Well everybody, my time is almost up here on ESPN Soccernet. Burnley are preparing for life back in the good old Championship after a glorious season in the Premier League while I'm returning to my Das Football blog.

As a goodbye present from me to you below is a chance to download a full length interview I did with Burnley Chairman Barry Kilby that was first broadcast on local station 2BR. Hope you enjoy it.

Click here to download Barry Kilby interview

Anyway, thanks for reading and commenting on the blog (especially those Blackburn Rovers fans) over the past season, its been great fun.

Like I said you can catch me on my Das Football blog next season, follow me on twitter or even hear me as a semi regular summeriser on 2BR.

Finally, well done to Blackbpool and Ian Holloway, what a great man to have in the Premier League.

All the best.

Sam

Well what a way to bow out of the Premier League. For a long time now the fans have needed that sort of result, performance and spirit that the team showed in their 4-2 victory over Tottenham on Sunday.

As supporters we’ve keep going in the face of defeat, each week believing that our turn around was just around the corner. Of course in terms of survival it never came but the way we turned Spurs over in the second half at the weekend helps to reinforce my belief that we will be challenging to make a return to this level come next May.

It’s taken a while in trying to sit down and give our relegation from the Premier League the justice it deserves and for that I apologise. In reality I should be making the most of this platform as within a month I too will fall through the Premier League’s trap door via the ESPN Soccernet’s Correspondents league table.

I said prior to Sunday’s game that if we were relegated I’d take off my shirt and cry like one of the many fat Geordies I saw on my T.V screen last year when Newcastle went down. Although Liverpool sent us packing back to the Championship it didn’t happen. Sadly I don’t have the tattoos or big enough man breasts to do those boys on the Tyne any justice.

Saturday was a day for firsts, AP McCoy romped home in the Grand National in his fifteenth attempt and Burnley earned their first ever away victory in the Premier League after previously drawing one and losing fifteen. It seemed like the Gods were smiling, except on me who didn’t back either.

After a turbulent week in the history of the club a positive performance and result was paramount for everybody involved with Burnley. After a humiliating defeat at the hands of Manchester City, stories of discontent within the ranks began to spiral out of control.

Well, where do you start? Burnley received a total thrashing by City at the weekend and for the first time in recent memory Shaun Goater was nowhere to be seen. The free scoring “Goat” once banged in back to back hat tricks at Turf Moor and often cited it as his favourite ground during interviews. I think after Saturday the likes of Adam Johnson, Emmanuel Abebayor and Carlos Tezev may be redrawing their lists of their most successful stomping grounds.

Six one at the final whistle tells one hell of a story, but the fact it was three nil in less than seven first half minutes gives you all you need to know. It’s disheartening enough when your team concedes one early goal but when three go in all you can do is choose whether to laugh or cry.

The fallout continues. Burnley’s one nil defeat to Blackburn at the weekend has once again raised more questions about our underperforming players. In short, we weren’t at the races on Sunday lunchtime as Rovers completed the double over us without ever really being pushed.

In the last few months there is no doubt Burnley have lost their way. Competing week in week out in the most physically demanding league in the world has caught up with us and has shattered our confidence.

The weekend’s defeat was the first time we’ve failed to score at Turf Moor this season, a stat that given our form at home may be surprising to some neutrals. However the fact we’ve lost perhaps our only decent record left intact in a one nil defeat to our fiercest rivals is hard to take.

The overall lack of creativity, competitiveness and desire to get a result was also difficult to swallow as barring the first fifteen minutes in the second half when we actually showed some fighting spirit there wasn’t enough on show throughout to warrant us deserving at least a point.

I think it’s fair to say that Mick McCarthy isn’t one for smiling. However that wry grin he tried to hide during Saturday’s post match press conference told the story of what was another frustrating afternoon for the Clarets.

Big Mick looked a top hat and cane away from breaking out into a song and dance musical number as at the end of an up and down ninety minutes at Turf Moor we had handed his Wolves team three vital survival points.

In truth, neither side looked like the ones who were promoted from the Championship last term. Both have had their confidence shaken by the harsh realities of football at this level. However Wolves still have shades of the highly organised unit that took the title, where Burnley occasionally showed glimpses of the hard working attacking side that snatched promotion via the playoffs.

