BFC TRANSFER NEWS SUMMER/AUTUMN 2020 (MUST CONTAIN LINK)

[Reecey1987]

Where’s Nixon’s Burnley news?

Usually out anytime between 9-10

[Long Time Lurker]

Question... With all the un rest that seems to be about on this board.... Will the fans turn against the chairman?

Not me, whatever the eventual outcome of this window is ( hopefully a good final flourish ) he has my full support.

The Chairman has done well by us, just like the Gaffer, the players, the playing staff and most of the non playing staff have. All of them are firmly in credit in my books and I feel indebted to them for what they have done and given us. It is the recruitment teams that has to step it up and prove themselves worthy of their wages in the few weeks that we have left in this window.

[PremierLeagueClass]

Cue the people criticising LTL and his mammoth posts. Cue the people defending LTL for the next half hour or so, then we can all get back to discussing the non existent transfer news this thread was created for

[BenWickes]

Reminds me of the same feeling watching the Hakim Ziyech videos from his time at Twente & Heerenveen.
And we lost out on him to Ajax.

Links higher up the thread saying that Spurs are interested in him. Just doesn’t feel like we’ll get him for £8m without any competition.

Whilst I agree. Spurs have really tightened their belts after the outlay on the stadium and Covid. Mourinho seems more keen on a loan striker this window. He's been told finances are tight. Not saying they can't outbid us but he's definitely got a limited budget compared to what he would have had. He's even looking at Deeney as a loan option. So he may be prioritising his budget on other positions. Not to say other clubs can't easily outbid us now it's public knowledge as mentioned above.

[FactualFrank]

While I don't mind scrolling through an essay once, could we not quote it all as it just makes it a nightmare on mobiles.

[claret2018]

Do people really think Tarks won’t move to West Ham because a) they played poorly yesterday and b) they have a difficult run of games?

He’ll move to West Ham if Burnley accept an offer, because they’ll pay him a lot more money than we can, it’s as simple as that.

[taio]

The Quaison rumour is something of a surprise to me. Given the financial impact that the loss of fan attendance will have on a lot of Championship clubs I was expecting to see Preston attached to our next news item on the transfer front. Their Chairman, Trevor Hemmings, has been faithfully making up for their financial shortfall for many a year. In the last few months he has put another 1.5m into the club via share issues to keep things ticking over when Covid started to bite.

During the current window they haven't sold or signed anybody. If things continue they will probably need another substantial injection of capital in the short term, so I was expecting to see them sell at least one player. However, thanks to the property price boom ( and plenty of public money being used to keep prices up ) Hemmings has more than enough money to support the club until the end of his days, should he choose to do so, but FFP will limit what he can do.

Having quite a few players in the latter part of their contracts might make a sale or two more likely though. Ben Davies would be my pick of their squad, even though they currently only have four central defenders which might make them reluctant to lose one so late in the window.

They do have an abundance of central midfielders, but I'm not enthusiastic about the prospect of us signing any of them. Ben ( Mr Red Card ) Pearson can play a bit, but I think that he represents far too much of a risk. We need players who can stay on the pitch. Alan Browne could be an option, but we already have Brownhill who is a similar type of player and better.

Maybe sign Quaison and swap Vydra for Davies, I could see that working for us if the idea appeals to them. Some cash on top would be fair, but Preston don't have any. What Preston definitely do have is a bunch of very poor strikers though.

If the rumour linking us with Quaison is true then our statistical scouts probably typed who scored lots of goals last season into WYSCOUT and jumped on the name of Quaison. Or the glowing reports, and potential interest from Tottenham, caught their attention. Unfortunately, due to his performances last season, he is now a very important member of the FSV Mainz squad. His monetary value must now be at an all time high as well.

When he was in my Tombola list last year, as someone that we should look at instead of Jay, he was struggling to get regular games up front or claim a fixed position. During that window of opportunity he was slipping down the pecking order and probably considering his options. His estimated transfer value was significantly less than it is now and it was in danger of dropping. The injury to Mateta gave him the opportunity to re-establish himself as a starting striker and towards the end of last season as their primary inverted left winger.

If we sign Quaison for £10m+ and he relegates Jay to the 4th spot we will have spent £20m+ on two players, not to mention wages. We could have probably bought Quaison for £5m+ last year, because he was falling out of favour, to achieve a similar result. To me that represents something of a negligent over spend.

