TO SAY I'm surprised that Owen Coyle is expected to get the Burnley job is an understatement.

And I think it will come as a huge shock to the Clarets fans as well.

There's been loads of names banded about since Steve Cotterill left the club, but I didn't see this one coming I really thought that the Burnley board would have gone for a big name - like a Peter Reid or a Paul Jewell - because they have the clout and the contacts in the English game.

I would have liked to have seen someone like Reidy get it because he knows what it takes to succeed at this level. He's got a decent track record.

But Coyle has come right out of the blue and, if I'm honest, it's pretty uninspiring as this was a big chance to put a really big name in the hot seat.

Having said that, he must have really impressed the Burnley board, and every Clarets fan will wish him all the very best.

I know Owen from his time as a player in Scotland and he's a great lad. He scored a lot of goals for the likes of Airdrie and was quite highly thought of as a player.

And he's done quite well as a manager, but he's still very much a novice as he's only been the top man for a couple of years.

From my time at Celtic, I remember playing at St Johnstone and it's a nice little set-up. It's like a mini-Rangers.

But to compare the two is impossible.

St Johnstone only play in front of about 3,000-4,000 a week.

There'll be a lot more pressure on him in England because the game down here is very different to what he's used to and he's going to have to learn fast and hit the ground running in terms of results.

On the flip side, it could be an inspired choice by Mr Kilby and Mr Flood, but I believe it's a huge risk.

But, now he's been given the chance, we all need to get behind him - the board, the players and the fans.

Any manager will need time to settle into a new job.

The board need to give him the money to create his squad, the players need to give the new gaffer every ounce of effort and the fans need to get back to Turf Moor and cheer their team on.

This is a very crucial time for the club and we all need to push the same way.