Ternent found first team opportunities limited at Burnley and was transferred to Second Division Carlisle United, where he gained a reputation as a hard tackling midfielder.
Immediately upon his appointment at Bloomfield Road, Ternent began to reshape the team, spending large sums on new players.
Fellow newcomers included Dave Bamber, Colin Morris, Peter Noble and Tom McAlister.
Ternent inherited a club in chaos after the ill-fated tenure of Chris Waddle, and a major clearout ensued.
At the end of his final game against Sunderland, an emotional Ternent took a lap of honour around Turf Moor to a standing ovation from the Burnley supporters.
Ternent made a brief comeback in 2004–05 with Gillingham, taking Ronnie Jepson from Burnley to be his assistant; however, his short-term contract as manager was not renewed, as despite a heroic attempt at survival they were relegated to League One.
He left this role on 24 April 2008 to take up the reins at Huddersfield Town in place of Andy Ritchie, who had been relieved of his duties at the beginning of the month.
[3] Backed by a large budget,[citation needed] Ternent signed Keigan Parker, Jim Goodwin, Andy Butler, Chris Lucketti, Michael Flynn, Gary Roberts and David Unsworth during the opening weeks of 2008–09 pre-season.
[8] In January 2007, Ternent faced assault charges after being accused of headbutting a man at Burnley Cricket Club in August 2006.