Unless Vydra is moving on we don't urgently need another striker. Selling him and then spending an equal amount or more on a replacement fourth choice striker, who probably won't see much game time, doesn't make a lot of sense either. About as much sense as signing Crouch and ignoring Karlan Grant and Josh Maja who were both available for 1.5m in the same window, but I digress. If Quaison fills the 4th spot ( in the event of Vydra leaving ) then we could also be spending a lot of money for a repeat performance of Gibson Gate.

In terms of adding to our central midfield we only need one extra player. One thing that has puzzled me are the midfield targets the rumour mill has associated with us.

One minute we are supposed to be looking at a creative attacking player like Gallagher, the next one on the cards is Phillips who is more of a defensive midfielder, then we sign up Drinkwater ( as a last gasp better than nothing option ), Brannagan ( another attacking midfielder ) is the next name to surface, followed by Santamaria who is a defensive midfielder and now we are being linked with Quaison who could count as an attacking midfielder.

It's ******* amateur hour. We can't complain about prices when we target players who are currently at the peak of their visibility and important to their current clubs. More worryingly, with one spot to fill in midfield we shouldn't be chasing after targets with diametrically opposed playing styles. A club with a focused transfer strategy should only be after one type of player. Chasing after two different types raises questions of competence and a clear forward vision. Especially when our only defensive midfielder is set to be on the sidelines for an extended period of time.

Quaison is a good player, but our recruitment team should have known that last season. Considering our finances they should be finding quality players before they light up everyone's radar screen - not afterwards when their values have risen significantly.

Despite being ridiculed for my Tombola picks the last three have included Greg Taylor who moved to Celtic for £3m and played really well for them last season ( at left back and left midfield ). Moukoudi joined Saint-Etienne on a free transfer before joining Middlesbrough on loan and he looked as good as Fry last season. Villa signed John Mc Ginn for £3m and he was instrumental in their Championship winning season, he was also doing well in his first EPL season before his injury. Before his stand-out performances last season, which made him a highly sought after player, I suggested a swap deal with Wells for Eze at QPR ( although I'm happy we got Brownhill ). Ollie Watkins was another of my picks last Summer and I've already mentioned Grant and Maja from the previous Winter picks. I could go on further, but I think that is enough.

This isn't me blowing my own trumpet, I'm just painting a picture and using myself as an example. If an amateur observer ( who watches football beyond Burnley, but doesn't have anything approaching an extensive knowledge base ) can do an okay job of identifying cheap talent then a big department that is staffed by multiple full time professionals with far more resources at their disposal should be able to produce far better results for us.

At the very least they should be able to uncover good young players at cheap prices, instead of being blind to them until their names are shining like bright ******* beacons under " everyone is looking at me now spotlights ".

A recruitment team that can only identify obvious targets who have risen to prominence isn't doing their job. That is akin to phoning in a performance. When you consider how little money we have to spend we need a recruitment team that can uncover quality players at cheap prices, before all their playing stats push them to the front of a no effort or perception WYSCOT search query. If all we are doing is targeting statistical headline grabbers then it's no wonder the players we are looking at are expensive, open to transfer competition from other clubs and in some cases unavailable.

If all of the players that a recruitment team identifies are expensive then it could be that all of the players in the market are expensive. However, it is more far likely to be the case that the players are all expensive because the recruitment team aren't capable of unearthing anything other than high profile players with correspondingly high price tags.

The way that I envision things working is that Sean has a sit down with Riggy and he tells him the type of players he believes we need in respect to the positions that we need to fill. Garlick then gives Riggy an idea of how much we have to spend. If Riggy comes back with a list of players that don't meet with the Gaffers requirements, aren't available for the money that we can afford to pay, don't want to move to us or their clubs don't want to sell them then the recruitment team failed to identify players who satisfied the conditionals they were given.

If I ask someone to price up some prime steak for a dinner party and they come back to me with a list of possible acquisitions, containing nothing but nuts and vegetables, they ****** up. Giving me the choice of disappointing my dinner guests, by serving up something unsuitable or nothing at all, will put me in a bad position. Either way, all my guests will be unhappy with their dining experience and some of them might look to lay the blame at my feet, even though I'm not the one at fault. It is hard to come out ahead when you are the victim of Hobson's choice and the people standing front and centre are always the first to get hit when the **** hits the fan.

