ARTICLE: Pieters signs as Burnley go shopping at Stoke again

[Cirrus_Minor]

Good signing, will good competition between Erik and Taylor.

[ClaretTony]

https://www.burnleyfootballclub.com/new ... portugal2/

Didn't take long for Erik to fly to Portugal

He was on the flight with the squad. The club dropped a b0ll0ck this morning and tweeted a pic of players at the airport which showed Pieters. They did remove it but it’s somewhere on the speculation thread.

[Tall Paul]

OK Alistair.

Do you mean Alastair?

[cricketfieldclarets]

But we are not going to improve on a left back who looks like he has the potential to become a top-class player, are we?

So why not spend money where it's put to much better use?

I haven't said that Pieters is a problem signing. I have said in pretty much every post Pieters is a decent enough signing.
He is good because he is an experienced player in as backup in a position we needed to fill.

But he is not the sort of player on which our transfer window will be judged.

[cricketfieldclarets]

So you wanted someone to replace Taylor is that what you're saying?
If you want a signing that would improve the starting 11, then that means Taylor would be dropped to the bench, which is harsh.

No. I didn't say that. And haven't said that in any post. As above, in isolation Pieters is a pretty decent signing.

People arguing its a good signing because he brings the average age of the squad down are a bit daft though.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Do you mean Alastair?

Probably. My spelling isn't what it was since I hit 30!

[ClaretTony]

People arguing its a good signing because he brings the average age of the squad down are a bit daft though.

Don’t think anyone has done that. It’s been more a reaction to those concerning themselves with his age.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

No. I didn't say that. And haven't said that in any post. As above, in isolation Pieters is a pretty decent signing.

People arguing its a good signing because he brings the average age of the squad down are a bit daft though.

Nope, they're saying he's a good signing because of his experience, Taylor can learn from him and because he's 30, so an improvement on Ward age wise alone.
So yeah he's helping to bring down the age of the squad, not our fault you're refusing to accept it, that or you're just trolling again which is more likely.

[Bosscat]

Probably. My spelling isn't what it was since I hit 30!

30 a day
30 pints
30 children

[Tall Paul]

No. I didn't say that. And haven't said that in any post. As above, in isolation Pieters is a pretty decent signing.

People arguing its a good signing because he brings the average age of the squad down are a bit daft though.

Who has argued that?

[Burnleyareback2]

Amazed how hard people have to work to find something negative.

If we finish next season playing at the level we have so far in 2019 I couldn't care less what the average age is.

Good work, a good signing.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Don’t think anyone has done that. It’s been more a reaction to those concerning themselves with his age.

As above. his age when we assess this signing itself isn't an issue.

[cricketfieldclarets]

Amazed how hard people have to work to find something negative.

If we finish next season playing at the level we have so far in 2019 I couldn't care less what the average age is.

Good work, a good signing.

Based on the current squad we will have 12 players who are at least 30 during this season. When we sign Jay that will be 13.

We will only have 4 players under 28 before the season ends! Gibson, McNeil, Tarks if he stays and Taylor.

That has to be an issue to address in the very near future. Its naïve to think otherwise.

[Greenmile]

Do you mean Alastair?

I presumed he was comparing you to the guy from UB40.

[GodIsADeeJay81]

Based on the current squad we will have 12 players who are at least 30 during this season. When we sign Jay that will be 13.

We will only have 4 players under 28 before the season ends! Gibson, McNeil, Tarks if he stays and Taylor.

That has to be an issue to address in the very near future. Its naïve to think otherwise.

We all know that, but it can't be done in one window, because that will just disrupt the squad.

[Tall Paul]

Based on the current squad we will have 12 players who are at least 30 during this season. When we sign Jay that will be 13.

We will only have 4 players under 28 before the season ends! Gibson, McNeil, Tarks if he stays and Taylor.

That has to be an issue to address in the very near future. Its naïve to think otherwise.

If only we had some sort of separate squad for younger players, say those under 23 years of age...

[Burnleyareback2]

Based on the current squad we will have 12 players who are at least 30 during this season. When we sign Jay that will be 13.

We will only have 4 players under 28 before the season ends! Gibson, McNeil, Tarks if he stays and Taylor.

That has to be an issue to address in the very near future. Its naïve to think otherwise.

Shouldn't you be rejoicing that he isn't British??

It's naive to think we will snap up a squad of experienced younger players with Premier League experience. The priority is to stay in the league and improve on last year, if we do that by playing the Vintage Clarets I couldnt care less.

