Source: Team_Talk
Coyle instills confidence in players
The Lancashire outfit flirted with oblivion 22 years ago when only a dramatic victory over Leyton Orient saved them from sliding out of the Football League.
They now stand on the brink of promotion to the Premier League after 33 years out of the top flight.
Coyle is presiding over a genuine renaissance at Turf Moor and his men have already beaten Fulham, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and West Brom in the cup competitions this season.
The former Bolton striker, 42, was appointed as Steve Cotterill's successor in November 2007 after previous success in Scotland with Falkirk and St Johnstone.
He has breathed life into a stagnant club, but he wants more and will ask his players to push their bodies to the limit as they seek a fairytale ending to their campaign.
"I do believe I'm a very positive person," said Coyle.
"I was brought up with five brothers and three sisters in the Gorbals in Glasgow.
"You had to be very positive there, I can assure you.
"I've said to the players throughout the season 'Nobody will ever hand you anything. Anything you get you're going to have to earn'.
"It's about getting that little bit extra out of them and making them even better.
"If I'm doing that then I'm making us a better team and that's my ultimate responsibility as a manager.
"Somebody said it was great to have the cup runs but I believed we could win every game.
"Otherwise, why enter the competition?"
It is indicative of Coyle's desire and perhaps explains why he has already been compared to legendary Liverpool manager Bill Shankly.
Burnley have won universal respect up and down the country this season for their free-flowing football.
Coyle embarked on a profitable recruitment drive last summer which harvested the likes of Chris Eagles, Martin Paterson and Steven Thompson.
All three players have proved astute additions and, despite having one of the smallest squads in the division, Coyle has made the Clarets a respected force.
"I always believed you could build a team without having to spend huge amounts of money," said Coyle, who will choose from a full-strength squad on Monday.
"We're in the bottom four clubs in the Championship in terms of average attendance, turnover and revenue.
"We've used the fewest amount of players but they have showed a real hunger and a real desire to win games.
"As a manager I cannot ask anymore than that.
"We felt at the start of the season that we could make inroads into the top end of the Championship and now we have an unbelievably massive game on Monday.
"I've asked them to go and give everything they can this season.
"Fans recognise when the players are trying and if we do that then the players' wonderful ability will kick in to go with the hunger and the desire."
Coyle scored at Wembley to help Bolton win a dramatic play-off final against Reading to reach the top flight in 1995.
"They are obviously terrific memories and it was nice to score at Wembley and reach the Premier League as a player," added Coyle.
"But that will all pale into insignificance. As a manager you are responsible for not only the football club but the entire town.
"There is a real buzz about Burnley right now and it shows the magnitude of Monday's game and what is at stake.
"As a player I relished playing on the big occasion and we need to make sure we again perform to our maximum against Sheffield United because there is a great prize there for the winners."