The difference between a recruitment team that is earning their pay and one that is " putting in the maximum effort to satisfy the minimum requirements, or less than the minimum requirements " is their ability to find quality players that won't cost us large amounts. That means digging deeper to uncover players that haven't made it onto the awareness list of every club, instead of skimming the surface for players that are currently putting big ticks in the stat boxes we happen to be monitoring.

If we search for Championship players with the most goals and assists during the last season up pops Gallagher, should we enter the same query for League One up pops Brannagan. Widening our search to strikers with the most goals in the Bundesliga the name of Robin Quaison pops up.

Coincidence or superficial statistical scouting ?

Had we signed Quaison last season then he would have represented an excellent piece of business in my humble opinion, but I can only see him being a current transfer target if Vydra is quietly pushing for a transfer or moving Vydra on is the key to unlocking another deal or deals. Quaison is a very good player and he would represent a quality replacement, providing that he is available for a reasonable price ( which I very much doubt ). However, having four ready to play first team strikers on relatively high wages could be considered a luxury that we can't really afford and they would all want to play.

Other than Vydra leaving the impending departure of either Dwight or Brady could create gaps that we might be looking to fill in advance. I doubt that playing Quaison on the left or maybe even right wing would generate many chances for our strikers and subsequent assists. He would be a strange choice as a direct replacement for Dwight, unless we have it in mind to change our formation to 4-3-3 or a more attack focused line up.

If we envision him as a creative goal scoring midfielder it would surely signify the end of the line for Cork, because a younger defensive midfielder would probably be next on our midfield shopping list and I can't see us supporting five central midfielders. Quaison definitely has a lot of good qualities, but defensive resilience isn't one of them. I wouldn't rule out the idea of playing him as an attacking midfielder this season and shifting him into a striker role if we move Vydra on the season after. However, I would prefer to see us bring in a central midfielder with a bit of defensive bite, especially with Cork set to miss quite a few games, and the same would apply to a new winger.

Despite his performances for us last season, and viewing the scenario from a purely financial perspective, we should have identified and subsequently bought Quaison last year instead of buying Jay. In my books a quality player with the potential to increase in value trumps a quality player that is only going to decrease in value. I'm saying that with an unreserved acknowledgement that Jay Rod played superbly for us last season. Experienced players are definitely valuable to a squad, but a healthy spread of ages is needed to provide a club with what it needs to keep moving forwards.

If our new recruitment team can't do any better than " after a players star has risen " scouting then we will end up paying a very heavy financial cost in the transfer market. If they can't see beyond obvious and expensive targets or players in the latter stages of their careers with little to no resale value then we are going to struggle. It could be argued that our stumbling progression on the recruitment front is already starting to cost us.

Covid or no Covid, when we consider the high level of additional investment that the board has pumped into our recruitment over the last two years we shouldn't be staring down the barrel of a gun three weeks out from the end of a transfer window. It's true to say that we have always done some of our business late in the window, but we have never done all of our major business this late in a window.

Touch wood everything will come together in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, we don't have a daft idea in our heads that just because the players put in a magnificent performance to keep us up the table last season they can repeat that heroic feat to carry us through to the Winter window - so we can try again. Given an injury free spell, I don't doubt that they could do it, but asking it of them would be a disgraceful expectation.

No chance Jay would be 4th spot.

Preston can't afford Vydra.

Good shout on Quaison.

[ClaretTony]

Not me, whatever the eventual outcome of this window is ( hopefully a good final flourish ) he has my full support.

The Chairman has done well by us, just like the Gaffer, the players, the playing staff and most of the non playing staff have. All of them are firmly in credit in my books and I feel indebted to them for what they have done and given us. It is the recruitment teams that has to step it up and prove themselves worthy of their wages in the few weeks that we have left in this window.

With no disrespect, I don't think you understand how recruitment works at Burnley if you are supporting the chairman yet criticising the recruitment team. The manager has explained time and time again that they don't have budgets, that basically they have to go cap in hand to the chairman should we want to bring in a player. It is the chairman who does all that stuff. Maybe the recruitment team, and potentially Dyche, recommended Quaison, who I believe is looking less likely to come, last year or the year before. What I can confirm is that this particular player has not appeared to us out of a piece of software.

