Pace interview

[CFS]

I'm not annoyed bud, just saying that its just not a nice thing to say about someone who'll want to do there best to fit in. If you've ever live abroad one day you'll know what I mean.

If you read what I said I actually said he seems a top bloke. His accent us ridiculous get over it hun.

[CFS]

Did you expect him to loook and coook?

Ok

[KRBFC]

I was expecting Pace to be grilled by the media at a press conference, hopefully today?

[ClaretCliff]

According to the Telegraph, Pace's fellow ALK directors are Mike Smith and Stuart Hunt. It could be worse - they could be Stuart Smith and Mike Hunt

[Claretprinter]

Noticed on AP twitter account he mentions a AIScout app launching soon for scouting new players as well as PlayerLens (amateur to prem league scouting tool).

Seems this is one of the new markets they wanted to enter and they needed a club to use that proves the model works.

Could be good for the club, develop and sell on players, but also bad if they sign players without asking the manager.

Fingers crossed its good.

UTC

[Duffer_]

Seems this is one of the new markets they wanted to enter and they needed a club to use that proves the model works.

Yeah, I can see we would be a useful guinea pig in this area. Thing is, would other clubs want to join the platform knowing we were the primary "connected" customer? I appreciate the businesses will operate independently of each other but I would understand others being wary of us getting the "Glengarry Leads".

Edit: just came across this (see link below). Interesting to see that many of the players best matched to us have previously been mentioned/linked by others.

https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/fo ... cs-3081162

Top pick:

Screenshot_20210101-120704_Chrome.jpg (319.01 KiB) Viewed 3813 times

[BigChaCha]

but also bad if they sign players without asking the manager

There are workarounds I guess for that... They purchase players for the under-23 squad while SD still has a budget or they could split the transfer budget so SD gets a percentage choice of the transfer pot.

[Chester Perry]

anyone that thinks football or sport in general is not part of the entertainment industry has not been paying attention

https://outline.com/3DegHB

[mill hill claret]

Not sure if it's a good idea alan pace being on twitter ...only takes 1 thing to go wrong then some may get on his back ...

[Chester Perry]

Not sure if it's a good idea alan pace being on twitter ...only takes 1 thing to go wrong then some may get on his back ...

"may" is being somewhat optimistic don't you think

[mill hill claret]

"may" is being somewhat optimistic don't you think

Very

[aggi]

We are practically the last club in The Prem to sell to foreign owners.

I guess West Ham and Brighton are the only proper clubs owned by local boys done good now.

[Gnulty]

This guy is no moron, maybe a mormon according to Linkedin and if so, it's personal and none of my business anyway. Welcome to Burnley F.C. Mr. Pace, hope You and Your family will thrive

[basil6345789]

Ha ha - granddad Derek, he scored a lot of goals for the Blades too.

Still affectionately referred to in Sheffield as "Doc" Pace. I still remember the bubble gum card of him bearing the words "packs a great shot with both feet".
Funny how you remember things from 60 years ago as if it was today!

[ClaretTony]

Still affectionately referred to in Sheffield as "Doc" Pace. I still remember the bubble gum card of him bearing the words "packs a great shot with both feet".
Funny how you remember things from 60 years ago as if it was today!

I was being a bit formal, always known as Doc wasn't he? I'm just the same with the memory stuff, 60 years ago seems like today, yesterday I haven't a clue.

[ClaretTony]

This guy is no moron, maybe a mormon

I'd say you have that one correct

[Bosscat]

This guy is no moron, maybe a mormon according to Linkedin and if so, it's personal and none of my business anyway. Welcome to Burnley F.C. Mr. Pace, hope You and Your family will thrive

Hope that doesn't mean "Crazy Horses" for the walk on music


https://youtu.be/iXcj8dFOd1E

But then again

[ClaretCliff]

Did a bit of Googling on his old club, Real Salt Lake. Found out they played in Claret & Blue!
(Although they called it Claret & Cobalt)

[Vegas Claret]

from earlier today

[Dressinggown]

The interview gave me optimism about our club's future.

A second view brought a considerable amount of concern:

The new owners are set to improve our commercial operations within a world market.

However, was the interview conducted in a school stock room ? I have no DIY experience but I could have knocked up something better than that after a few Vodkas in a matter of moments.

I reckon that they used the Presidential Suite at the landmark Kierby Hotel Resort nearby.

