Coyle celebrates two years in the Turf Moor hot-seat on Sunday, the day after the Clarets host Aston Villa.

Much has changed in an incredible 24 months that have seen Burnley go from 15th in the Championship to 10th in the Premier League.

But, going back to November 2007, Elliott, in the last year of his contract, was attracting interest from a number of clubs, who had their eyes on taking him on a free.

Coyle managed to persuade him that there was a "New Dawn" at the club, and the promise of a bright future on and off the field was one of the major factors in convincing Elliott to sign a new three-year contract.

The boss said in March, when he secured his signature: "I don't think I'll make a more important signing than Wade Elliott."

Just over a year later, Elliott carved his name indelibly into Burnley folklore with his stunning strike to seal promotion. Ahead of Coyle's second anniversary, Elliott looked back: "The two years have flown by.

"I was out of contract at the end of that season, and when you get a new manager in, you're never sure if he's going to fancy you or not.

"I was of the opinion that I'd just go out and give it a crack, and if the gaffer took to me, brilliant, and try not to worry about it too much.

"Everybody hit it off with him straight away, the style of football he wanted to play was terrific, the mood he set about the club has been brilliant, and the success we've had on the back of that has been the cherry on the cake.

"I had six or seven months before I was out of contract, and that gave him a good look at me, and let me have a good look at the gaffer and how he went about things, and how ambitious he was."

When Coyle prompted contract talks, Elliott was thrilled to extend his stay, after signing on a free from Bournemouth in the summer of 2005: "When he made it clear he wanted me to re-sign, it was brilliant for me.

"Once I'd sat down and spoken to him, it was a bit of a nobrainer.

"Without being conceited, I was in a decent position at the time, I'd done all right and I'd like to think I would have been a decent free for someone.

"The fact I wanted to stay and continue working with the gaffer at at the club probably speaks more about him than how I could articulate in words.

"You always have that temptation that the grass is greener, but he made it clear to me that I was a big part of his plans, and that's a great thing for a player to know.

"It gives you that security and confidence, and that's the platform the manager gives everybody to go out and produce their best form.

"If you know someone has that belief in you, and as long as you're working hard and doing your job for the team, you've got that licence to go and express that confidence, I think that's what's helped squeeze that little bit extra out of all of us."

That manmanagement style has paid off in spades, and while the " punching above our weight" mantra became a millstone before Coyle's arrival, the manager has shown that, like David Haye, the Clarets can compete with the heavyweights.

Elliott pointed to Coyle's positivity: "I've said before that he's been terrific for all of us, when he came, the first thing he said was he wanted us to go out and express ourselves, be positive, that there would be no comeback if we made mistakes trying to do the right thing.

"That probably sums up his ethos, out with what's come with him getting us promoted, we'll all look back on the last year as one of the defining moments of our careers, possibly our lives, so that will be the legacy we're all left with when we finish playing.

"We'll be very grateful to him for that, but over and above that, everyone just enjoys coming into work every day, it's a great atmosphere, a great dressing room, the gaffer's very positive and upbeat, doesn't get carried away when we've had a win, or a bad result.

"We're fortunate enough to be doing what we're doing anyway, but to come and do it in the environment we're in, we're fortunate to have a gaffer that lets us come in and do that.

"The gaffer sets a tone about the place, it's a happy place to come to, I think you can see it, and I think that vibrancy and bouyancy is evident in our play.

"It's not just about the dressing room, but the whole club, and even the supporters, you can sense how much they're enjoying it."

One thing Coyle has done is free Elliott from the shackles of hugging the touchline.

Elliott had been used, albeit briefly, in the centre of midfield and at right back by Steve Cotterill in emergencies, but Coyle has turned him into a playmaker, vital to the side: "The gaffer gives you confidence, but he does that in deeds as well.

"It's easy to tell someone 'you can do this and you can do that', but a lot of the time in football you get told what you can't do, 'you're not good at this, you're not good at that'.

"He's brilliant in telling you what you're good at and really focusing on those positives and bringing those strengths out of players.

"He said 'you can go and play in there because you give us this and that', and it's been terrific for me in the middle.

"I've enjoyed playing in there and hopefully I've done a decent job for the side.

"It gives you that responsibility as well, if you're in the middle and the game's not quite going the way you'd like it, you're at the hub of it and are responsible for getting a grip of it and trying to change the shape of it."