[Long Time Lurker]

how long did it take you to write that ?

Not long, but longer than normal, 20 or so minutes maybe. Even by my standards it is a very lengthy post, possibly my longest ever. Fortunately, ( or unfortunately in some peoples eyes ) I'm a quick typist and I just ramble off thoughts as they occur to me in the form of a developing monologue.

[BenWickes]

Do people really think Tarks won’t move to West Ham because a) they played poorly yesterday and b) they have a difficult run of games?

He’ll move to West Ham if Burnley accept an offer, because they’ll pay him a lot more money than we can, it’s as simple as that.

Assuming they make an offer that is acceptable. He still has to want to go. He's already suggested he wants to play in the Champions League and be a regular for England. The ONLY thing West Ham can offer him is more money. There's more chance of me having a mini break on the moon, with Keira Knightley sunbathing naked and pleasuring my every whim; than West Ham affording him the chance of either of those wishes.

[taio]

With no disrespect, I don't think you understand how recruitment works at Burnley if you are supporting the chairman yet criticising the recruitment team. The manager has explained time and time again that they don't have budgets, that basically they have to go cap in hand to the chairman should we want to bring in a player. It is the chairman who does all that stuff. Maybe the recruitment team, and potentially Dyche, recommended Quaison, who I believe is looking less likely to come, last year or the year before. What I can confirm is that this particular player has not appeared to us out of a piece of software.

Presume he's on about the recruitment team identifying players rather than finding the money to fund them.

[NewClaret]

Do people really think Tarks won’t move to West Ham because a) they played poorly yesterday and b) they have a difficult run of games?

He’ll move to West Ham if Burnley accept an offer, because they’ll pay him a lot more money than we can, it’s as simple as that.

Although I think he’d hugely improve them, he’d most likely end up in the Championship. He will have much better options that will pay him the same/more if he’s patient.

[Hedontplayforyou]

. Maybe the recruitment team, and potentially Dyche, recommended Quaison, who I believe is looking less likely to come, last year or the year before.

What do you with the “last year or the tear before” quote?

[Long Time Lurker]

With no disrespect, I don't think you understand how recruitment works at Burnley if you are supporting the chairman yet criticising the recruitment team. The manager has explained time and time again that they don't have budgets, that basically they have to go cap in hand to the chairman should we want to bring in a player. It is the chairman who does all that stuff. Maybe the recruitment team, and potentially Dyche, recommended Quaison, who I believe is looking less likely to come, last year or the year before. What I can confirm is that this particular player has not appeared to us out of a piece of software.

Fair enough, I stand corrected. I've heard Dyche talk about the absence of budgets, but I found it difficult to believe that a rough ball park figure isn't made available. If that is the case then it needs to change. The recruitment team needs to know what they have to spend ( or some idea of what they have to spend ) in order to do their job. If they don't have at least an idea they can't be expected to perform well or layer potential transfers together into a fully developed strategy.

Thanks for pointing out my mistake.

[NewClaret]

With no disrespect, I don't think you understand how recruitment works at Burnley if you are supporting the chairman yet criticising the recruitment team. The manager has explained time and time again that they don't have budgets, that basically they have to go cap in hand to the chairman should we want to bring in a player. It is the chairman who does all that stuff. Maybe the recruitment team, and potentially Dyche, recommended Quaison, who I believe is looking less likely to come, last year or the year before. What I can confirm is that this particular player has not appeared to us out of a piece of software.

Why do you think he’s less likely to come, Tony? Had you heard him linked prior?

[ksrclaret]

The recruitment team and chairman are doing a great job. We’ve currently got 16 first team, outfield players, with 3 of those carrying long term injuries and another two with very dubious record of fitness over the last few years.

What could possibly go wrong?

[claretandy]

I agree with LTL, when was the last time we signed a hidden gem that wasn't on the list of "best players in the Championship"? dipping down into league one, or abroad. Like LTL says, spotting the players potential before he has the "big season", where his price sky rockets out of our reach.