To add some variety, a cut to AP being behind the locked gate of the defunct Ladies WC under the Culvert could have provided super interesting viewing for our overseas soccer patrons.

UTC.

Was it a streamlining process by combining all the visas, Premier league tests, PR stuff and welcome to Burnley etc in a space of 15 minutes ?

[claretonthecoast1882]

Just read his first interview that Pace has done with Jack Gaughan from the daily mail another board member name confirmed

[NewClaret]

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/footb ... rnley.html

[Chester Perry]

Just read his first interview that Pace has done with Jack Gaughan from the daily mail another board member name confirmed

This one?

They are wealthy Mormons with big ambitions of transforming the club with new technology and marketing but there is just one question... why have ALK Capital bought Burnley?
- Investment firm ALK Capital possess a stake in two sport-tech companies
- ALK came close to acquiring Sheffield United in 2019 before Burnley
- New chairman Alan Pace's companies openly embrace data and analytics
- His methods however will not impinge on Sean Dyche, who they intend to keep
By JACK GAUGHAN FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 22:30, 2 January 2021 | UPDATED: 22:57, 2 January 2021

Alan Pace is in the back of a car heading for meetings at Turf Moor, coming from his rented converted barn near Clitheroe. The vehicle, winding through rural Lancashire, jolts. So does he.

'To be super clear, this is not Moneyball,' says Pace. Burnley's new chairman, an American veteran of Wall Street, clearly wants to meet perceptions with the same vigour Ashley Barnes attacks Dwight McNeil crosses.

ALK Capital, the private investment firm who purchased a controlling 84 per cent stake for about £170million, are interested in technology. They embrace data, analytics. One of the first things noticeable about ALK is that they possess a stake in two sport-tech companies.

He will use both of these — one a global scouting tool for academy players, the other an online hub for aiding transfers and backed by Pep Guardiola's brother, Pere — but insists this will not impinge on the methods already in place under manager Sean Dyche.

But before all the intricacies of how this club's identity may or may not alter over time, there is one burning question: why Burnley? A sizeable group of American investors, plenty of whom will join Pace in relocating to England, teaming up with financial institutions to take over a club in an old Lancashire mill town does not feel like normal business.

'Even my children have asked the same thing,' says Pace with a laugh. 'My father actually lived around here in the early Sixties. We were brainwashed to a degree that if you ever get the chance to be in the UK, take it.

'We're all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, my partners and I. My father served as a missionary here for two years when he was 19. He spent time in Leeds, Preston and Manchester, where there is a history of the Mormon community.'

Pace will use his tech companies to help but not impinge on the methods of boss Sean Dyche

One man, former president of the New York Knicks and Madison Square Garden, Dave Checketts, will be appointed to the board once his secondment to London as a mission president concludes. Those involved in this group all come with lengthy CVs and pedigrees to match. Premier League football has been their calling for some time.

ALK came close to acquiring Sheffield United in 2019 before Burnley became a viable alternative. Pace talks passionately about how the ties with its local community cannot be overestimated, that the building blocks to progress the club are in place. The 53-year-old pinpoints similarities with Real Salt Lake, who rose from the Eastern Conference's foot to winning MLS within 18 months of his appointment as chief executive.

The main difference between the two, Pace reasons, is that Burnley can truly lift off away from their roots without leaving them behind. Their global viewing figures are among the lowest in the division and the new man thinks he knows why, believing those can rise to make the club — and the town — more desirable. 'You've got to give people stories to follow,' says Pace. 'Build a connection. Jordan North [on I'm A Celebrity] is a perfect example, getting the whole country, even for two seconds, thinking about the team.

'There are going to be a few things that surprise people. We do think it's very different to what has gone before. I've been reading the fan forums and they say, 'Oh, they will bring amazing things from America'. We might bring some good ideas but you already have the best thing. You've already got the crown jewel, now we just have to put it into the crown. We don't want to rip out the heart of anything. It's nurturing what is already there. There should be announcements that people may say, 'Wow, they're doing that in a pandemic?'

Pace is, for example, looking at securing a partnering club in Europe — in vogue with many top-flight rivals. He is keen to stress that Burnley's identity may shift but will not change. 'If we were to walk in and change everything then we'd get marched out. We don't want to start over. You can do that at big clubs because no real community owns that club.

