LONDON MIGHT be a city that now embraces every known culture in the modern world, but some of the older attitudes are harder to dispel. Fear and loathing of a certain Glasgow postcode is not just confined to Westminster, it has spread to the affluent streets of Chelsea and is now heading in the direction of Tottenham.

Despite all the makeovers given to Glasgow's image in recent years, the admission of a Gorbals background is no mean stereotype to overcome. It prompted the most outrageous snobbery when Michael Martin MP was handed one of the most important political posts nine years ago, symbolising that the new millennium had not reached parts of the establishment.

"Gorbals Mick" was how the Speaker of the House of Commons was branded by the metropolitan press and it has stuck. The fact that that Martin was actually brought up on the other side of the River Clyde, in Anderston, did nothing to dilute the putdown. Owen Coyle, however, is the real deal when it comes to the Gorbals - and as London has discovered, he is also adept at carving up their own football ambitions.

Fulham, Chelsea and Arsenal have all been silenced by the man who is making Burnley the talk of English football. On Tuesday night, it will be the turn of Spurs to try and crack Coyle's giantkillers as the holders of the Carling Cup take on the Championship team in the first leg of the semi-final at White Hart Lane.

For Coyle, it is the chance to rub shoulders with Harry Redknapp, one of his profession's most venerable characters. The Burnley manager is no wide-eyed innocent, though, as Luis Felipe Scolari, Arsene Wenger and Roy Hodgson now know to their cost. Indeed, ask a certain Paul Le Guen about Coyle's potential to inflict damage - it was St Johnstone's remarkable elimination of Rangers from the CiS Cup in October 2006, at Ibrox, that signalled the beginning of the end for Le Gaffer in Govan.

Coyle has flourished since Burnley plucked him from McDiarmid Park 15 months ago. He has resurrected a club that is long on history but short on money, turning them into contenders in the Championship promotion race while at the same time establishing their credentials, via the Carling Cup run, to compete with the elite if they break into the Barclays Premier League.

So, in the absence of money, what is Coyle's secret? Quite simply - and this will come as a shock to Quentin Letts - the Gorbals boy possesses a persuasive tongue that makes others feel good about themselves. Andy Cole, who might have been put off Glaswegian accents after all those years listening to his master's voice (Sir Alex Ferguson) at Manchester United, recently spoke glowingly of how Coyle gave him a new enthusiasm to keep on playing during a loan spell at Turf Moor last term.

"I was not too sure about playing on at 36 but I went to Burnley and spoke to Owen and got a great vibe," said Cole. "He brought the best out of me and made me feel a lot younger than my age."

Coyle, who did not hang up his own boots, with St Johnstone, until he was 40, says the gift of the gab came with his territory. "I grew up in a family of nine in the Gorbals," he reflects. "It gave me a work ethic and taught me to treat people properly, as well as giving me a real passion to go and succeed."

Now 42, Coyle spent three profitable years playing in England with Bolton Wanderers but 10 different clubs in Scotland hinted at him being a home bird. Appearances, though, are deceptive - he once owned a pub but has never touched a drop of alcohol - and Brendan Flood, the chief executive of Burnley, senses his man is destined for greatness.

"When we first spoke to Owen he struck me as being like a young Bill Shankly," Flood said. "That's a big label to give him but there are definitely similarities. He's teetotal like Shankly was and has the same steely determination."

Sipping tea with Wenger and Scolari is much more to Coyle's taste. "This cup run has been fantastic for my learning curve as a coach," said the Burnley manager. "I was fortunate to cross swords with Scolari, Wenger and Roy Hodgson, three very eminent managers, and you talk about football later and try to pick something up. Harry Redknapp will continue that education. He has done an amazing job turning Spurs around and I'll respect him, but I won't be scared."

That is not bravado on Coyle's part; nor has he turned into a big-time Charlie. It is simply an extension of his belief that he remains the same person who not so long ago met his adversaries in cramped managers' offices at Cappielow and Palmerston Park.

"There is no difference between managers, regardless of what level you work in," declares Coyle. "Football is football; the game is still the same. I don't have an inferiority complex around people like Scolari or Wenger. You won't win games if you do - but I would not think I was superior if I suddenly came back to Scotland.

"There are a lot of good people in the game in Scotland, as I hope myself and Sandy Stewart are proving, and players like Kevin McDonald. I also have young Jay Rodriguez, one of our youth players who I loaned out last season to Stirling Albion, and he came off the bench to get our winner and knock Fulham out earlier in the cup run."

Knocking Chelsea out on penalties at Stamford Bridge to reach the last eight might have been seen as the peak of Burnley's ambition, but defeating Arsenal 2-0 in a rousing quarter-final, thanks to a double from McDonald - a £500,000 summer purchase from Dundee - brought the house down at Turf Moor.

"Arsene Wenger took his defeat like a man, just as Scolari did," said Coyle. "He was obviously disappointed because he had high hopes of his young players winning this cup - but he was gracious in defeat. You have to have a belief in yourself and your ability, whatever level you work at, either as a player or a manager and I have that belief in myself."

Spurs were Burnley's adversaries for silverware in a previous era. The Londonders lost out to the Lancashire side for the title in 1960 before White Hart Lane's celebrated double-winning side claimed revenge in the FA Cup final the following season.

"It would be great if Burnley went to a final," reflected Coyle. "The club has a lot of history, which is amazing for a town just 60,000 people, but it was good to give the fans something new to feel proud about. We will be underdogs against Spurs, especially as the semi-final is over two legs, but maybe my players can earn their own piece of history."

Carling Cup semi-finals, first legS Tuesday, January 6 Tottenham v Burnley, Sky Sports 1, 8pm Wednesday, January 7 Derby v Man Utd, Sky Sports 1, 7.45pm