Brian Laws is the fairest of them all.

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.

First and foremost Brain Laws is a Claret. He started his career at Turf Moor and played almost two hundred games for the club. He is a man who won’t jump ship when a slightly better job comes around and will fight for our cause. If anyone doubts this then just look at his press conference yesterday, he spoke with passion and commitment. If that’s not enough to convince you, he even smiled after being made to wear one of those horrible club ties.

Of course, if passion and commitment was enough then we’d all have applied for the job but Law’s CV doesn’t scream of failure. His promotions with Scunthorpe speak for themselves, while keeping Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship in a period of financial and political turmoil off the field for the club shouldn’t be overlooked.

Many though have complained at the fact he has a lack of top flight experience as a manager but then offer up alternatives like Lee Clarke or O’Driscoll, who have both never managed in the top division either. We need to remember that although we are a Premier League Club in terms of league position, in terms of infrastructure and budgets we are not yet at that level. We are hardly likely to go for a “Curbishley” when we wouldn’t stretch our budget to keep Owen Coyle.

Some fans need to stop believing the hype, take look at the budgets, the squad and recent results and remember who we are and where we’ve come from. Burnley Football Club is a work in progress and let’s be honest it’s not stay up or bust for our beloved side. The Premier League is where we all want to be but we’ve planned to go down and will still be debt free if we do.

Brain Laws is a man who can work well to a budget, as shown by certain “surveys” which put him at the top of a list of managers who’ve had success compared to their budget. He also is a man that likes to play good football, not only as we witnessed in his team taking six points while scoring eight goals against us last season but also in the many other times he has brought one of his teams to Turf Moor.

Laws may have run out of ideas after three years at Wednesday but that can happen to any manager when results destroy confidence. Just look at Steve Cotterill, a man who assembled a good side at Burnley that lost its way, only to be picked up, strengthened and tweaked slightly and taken to promotion the following year by Owen Coyle.

In Laws we also have a man who has obviously kept a close interest in what’s been going on at Turf Moor. Reading between the lines it seems that it was him that suggested Graham Alexander should become part of the backroom staff during his first interview, a move that has not only pleased lots of the Burnley public, but could also prove a masterstroke in instantly bridging the gap between the new gaffer and the dressing room who may too be slightly disillusioned by his appointment.

It seems as though all the Coyle compensation is going towards the current budget, as I imagine is the difference between Laws and Coyle’s wages. Some may accuse the board of “penny pinching” with this appointment, but I’m sure they’ll all change their tune with a couple of new signings to bolster the ranks.

It’s already been reported Matt Kilgallon has turned us down after a fee of around one and a half million was agreed, while today’s papers have linked with a move for Sheffield Wednesday’s keeper and former Burnley loanee Lee Grant. It also seems that the club are trying to do all they can to extend David Nugent’s loan deal until the end of the season. There’s no doubt a couple of timely signings would certainly help sooth some of the resentment towards our new manager.

Laws is also a fighter. He has an impressive history of inspiring his teams to winning derby’s, becoming the first manager to do the double over Sheffield United in 95 years. How we’d love him to have the same success against Bolton or Blackburn in the next few weeks? Also think how we’d love him to show the determination in keeping Tudgay when we courted him earlier this season when Coyle returns for one of our players in the summer?

The press too can condemn this appointment all they want. Sarcastic headlines and snidey pieces about tight arse Lancastrians stroking their whippets have been written too many times for me to care. I trust our Chairman Barry Kilby to make the right appointment for Burnley Football Club, not for the media. Although what better story could there be than Brain Laws keeping in the Premier League and making all those know it all hacks and pundits eat their words. I for one would love it.

What they fail to understand is Burnley is about doing things right, we aren’t going to blow our budget and end up like in the doldrums like so many illustrious clubs before us. Now lets all get behind our new manager and continue our fight to stay in the Premier League starting with the long awaited trip to Old Trafford on Saturday. Now just how long have we waited to say that? All hail Brain Laws, our new Mr Burnley.