It felt like the day that those who ‘dared to dream’ really stopped believing. Burnley’s 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth at the weekend saw many disappointed faces leaving Turf Moor struggling to stay positive about the rest of our Premier League campaign.

Sadly it was another story of the season game with missed chances at important stages then seeing us punished for them at the other end. What was different about this one though was that it was at Turf Moor, where on only two other occasions we have been beaten this season.

If there is anyone out there that still doubts the fact that football can be a cruel, cruel game then will somebody please show them a DVD of our trip to Villa Park on Sunday. In fact, just show them the twelve second half minutes where we suffered a horrific collapse even an England batting order would struggle to emulate.

From one nil up to five two down at the finish, the story of our away season continued with great aplomb as once again what seemed to be looking like a competent performance was shattered when put under pressure.

We’ve reached the rollercoaster point of the season where a win and a loss in the space of five days of fixtures can take you out of the relegation zone and then throw you right back into the mire. That’s where we find ourselves today, in the bottom three once again along with Moses Coyle’s Bolton and Portsmouth.

The last week has provided us with a real mixed bag; when we beat West Ham last Saturday results went for us and then after Tuesday nights three nil defeat at Fulham things went very much against us. So after a turbulent week we’re left in 18th place with 23 points and 13 games remaining.

A rather turbulent month in the history of Burnley Football Club on and off the pitch has finally come to an end and thankfully it’s finished on a positive note. Despite the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea on Saturday, the Clarets showed enough substance to suggest that avoiding relegation remains a strong possibility.

The league leaders were given a real game at Turf Moor; it was certainly a harder ride than what John terry has allegedly been getting from Wayne Bridge’s missus. Or not, it depends how he likes it I suppose. The Blues skipper eventually won the game for his team with a powerful header however prior to that Burnley were more than in the game.

After all the action that's taken place off the field over the last couple weeks it was a relief to finally watch a game of football. A trip to Old Trafford was undoubtedly one of the highlights in terms of must see away clashes this season but nobody could've expected to go there in the circumstances in which we did.

Our first game in the post Coyle era couldn't have been harder. It was certainly a baptism of fire for our new manager Brian Laws but to be honest I think it made it all the more special. The match ended three nil, however the result was never important. This was a day to show that Burnley Football Club was together and can never be ground down.

So there was a late twist in the tale after all. Perhaps we should’ve known that if the press were reporting O’Driscoll had got the job, then it would actually be Brian Laws who would be crowned the winner of “Barry Kilby’s Beauty Parade”. I know the announcement originally under whelmed a lot of fans and I hope like me, the majority have now all come round to the idea.

The mantra from a lot of people seems to be “he wasn’t my first choice” which I think is natural given the list of names that were touted as Owen Coyle’s successor. The fact Law’s was only sacked by Sheffield Wednesday a month ago hasn’t helped many either but if you look beyond these two factors then it looks like the board have made a very sound appointment.

Well our Chairman Barry Kilby’s self proclaimed “beauty parade” looks like drawing to a close in the next day or so (what a great idea for a new TV show by the way- ‘Barry Kilby’s Beauty Parade’). In a radio interview last night our leader said he hoped the new man would be in place before the weekend’s trip to Manchester United.

It’s been a turbulent week for the club as after losing Owen Coyle and his backroom staff, we’ve been left looking for a new manager in the middle of a transfer window with a run of games coming up against Manchester United, Bolton and Chelsea. By the time caretaker manager Steve Davis and goalkeeping coach Phil Hughes left on Sunday it was anyone’s guess who’d be taking charge of training for the next week. In the end it was decided Martin Dobson and Terry Pashley would step in, only just pipping Chris Eagles hairdresser and Clarke Carlise’s former AA councillor to take over first team duties.

Well that's it, he's off. Some have likened it to their wife running off with another man and I'm pretty sure plenty would've probably preferred to see their wife go instead, but Owen Coyle is no longer the manager of Burnley Football Club.

Now making snowmen on gardening leave, once compensation is agreed the Scot will exit Turf Moor for his former club Bolton with the promise of bigger and better budgets, stadia and infrastructure to compete in the top flight. I've been left like many feeling a strange mixture of disappointment, frustration, anger and total bemusement at his decision, but also of huge appreciation for all he's done during his time at the club.

