The Longside Reference

Burnley Manager From January 2010 to December 2010 

First game in charge. Away,Manchester United 16th Jan 2010 (lost 0-3)

Brian Laws came home in January 2010, twice before he had been on Burnley's radar for manager, twice circumstance robbed him of the chance of returning home to the team where in 1983 John Bond sold him to Huddersfield Town for £50.000(peanuts), John Bond made some bad decisions in his season in charge none so bad as allowing Brian Laws to leave!

Almost eight hundred games as a manager spiraling thirteen years with just three clubs, Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe United and Sheffield Wednesday, Laws is a man where Loyalty is a word which he holds dear, just as well as the man he replaced(Coyle), showed his faithful fans no loyalty.

On Laws, Burnley Chairman Barry Kilby went on record as saying "We had several excellent candidates but Brian came out in front of the pack. We were impressed by his demeanour and his passion for Burnley as well as his record at Wednesday with success on a limited budget. Burnley being the size we are means we also have to keep to a budget so he was the exact fit for the job.

He also has a history of bringing young players through which is important to the ethos of Burnley Football Club."

When Owls sacked Laws in December 2009, but with the Yorkshire side in £30 Million pounds worth of debt, and a chairman who wants to turn heads, Laws kept his dignity and kept his mouth shut, where there had to be two sides to the story, Sheffield's loss is Burnley's gain.

Brian came in with a clean slate, so clean he had no backroom staff in place! Russ Wilcox his assistant at Wednesday joined along with Stuart Gray who had been in temporary charge at Notts County, Southampton and Aston Villa along with former Sheffield Wednesday employee's, Tom Little, Tim Henderson and Billy Mercer. Little as the club's sports scientist, Henderson as head of recruitment and Mercer as the goalkeeping coach.

Laws had just seventeen games left to save Burnley from relegation, he didn't manage it, thirteen Premiership defeats, one draw and three wins leaving Burnley relegated in 18th place with 30 points,  five points from safety.

Burnley defeated Spurs 4-2, and West Ham United 2-1 at Turf Moor while a 4-1 victory on the road to relegated Hull City, who finished level on points with Burnley but were placed one place below on goal difference (Portsmouth were the third team relegated).

It was rumoured that Brian Laws was said to have had several stays of execution as the Burnley board could not see any improvement, so on into the summer and a fresh start in the Championship, with Brian Laws' Burnley team being touted by the bookies as one of the favorites to go back up.

Burnley stumbled through the Championship, with a squad who managed thirty points in the Premiership (minus the sold Steven Fletcher), Burnley never managed back to back wins. Brian Laws' team managed to throw away three two goal leads! Away to Sheffield United and Norwich and at Home to Leeds United. Burnley under Laws lacked something, passion? leadership? who knows, maybe Laws' passion for the club where he spent his youth could not be transferred to the Players who were exceptional under the previous boss?

When Burnley drew Bolton Wanderers in the league cup, and beating them 1-0 courtesy of a Wade Elliott goal, it exorcised the past, and laid the ghost of Owen Coyle! It seemed like a fresh start for Brian Laws, but it never happened.

Laws continued to do just enough, a 4-3 victory over Preston when 3-1 down with ten minutes to go, saw a jekal and Hyde of Laws' team, excruciatingly poor for 80 mins agaisnt a team who were cannon fodder, then to play with a real flair for the last ten minutes. The Burnley Faithful, who to be fair never all took to Brian Laws! The vast maority saw Laws as the cheap option, when if money was spent, Burnley could have secured thier premiership place.

And now in the Championship, thier angst turned to anger! it hit boiling point on the 28th December when a desastorous 2-0 defeat to Brian's former club and Championship struggles Scunthorpe United live on Sky, was the final straw for Burnley fans and board alike, a 40 strong protest outside the Bob Lord stand chanting "Laws Out" and " we are sick of watching shit" rang out as the fans had had enough.

on the 29th December it was anounced Brian Laws had stepped down with imediate affect, after a phone call from Barry Kilby. Laws left taking Russ Wilkox with him, leaving Terry Pashley and Graham Alexander helping out Stuart Gray in taking care of first team affairs.

Brian Laws was given a rough deal, the fans were never fully behind him, and it seemed the players also quit on the man who i beleive had Burnley FC's best interests at heart, and will still look up Burnley's result first on a Saturday afternoon.

It wont be long before Brian in back in managment.