Compensation row took the Burnley decision out of my hands – O'Driscoll

The Doncaster Rovers manager never applied for the Clarets post vacated by Owen Coyle but was invited for interview earlier this week by the Burnley board.

However, Doncaster's demands for compensation – believed to be 1m – for a manager that has established them in the Championship following promotion from League One two seasons ago, meant the position was never offered to O'Driscoll.

Brian Laws, who departed Sheffield Wednesday last month with the Owls in the Championship relegation zone, was appointed Burnley manager on Wednesday on a two-and-a-half year deal.

Speaking for the first time on the matter yesterday, O'Driscoll admitted his disappointment that a deal between the two clubs could not be brokered.

"Certain decisions are taken out of your hands," said O'Driscoll, 52.

"I've earned the right, I'm old enough and experienced enough in football to make my own decisions.

"But at the end of the day you are not in control of certain things. You try and do the right things, I conducted myself in the right manner but ultimately it wasn't up to me.

"It never got to the situation where a job was offered. From the very start it was a matter of 'you need to sort out compensation, there's no point taking this any further if the two clubs cannot agree compensation', so that was the situation.

"I'm a bit disappointed the way it all ended but I cannot reproach myself for the way I tried to handle it."

O'Driscoll intimated that he could have followed the well-trodden route of sought-after managers who resign their position to make them free to pursue by other clubs, but said a loyalty to his principles and his current employers meant he would not quit Doncaster.

"I made it clear to all parties that I was not prepared to do what others might have done," said O'Driscoll, whose side sit 15th in the Championship after four wins in five.

"Call that naivety, call that stupidity – I don't know.

"I tell the players do the right thing and I'd be a bit of a hypocrite if the first chance to show what was the right thing to do, I did something that was selfish.

"That's the way I do things. It's not just on the big decisions, you carry that through on all decisions."

Asked whether he would commit his future to Doncaster, O'Driscoll would not look beyond Rovers' next home game with Watford tomorrow, which will be the club's first game since Boxing Day.

Despite not taking the job, Burnley's interest has helped O'Driscoll's star rise.

The passing football he has instilled in Doncaster has observers referring to the club as the 'Arsenal of the Championship'.

And the next time a manager loses his job at a lower-tier Premier League club, players and fans at the club will be worried that their manager may be a target.

"I don't think anyone would begrudge me for talking to Burnley," said O'Driscoll.

"Their first game is Old Trafford, you'd be a fool if you didn't think that would be an exciting challenge. But that's almost deriding from the fact that we're playing Watford tomorrow and as a club we're still excited about playing in the Championship.

"We're only human, and the Premier League excites everybody. It has its pitfalls, but the plusses far outweigh the minusses. You can have long-term visions in football but you also have short-term plans, like the next training session and the next game.

"The plan is to win on Saturday. The practicality of management is you are as good as your last game, or your next game."