I'd not even had time to break any of my new year's resolutions before the speculation Owen Coyle was leaving for Bolton went into overdrive on Saturday. Many hung-over Clarets will have sat glued to the addictive repetition of Sky Sports News only to be told of the impending doom they were about to be faced with by some pretty, if slightly too orange blonde.

The yellow bar was out in force with the scrolling "SKY SOURCES: BOLTON WANT OWEN COYLE TO BE THEIR NEW MANAGER" being rammed down our throats. "So bloody what" I screamed at the telly whilst reaching for the comfort of a box of chocolates and a beer to instantly smash both of my well thought out and intentioned resolutions.

If the constant din of the telly wasn't enough the bookies were at it too, suspending betting on Coyle taking the job as if they'd got wind that the demigod had already deserted us for the promise of an endless supply of Reebok Classics. My instant defiance was suddenly being met with a bout of worry, what if he does actually go this time?

As we prepare to say goodbye to one hell of a year watching Burnley Football Club we must do so with the pain of another away defeat. It's a shame that the calendar year couldn't have ended with our first premier League away win but sometimes you can't have it all in football; and we've certainly been spoilt over the last twelve months.

Having been away for the disappointing defeat to Wolves I returned a few pounds heavier for the Boxing Day draw against Bolton. It was another one of those games where I'm still not quite sure how we didn't turn one point into three, as after a dull first half Burnley well and truly battered the visitors in the second period.

...that was a bloody good one. What another fantastic night of football at Turf Moor. Last nights one all draw with Arsenal was a thoroughly enjoyable encounter, one that's still got me smiling like that rather wet Geordie kid that won the X Factor.

For those gooners who dismissed Burnley before this game, next time you come to Turf Moor be prepared for another long ninety minutes. Owen Coyle's men did what the gaffer promised and went toe to toe with the Gunners for pretty much the whole ninety minutes in what was a superb display of counter attacking football.

Tomorrow night really can't come quick enough for me as we welcome back Arsenal to the scene of their Carling Cup decline last season with the prospect of another tough night in the north ahead of them. The fact that Owen Coyle has demanded his players go "toe to toe" with the Londoners should make things particularly difficult for Arsene Wenger's men (we're not ruling out an ambush as they get off the team bus).

Night time Turf Moor triumphs over the likes of the Gunners and Manchester United, as well as the Tottenham semi final epic have set the bar as some of the most memorable evenings in our recent history. The darkness seems to descend a special atmosphere around Turf Moor that makes the hairs on the back of your neck instantly stand to attention.

From comedy defending and consummate attacking during last weekend's 5-3 defeat at West Ham to yesterday's improved defensive offering but lack of finishing in the 2-0 loss at Portsmouth our away day travels continue to be frustrating.

My point of view is that this season is all about experience; and away from home certainly we have to try and let things go over our heads as much as possible but sometimes you can't help tearing your hair out whilst watching.

After our late point stealing antics at Manchester city last time out it was perhaps just a matter of time before footballs funny old symmetry came back to bite us in the backside. Sadly it spun round all too quickly to see us walk away from Turf Moor with just a single point on Saturday after leading Aston Villa for the majority of the game.

The days swirling wind and rain was hardly the perfect tonic for good football but this was still a game I was really looking forward to as I saw Martin O'Neil's men as the perfect side to measure how our Premier League credentials were coming along.

As Fabio Capello prepares his squad for a money spinning international friendly against Brazil in Doha much of the talk amongst Burnley fans has been about whether Tyrone Mears deserves an England call up. The right back has been in blistering form since the start of the season and with a price tag of around half a million pounds is proving to be one of the steals of the season.

Sadly, there is one major stumbling block standing in the way of the Stockport born lad, he has already played for Jamaica despite not having any links to the country. It now turns out not even lashings of Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce could make the twenty six year old eligible for their national team.

Saturday's thrilling three all draw away at Manchester City was one of those few occasions in football where a single point felt like three.

Having yet to pick up anything away from home so far this season there were few who gave us any chance if turning our fortunes around, especially when Mark Hughes' starting eleven came through with the likes of Tevez, Adebayor and Bellamy all included.

