IT has been a fantastic January so far for the theory of the ‘new manager effect’, although the changes haven’t exactly been kind to the Clarets.

Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew were appointed within a day of each other at the start of 2015 and their effect on their new clubs has been immediate.

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It is also hugely unfortunate for Burnley that a run at the start of the year of four Premier League games against fellow strugglers has become a much trickier assignment, with Pardew’s Palace and Pulis’ West Brom both coming to Turf Moor during this spell.

The owners of West Brom and Crystal Palace decided during the festivities it was time to go for the managerial change gamble to try and steer clear of relegation, and so far it has worked for them.

The effect Pardew has had at Selhurst Park has already been noted in East Lancashire, with the former Palace favourite masterminding a comeback victory for the Eagles on Saturday which moved his side to the lofty heights of 13th.

It was a third win in three games for Pardew, when they had won just four of 22 games up until his appointment.

On February 8 Pulis brings his brand of relegation-avoiding defensive football to Turf Moor, and the signs are that it will be a tough afternoon for the Clarets.

A routine victory over Gateshead in the FA Cup was nothing to write home about, but a 1-0 victory over Hull and a 0-0 draw at Everton are Premier League results that have Pulis’ stamp all over them.

Both appointments at Palace and West Brom were sensible decisions; Pardew’s Premier League record is good, and Pulis is Mr Fix-It for teams worried they might be pulled into a relegation dogfight.

The records of those two might encourage other clubs to make a change, but from a Burnley point of view the jobs being done by Harry Redknapp and Nigel Pearson at the moment are perfectly acceptable.

Pulling the trigger on a manager isn’t always the solve-all solution to better results though, as the evidence of last season shows.

When Gus Poyet took over at Sunderland in October he won two and lost two of his first four games, and when Rene Meulensteen took the Fulham job in December he lost three of his first four games. Those starts were made to look reasonable by what followed, with Pepe Mel failing to win any of his first league fixtures in charge of West Brom, Ole Gunnar Solskjear winning one of his first eight in the league, Felix Magath winning one of his first six and Neil Adams taking just one point from the final five games he was in charge of Norwich.

Those six appointments all lacked the common sense approach of this season, with not one of them having managed a Premier League game before.

Of course whatever happens in the final few months of the season we know there is one manager whose job is as safe as it can be. Sean Dyche continues to overachieve with the Clarets, and it’s hard to think of anyone who could possibly do a better job in charge at Turf Moor.