[boatshed bill]

Based on the current squad we will have 12 players who are at least 30 during this season. When we sign Jay that will be 13.

We will only have 4 players under 28 before the season ends! Gibson, McNeil, Tarks if he stays and Taylor.

That has to be an issue to address in the very near future. Its naïve to think otherwise.

This, of course, is true but only goes to show the extent to which we are punching above our weight.
There is an inevitable point where we will no longer be able to compete with our wealthier competitors

[Tall Paul]

Shouldn't you be rejoicing thsat he isn't British??

It's naive to think we will snap up a squad of experienced younger players with Premier League experience. The priority is to stay in the league and improve on last year, if we do that by playing the Vintage Clarets I could care less.

So you'd care quite a lot then?

[ClaretTony]

I presumed he was comparing you to the guy from UB40.

I wondered where Tall Paul had gone. He’s on the red red wine.

[cricketfieldclarets]

We all know that, but it can't be done in one window, because that will just disrupt the squad.

I agree. And that's why its important we start to do it in stages now.

Jay isn't going to bring our age down. And we aren't likely to bring in more than 3 or 4 players. We have to look to replace Defour (and even Cork) with some younger legs. That's the biggest area of the park we need it!

[Spijed]

There is an inevitable point where we will no longer be able to compete with our wealthier competitors

You don't necessarily need better players, just a better team, which we have than quite a few sides in the Prem.

As Harry Stotle said "The Whole is Greater than the Sum of its Parts."

[cricketfieldclarets]

If only we had some sort of separate squad for younger players, say those under 23 years of age...

Now we are getting desperate.

Go on. Humour me. How many players have we produced in the last 15 years through that squad...?

[cricketfieldclarets]

Shouldn't you be rejoicing that he isn't British??

Well observed. I do think we should start looking further afield. Signing a left back who has played for Stoke for the last 6 or 7 years is hardly looking further afield is it - dutch or otherwise!?

[Burnleyareback2]

Mumbongo is 20. The board must be reacting to the average age panic.

If we sign him everything is fine again in the world.

Swedish as well - this must now be the perfect window for some.

[ClaretTony]

Now we are getting desperate.

Go on. Humour me. How many players have we produced in the last 15 years through that squad...?

Nothing to do with last 15 years. We’ve had a cat 2 academy for two years. We’ve got an under 23 team in a competitive league and we’ve been recruiting. No guarantees but things are moving forward.

[Tall Paul]

Now we are getting desperate.

Go on. Humour me. How many players have we produced in the last 15 years through that squad...?

One or two. But, as Tony said, the facilities are vastly improved on what they were 15 years ago so it's not really a valid yardstick.

[cricketfieldclarets]

End of discussion.

[Bin Ont Turf]

Dutch international player, Erik Pieters.

[ClaretTony]

One or two. But, as Tony said, the facilities are vastly improved on what they were 15 years ago so it's not really a valid yardstick.

It’s not just the facilities, it’s the whole thing in the academy. The club are finally spending money on it and if we get it right it will start to produce some good players.

[claretburns]

Good signing as a decent back up and cheap price.

It is a surprise after Scott Arfield, David Jones, Ashley Barnes, George Boyd, Stephen Ward, Matt Lowton, James Tarkowski, Jeff Hendrick, Ashley Westwood, Phil Bardsley and Chris Wood, that people still have a go at the club for signings made, can't we give the lad the chance to impress on the pitch before making a judgement?

[rob63]

Now we are getting desperate.

Go on. Humour me. How many players have we produced in the last 15 years through that squad...?

With the nuts & bolts in place now, it should be many more over the next 15 years. Having said that, with the end-of-season clearout, Steve Stone could do with reinforcements. Hope there's some prospects missed by other clubs for him to run the rule over.

[SonofPog]

Happy with the signing. An experienced back up to Taylor is fine.

Don't understand the logic of some of the complaints which boil down to "what we need is too spend major money on a young lb with potential... (so we can take game time away from the previous young lb with potential we spent major money on)"

I'm a little unhappier that we cant spend that major money on a Younger Striker (or CM) as it looks like being Jay Rod.

[fidelcastro]

Welcome Erik!

You have a hard act to follow after our previous Dutch maestros Marco Gentile and Remco Van Der Schaff.

[RVclaret]

Excellent signing, Stoke supporting mate says he is very good in a 4-4-2 which happens to suit us.

[ClaretTony]

Welcome Erik!

You have a hard act to follow after our previous Dutch maestros Marco Gentile and Remco Van Der Schaff.

Should this post not have been on the misspelling thread?