But that very same team also had Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott at centre half with a midfield packed with largely attack minded players. Reading their line up gave me more confidence than fear as I knew that we could hurt City if they allowed us too much time on the ball and the space to create chances.

The decision of quite a few Hull City fans to come to Turf Moor in Halloween fancy dress was perhaps always going to turn out to be an ominous one, especially when I spotted the Grim Reaper strolling down Harry Potts Way; although I'm still not sure whether he had actually taken the official supporters club travel.

The pressure on the visitor's manager Phil Brown in the week building up to the game had been mounting considerably, which lead him to illogically insist that his players were "one million percent" behind him. So if this game was to be a "six pointer" in terms of Burnley's survival hopes then using Browny's school of maths who knows how many points a win would've been worth to them?

Almost two years ago on a freezing cold Tuesday night in November at Turf Moor one of the worst games of football I'd seen in a long time took place. After an exhausting ninety minutes viewing from my seat in the Bob Lord Stand Phil Brown's Hull City came out one nil winners over Steve Cotterill's Burnley.

That was the last time we were to be known as that as Cotterill was later dismissed by the Burnley board in a sacking probably best remembered for him turning up to his own funeral as he sat looking glumly in the resulting press conference as Chairman Barry Kilby delivered the club's reasoning to the press.

Having been barely able to crack a smile since our derby day defeat on Sunday I've taken the time to digest exactly why we left Ewood Park with no points.

My conclusion? Well, that's pretty simple; Blackburn deserved their victory on the day. That's not because they outplayed us as a football side, instead they earned their victory in typical Sam Allardyce fashion. Rovers were simply more physical than Burnley, they pressed us better and picked up more of the second balls.

It's here, the build up to the first Burnley Blackburn derby in four years is well under way, the first in the top flight for over forty years. This game was top of my list when the fixtures came out, the moment when we can finally face Rovers as fully fledged Premier League equals.

In the FA Cup clash of 2005 and the face offs in the Championship Rovers always had the financial edge with their Premier League bank balance and parachute payments. But none of that matters this time as Owen Coyle has assembled a squad that as a true football team can beat Blackburn on any day of the week.

There's only one way to respond to a heavy defeat in any form of football and that's by winning your next game; for any side newly promoted to the Premier League it's all about that old soccer am coined phrase "bouncebackability" and that's exactly what Owen Colye's team showed on Saturday when Birmingham City came to town.

The only change saw Joey Gudjonsson drop out of the side to make way for the skipper Steven Caldwell in a move that saw Andre Bikey pushed into the middle of midfield. As the game began the players showed no ill effects of the 5-0 defeat to Spurs last weekend as they came flying out of the traps.

Well our away form continued to resemble a retarded abacus against Spurs at the weekend. I'm sure by now even the most unfortunate of children will have mastered their first count to five as it's now a sequence of 2-0, 3-0, 4-0 and 5-0 defeats away from home in the league- if we're not careful that bastard kid will be doing the most complicated times tables by Christmas.

The only thing that's missing in the sequence so far is a one nil away beating, something which I think we'd have taken over the last couple of games away from Turf Moor.

Oh, the joys of waking up on a Sunday morning with the incomparable feeling of another three points towards our survival. Our first Saturday win in the Premier League also saw us score more than once for the first time this campaign and turned a once hated figure into a new Claret and Blue hero.

Owen Coyle fairly decided against making changes to the side that has started every game since winning our opening home game against Manchester United, instead giving the eleven chance to answer some nonsense written about them following the whitewashings against Chelsea and Liverpool.

When in my last piece I spoke of Anfield being a footballing church I didn't expect to be welcomed by the Liverpool fans with a hastily arranged special Saturday service.

Prior to kick off the reds fans roared to their hymn Never Walk Alone which led me to believe that both sets of fans were going to contribute to a fantastic atmosphere. But while the Claret's played their part our opponents were pretty much subdued for the whole ninety minutes despite the 4-0 scoreline; in fact I'm not sure Emmanuel Adebayor or even Kanye West could've got them going.

Thank God for the International break. Prior to the fixtures coming out I was informed by her indoors that I was required to escort her to a friends wedding this coming weekend. My immediate thought was one of dread as I wondered which Burnley game I'd be forced to miss. Thankfully an England Slovenia friendly stepped in allowing me to enjoy the use of the overpriced four star hotel to its maximum.