'It's our goal to make us England's favourite underdog. We want to take down some of the big boys and Sean is critical to what we're doing. What does a great manager do? Help people rise beyond what they think they can achieve. We've seen that consistently and that tells you how great Sean is. He's doing an awesome job.

'We would like him to continue for as long as he'd like to. That will be his choice.' Pace is talking just before meeting Dyche for the first time. The manager will be given funds this month, although that will be measured. 'I'll tell you, I've been offered players within 24 hours of being in charge,' says Pace. 'That is ridiculous. I don't like what I see from agents. There is a good chance for us to do things differently.

'What you'll learn from us is that we under-promise and over-deliver. The last thing we want to do is come here and say 'We'll spend £30million in the window, we'll be in the Champions League in five years'. We are here to work our tails off and there will be some cool stuff along the way.

'There is an evolution on the sports tech side and it's really time football started to go a bit further. When you look at data and analytics, they don't require someone needing to have done 30 years as a scout. There is a little bit of living in the past [in football].'

That is something levelled at the club he now runs, of course.

'I'm not disagreeing with you,' says Pace. 'There is a tremendous opportunity here to mesh data with experience. We'll try different things but that doesn't mean everything at our disposal gets used or is the best thing for this club. We're willing to come in as evolutionary rather than revolutionary. This is why living locally is important. They'll see us walking down the street, talk to us.'

Fans will not bump into the financial institutions linked with ALK Capital, though. Money has been borrowed from Michael Dell's MSD UK Holdings, a company used by other English clubs. 'I can't change perceptions. We're not billionaires and even if we were, I'm not sure I'd do it any differently. We're in this for the long term. If it's only about the fund, the money, we'd ride out a couple of years and flip the club.'

The academy is fundamental. 'This should be an aspirational place,' says Pace. 'We need to try to become the home of English players coming through up here.

Pace admits that the academy is fundamental and wants them to develop young prospects

'Look at Southampton, we have a tremendous amount of respect for what they did with their academy. Yet over the last five years, under the current owner, they have destroyed that.

'This comes back to the different revenue streams. It cannot be based solely on selling of players. And what has happened in the North West over the past few years is a shame... from having all these Premier League clubs, all this passion, to demoralising everyone because of bad owners.

'We can take this club to a different level with help. Are there great opportunities for us to build a more ambitious club? Yes, be it winning a cup competition or getting to the Europa again, or whatever things looks like in the next four or five years. Here is a successful club in its own right. Let's broaden its success, rather than defining it by one thing.'

[NewClaret]

I've been reading the fan forums and they say, 'Oh, they will bring amazing things from America'.

He’s been reading Up The Clarets

[Chester Perry]

He’s been reading Up The Clarets

say Hello and be nice then

[NewClaret]

say Hello and be nice then

Hello Alan. Please sign Emi Buendia and don’t saddle us with too much debt please

Oh and welcome to the UK to you and your family.

[claptrappers_union]

He’s DanielJWaterhouse

[Aclaret]

Yeah just read that.
" Hello Alan how are you, hope you have settled ok in Rossendale, if you would like to meet up for a chat, when possible of course, get in touch through Tony and I will gladly show you round the local area. Good luck. Oh and you will need a username if you would like to come on board with us fans for some fun and clarets talk, how about something like ALKClaret. All the best Alan "

[ClaretTony]

I’d just come on to link the Mail article but spotted it on this thread.

Very interesting read.

[NewClaret]

I have to say, reading that, I really like the sound of this guy.

It very much sounds like he gets it and I agree with everything he says.

[PremierLeagueClass]

Can’t help but get a bit excited reading that.

[ClaretTony]

He’s been reading Up The Clarets

I knew he’d been looking on here. That worried me. 🥸

[nyclaret]

Ok Alan, you had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

[RVclaret]

Really like the sound of this guy, enjoyed reading that.

[ClaretTony]

I think the first four words in that Mail article will now explain

1. Why I kept suggesting they wouldn’t likely be introducing Budweiser or having a Bene.

2. Suggested they already had interests in Lancashire. It’s the church by the M61 at the Chorley exit.

[Paul Waine]

I’d just come on to link the Mail article but spotted it on this thread.

Very interesting read.

Great read. I'm guessing Alan Pace has been busy these past several months, spent a lot of his time thinking what will work for Burnley FC and the fans. Who knows, he may have been speaking with and listening to the answers of Mike Garlick, John B and Barry Kilby - what will the fans like to hear.

