Alexander hopes Davis is in frame

Alexander hopes Davis is in frame

Published Jan. 9, 2010 1:40 a.m. ET

The Clarets are looking for a new boss after Owen Coyle opted to replace Gary Megson at Bolton. While the two clubs try to broker a compensation deal, Davis - one of Coyle's coaching staff at Turf Moor - has been placed in temporary charge of first-team affairs and was due to oversee the Premier League clash against Stoke on Saturday until the match was postponed due to bad weather. In the meantime, a host of names have been linked with the post but Alexander believes the right man for the job might already be in place. Asked if he knew whether Davis was keen to take the job permanently, Alexander said: "It would be great if he was offered the job or was in the running for it because I'm sure he would do a fantastic job. "But I haven't spoken to him personally about that sort of thing so I wouldn't know if that is in the pipeline." Alexander admitted that with the squad only being able to train twice this week due to the snow, the cancellation of the Stoke game came as something of a blessing. But the 38-year-old emphasised that if the fixture had gone ahead he and his team-mates would have been more than ready to play for Davis, who made over 300 appearances as a player for the club. "He is a Burnley legend and the players do look up to Steve because a couple of the lads have played with him in their career and the young lads see him as a figurehead of the coaching set-up," Alexander said. "He is held in high esteem by all the Burnley fans and the people around the club. "If we had played every single one of those players would be giving him everything they've got, because we have a lot of respect for Steve." Alexander revealed that Coyle had phoned the players individually during the week to inform them of his departure and admitted he was shocked to hear the news, having seen the manager resist overtures from Celtic last summer. "I was gutted to be honest and I think most of the players were disappointed that he has gone," Alexander said. "In the two years he's been here we've had a fantastic time and we thought he would be our manager for the rest of the season at least. "Obviously there was speculation in the summer with the Celtic job and we had seen him turn that down, so we thought he was here for the long haul. "When Gary Megson got sacked last week there was a bit of speculation because the gaffer had past history with that club but we didn't think he'd go there to be honest."

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