[clarethomer]

While I don't mind scrolling through an essay once, could we not quote it all as it just makes it a nightmare on mobiles.

it really is difficult on mobile devices LTL. I'm not always that succinct with my posts but you take it to another level.

[Firthy]

how long did it take you to write that ?

And somebody just had to quote it to make scrolling down the thread even more tedious

[NewClaret]

No chance Jay would be 4th spot.

Preston can't afford Vydra.

Good shout on Quaison.

Can see LTL’s point. It would be good if we could bag these players with potential before they peak, but equally you risk miss judging their level and wasting money on a few. I’d rather pay £3m-£5m more in this instance.

Quaison - wouldn’t mind bringing him in if Vydra was key to a move elsewhere. Norwich must be looking for a striker...

[BOYSIE31]

From Nixon it sounds like the club is in a bit of a mess at the moment

[taio]

Can see LTL’s point. It would be good if we could bag these players with potential before they peak, but equally you risk miss judging their level and wasting money on a few. I’d rather pay £3m-£5m more in this instance.

Quaison - wouldn’t mind bringing him in if Vydra was key to a move elsewhere. Norwich must be looking for a striker...

I agree which is why I said it was a good shout. I was also just making the point that Jay will not be 4th choice and Preston can't afford Vydra.

[ewanrob]

With no disrespect, I don't think you understand how recruitment works at Burnley if you are supporting the chairman yet criticising the recruitment team. The manager has explained time and time again that they don't have budgets, that basically they have to go cap in hand to the chairman should we want to bring in a player. It is the chairman who does all that stuff. Maybe the recruitment team, and potentially Dyche, recommended Quaison, who I believe is looking less likely to come, last year or the year before. What I can confirm is that this particular player has not appeared to us out of a piece of software.

Less likely you say, I found it a strange one anyway...with a year left on his contract he will have the choice of many a club...most probably Germany bound.

[Tall Paul]

I agree with LTL, when was the last time we signed a hidden gem that wasn't on the list of "best players in the Championship"? dipping down into league one, or abroad. Like LTL says, spotting the players potential before he has the "big season", where his price sky rockets out of our reach.

When is the last time any PL club did that?

There's no such thing as a hidden gem these days with all the stats and data analysis available out there.

[mdd2]

Not long, but longer than normal, 20 or so minutes maybe. Even by my standards it is a very lengthy post, possibly my longest ever. Fortunately, ( or unfortunately in some peoples eyes ) I'm a quick typist and I just ramble off thoughts as they occur to me in the form of a developing monologue.

LTL
Remember the saying and I cannot recall who said it but it goes like this "Sorry I have had to write such a long letter, I didn't have time to write a short one"

[kaptin1]

While there is no official budget, Dyche and the recruitment team must be provided with some financial parameters that they have to work within otherwise how would they know what pond to fish in? If they had no idea of the resources available they’d surely just identify the best players in the world in each position, which for Burnley would clearly be ridiculous and unaffordable. But then if it was the case that there is no budget / financial parameters then do they identify the third best player, tenth best player etc. At the end of the day, the amount available to spend will probably be flexible, depending on what players are available and how quickly positions need to be filled. I think the point that Dyche is trying to make is that he isn’t just told there is £x to spend and you can do with it as you please.

[ClaretTony]

Nixon: Burnley. Splits in camp over targets and budget. Not helping with any pursuits right now. Rigg coming up with names. No deals close. Yet.

[ClaretTony]

While there is no official budget, Dyche and the recruitment team must be provided with some financial parameters that they have to work within otherwise how would they know what pond to fish in?

Dyche says not - no budget at all. That is the problem and that's what Nixon has just related to.

[kaptin1]

Dyche says not - no budget at all.

Didn’t say there was a budget just that there must be some financial parameters. The two are not the same thing. Clearly whatever there is can’t be agreed on though.

[Bigvince]

Nixon: Burnley. Splits in camp over targets and budget. Not helping with any pursuits right now. Rigg coming up with names. No deals close. Yet.

Nixon news is no news at all!!!

[Tall Paul]

Nixon news is no news at all!!!

As usual.

[RVclaret]

The whole thing sounds ridiculous for an established Premier League club, borderline embarrassing.

[Rileybobs]

I don’t see an issue with there being no budget, per se. The recruitment team will know the wage parameters, and this in many ways is dictated by their transfer value.

