want more drastic action, but thank heavens the majority were calling for a solution and not a resignation.

Eddie Howe has a plan in place. A long-term one. What would allowing him to abandon that achieve other than going right back to square one?

After suffering their second back-to-back league defeats of the season the Burnley boss was as honest as ever.

“I would be the first to put my hand up and say ‘it’s not going to work’ if I thought that,” he said.

But hopefully that’s not a conversation he’s prepared to have with himself yet, because he needs to be given time, and give himself time, to see his strategies through.

The trouble with modern day football is that people – fans – don’t do time. They want overnight success, more so when they have already been spoilt by it.

The promotion and Premier League rides were ones which no-one of a claret and blue persuasion wanted to get off. But even the players admitted the 2008/09 campaign was a rollercoaster they stumbled upon in the first place, swept up in a tide of magical momentum and unquestionable confidence.

They rolled the dice one more time at Wembley and struck gold.

But the club didn’t strengthen enough to sustain their top flight status then, and the ramifications of that are still keenly felt in their quest to get back there.

The big difference between 2009 and now is that promotion was a bonus three seasons ago, it has since become a burden and the pressure is perhaps weighing too heavily on the shoulders of a young manager and his young squad.

Of course they are aiming high. Who doesn’t want to play at the highest level possible?

But until Howe is given the resources to make it more achievable, maybe it’s time for a reality check while Howe’s rebuilding project is still in its infancy.

From the boardroom down, targets need to be feasible, not fanciful, to give a group of clearly talented individuals the opportunity to grow and improve together as a team.

Fans need to allow them to play with freedom, not fear, and see where the next ride takes them.