Although for the price of sitting in a Turkish Sauna this weekend, seven days earlier I could've shelled out for an overdraft busting ticket at Stamford Bridge to watch us play Chelsea.

Unable to head south to watch our 3-0 defeat by Carlo Ancelotti's men due to work commitments I instead had to settle for the fantastic coverage on ESPN (now that's brand loyalty for you).

This Premier League business isn't bad is it? Two wins in a week at the Turf has transformed our reputation amongst the rest of the country from relegation certainties to well, relegation possibilities. The shift may be minimal but at least we're getting some of the respect we deserve.

Anyone who dismissed Wednesday’s win against Manchester United as a fluke will now hopefully be feeling as red faced as a merlot induced Sir Alex Ferguson. Although these naysayers will probably still be branding our wins as lucky due to excuses such as United’s failure to find their flow following the departure of the heavily relied upon Cristiano Ronaldo or the upheaval caused at Everton by Manchester City's harassment of Joleon Lescott.

Read the score line again and savour the moment. For ninety minutes on Wednesday night Turf Moor was back in the swinging sixties as Burnley Football Club revisited its glory years.

Owen Coyle has inspired his team to some great nights over the past year, the cup wins over Chelsea and Arsenal, the performance in the second leg of the Carling Cup Semi Final against Spurs, the playoff victories over Reading and our Wembley promotion; but this was to surpass them all.

Every route to Turf Moor was jammed with Claret as the pubs, chippies and street sellers all benefited from the pre match expectancy that filled the air.

Well our Premier League debut may well have produced a defeat but there were lots of pleasing aspects to take away from yesterday’s performance at the Britannia.

Despite being rattled by Stoke’s arial bombardment when we managed to bring the ball down from its lofty position we looked threatening and definitely produced the more attractive display.

It's strange to think that when the Premier League was formed on the 20th February 1992 that Burnley were well on their way to being crowned champions of the old division four. Since then promotions under Jimmy Mullen, Stan Ternent and Owen Coyle have brought us to the present day, where we're all but 24 hours away from opening our campaign as Premier League Burnley Football Club.

The transformation has been remarkable, seven years prior to winning the league in '92 we were a game against Leyton Orient away from dropping out of the Football League completely. And now tomorrow, 83 days after sealing promotion at Wembley our newest top flight chapter begins away at Stoke after a 33 year absence.

As a Burnley fan there were many chances to win a bit of extra pocket money by betting on the team last season.

While the squad were busy earning promotion to the Premier League and reaching the Carling Cup Semi Final, seeing off Arsenal and Chelsea along the way, those with an eye for a bet (and the spare money) were able to cash in on our success at the bookmakers.

Around ten days ago thousands flocked to L.A to witness a memorial for the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Today expect to see a few less well wishers as the players and staff of Burnley Football Club arrive in the City of Angels for their pre season tour.

The Clarets head stateside for the second year running hoping to recapture some of the American magic that helped them earn promotion to the Premier League last season.

What a marvellous couple of days for Burnley Football Club. Owen Coyle has once again continued his good work in the transfer market by bringing in three new players.

The club's transfer record was smashed on Tuesday as Steven Fletcher made the trip down from bonny Scotland to put pen to paper on his £3m transfer.

The fee doubles the reported price paid for both Martin Paterson and Chris Eagles last summer, meaning that if the BBC's Record Breakers was still on the telly then Owen Coyle's transfer kitty could've become a regular feature for the likes of Ronald Regan Jr, Linford Christie and Kris Akabusi to lament about.

I used to hate Graham Alexander.

When I say hate, I mean the immoderate pantomime loathing reserved for players who associate themselves with Preston North End. You know, the type that makes you shout out things like “Alexander you knob” every time he ran by.

But “Grezza” wasn’t just another Preston player; he was North End’s captain supreme and goalscoring fullback.

This Premier League stuff isn’t bad is it?

In the last few weeks Burnley’s name has been added to the Premier League section of various websites whilst looking at the new league table certainly makes for hours of entertaining reading.

If things aren’t strange enough already then look at me; A Burnley Premier League blogger.

Things got even better up on cloud nine this week when the fixtures came out.