[Colburn_Claret]

Do people really think Tarks won’t move to West Ham because a) they played poorly yesterday and b) they have a difficult run of games?

He’ll move to West Ham if Burnley accept an offer, because they’ll pay him a lot more money than we can, it’s as simple as that.

I think yesterdays result made it even less likely, not that I thought it was a runner anyway.
West Ham need a new back line, as their fans readily acknowledge. Whilst Tarks is undoubtedly better than what they have, unless they replace Cresswell and Fredericks as well, and soon, Tarks would be like King Canute trying to stem the tide on his own. Just look at the grief Keane got from a large section of Everton fans, when the only problem he had was playing alongside a past his sell by date Williams. Defending is a Team Game, and unless you defend as a team you have problems, as Liverpool showed yesterday.

[ClaretTony]

Didn’t say there was a budget just that there must be some financial parameters. The two are not the same thing. Clearly whatever there is can’t be agreed on though.

Which surely is part of the major problem at our club. I remain convinced that our manager would have been gone by now had there been any vacancies during the summer.

[FactualFrank]

When Nixon says there is news in the morning, you know there's nothing happening any time soon.

[ClaretTony]

I don’t see an issue with there being no budget, per se. The recruitment team will know the wage parameters, and this in many ways is dictated by their transfer value.

I doubt very much the recruitment team will have that much financial information

[Rileybobs]

I doubt very much the recruitment team will have that much financial information

I find that astonishing, if so.

[NewClaret]

Nixon:

Burnley. Splits in camp over targets and budget. Not helping with any pursuits right now. Rigg coming up with names. No deals close. Yet.

Clear he hasn’t a clue what’s going on.

[taio]

I don’t see an issue with there being no budget, per se. The recruitment team will know the wage parameters, and this in many ways is dictated by their transfer value.

Neither do I. It's pretty obvious what the parameters are in terms of fees and wages.

[MACCA]

Said it time and time again Garlick is the issue.

Sadly I think he will cost us out best manager for msny a generation.

[Bigvince]

Surely the the recruitment team need to know if a player will fir within our wage structure, before they persue him!

[ClaretTony]

Neither do I. It's pretty obvious what the parameters are in terms of fees and wages.

Pretty obvious to who? Not the manager apparently.

[taio]

Surely the the recruitment team need to know if a player will fir within our wage structure, before they persue him!

I'm sure they don't need to be told. £20k = great. £40k = ok but he better be good. £60k forget it.

[taio]

Pretty obvious to who? Not the manager apparently.

It's pretty obvious to most people what we will pay in fees and wages.

[ksrclaret]

I feel genuinely sorry for anyone that still tries to keep up with our news during a transfer window. It is a painful expedition.

The worst part is we only need to add 2 or 3 and we'd be all set. The club must have to work exceptionally hard to make it look so difficult to achieve. Fair play.

[Colburn_Claret]

No one can know if the rumours about budget are true. There's obviously a disagreement between the camps manager, recruitment, board but who's at fault if any, is a guess.
I would find it strange, that a business man like Garlick, isn't aware of the issue SD would have if he doesn't even know how much he can spend. It's a hard enough job without working blindfold, as others have already said, you need to know which pond you can fish in, and I don't believe that Garlick hasn't told SD what the parameters are. I CAN believe that SD might not be happy with those parameters, but that's a different discussion.

[ClaretTony]

It's pretty obvious to most people what we will pay in fees and wages.

Not to me for one because I don't have a clue what we pay in wages and don't want to know. All I know is the final wage bill that is published each year with the accounts. As for people in the club, just listen to Dyche, it's been a constant for months and months now, having little digs about the way we do business. Long before Project Restart, when he complained about players having left, he's been at it. I think the whole world knows now that the relationship between chairman and manager is soured, irretrievably I've been told, and it is surely obvious to most that it is currently damaging our club.

[Murger]

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[CFS]

I agree with LTL, when was the last time we signed a hidden gem that wasn't on the list of "best players in the Championship"? dipping down into league one, or abroad. Like LTL says, spotting the players potential before he has the "big season", where his price sky rockets out of our reach.

No such thing as gems anymore lad not with man city scouting kids aged 3+.