A cup. Another Europa season, but most important a job for Sean Dyche for as look as Sean Dyche wants it.

What not to like! - I believe that's an American expression.

Exciting times.

UTC

[Duffer_]

I knew he’d been looking on here. That worried me. 🥸

Haha...it reads v well. I like the idea of us telling our story and being recognised for what we are: an inspirational community based and backed underdog. I am really proud of how well supported we are and never tire of telling Leeds fans they would need a 250k capacity stadium to compete on a per capita basis. I hope Sean is inspired and we carry on b.b.b.b.building.

[Zlatan]

I’m wondering what he makes of Sid’s recent revelations

[NewClaret]

I knew he’d been looking on here. That worried me. 🥸

Good job you’ve not broken any confidences then Tony

Hope you haven’t moderated any of his posts or told him off

[Chester Perry]

I think the first four words in that Mail article will now explain

1. Why I kept suggesting they wouldn’t likely be introducing Budweiser or having a Bene.

2. Suggested they already had interests in Lancashire. It’s the church by the M61 at the Chorley exit.

what about the one up Belvedere rd - only a short walk from the office

[DomBFC1882]

What a great guy. Welcome to our club Alan and of course UTC!!!

[NewClaret]

I’m wondering what he makes of Sid’s recent revelations

Hope he doesn’t think threads like that appear on here every day. He sounds a nice religious guy.

Alan - it’s a one-off (apart from when Steve buys his missus unwanted dildos for Christmas)

[claretonthecoast1882]

I’d just come on to link the Mail article but spotted it on this thread.

Very interesting read.

Jack is a good lad one of my sons is a mate of one of his family members and he’s the only journalist who’s number I have. Unlike idiots like Nixon he’s a journalist you can trust with information.

[ClaretTony]

what about the one up Belvedere rd - only a short walk from the office

Someone at the club said to me that it was a pity there wasn’t a Mormon church in Burnley. I told him it was just round the corner on Belvedere Road.

[ClaretTony]

Jack is a good lad one of my sons is a mate of one of his family members and he’s the only journalist who’s number I have. Unlike idiots like Nixon he’s a journalist you can trust with information.

You are one up on me - I think I’ve only got numbers for the local journalists.

You learn over time which journalists you can and cannot believe.

[Cubanclaret]

I did wonder whether mormons would come into it after reading that he was in involved at Real Salt Lake.
I wonder what they'll think of the 'Oh Burnley is wonderful song'
Overall though he talks well and this interview tackles one of the first potential pitfalls that a moneyball approach might be taken.
It does sound like he reads the forums. Welcome to Burnley Alan, you will find a warm welcome if you are as good as your words here.

[NewClaret]

I think the first four words in that Mail article will now explain

1. Why I kept suggesting they wouldn’t likely be introducing Budweiser or having a Bene.

2. Suggested they already had interests in Lancashire. It’s the church by the M61 at the Chorley exit.

Just looked that up. See that from the M61 sometimes but it’s a stunning church. The one around the corner from the Turf is less salubrious, I think it’s fair to say!

[vancouverclaret]

Welcome to Burnley, Looking forward to exciting times. Once a Claret always a Claret no matter where we live.

[ClaretTony]

Just looked that up. See that from the M61 sometimes but it’s a stunning church. The one around the corner from the Turf is less salubrious, I think it’s fair to say!

I used to use that exit on the M61 for work. It’s one impressive building.

[NewClaret]

Worth noting that article confirms Dave Checketts is joining our Board. This gent has one seriously impressive CV in the world of American sports (currently serving as president of the LDS church in London, hence not an immediate appointment):

Checketts attended the University of Utah and later earned a master's degree in business administration from Brigham Young University. After graduation, he joined the Boston-based consulting firm of Bain & Company. At 28, he became president and general manager of the Utah Jazz, making him the youngest chief executive in National Basketball Association (NBA) history. He then spent a year as the general manager of NBA International, where he worked to increase the league's presence around the world.

He became president of the New York Knicks in March 1991, and in his four seasons as president, the team made it to the Eastern Conference Finals twice and went to the NBA Finals in 1994. The team set records for attendance, television ratings and revenue during his tenure, but the club failed to win the NBA Finals.

He went on to become president and chief executive officer of Madison Square Garden, the company that owns the New York Rangers, New York Knicks, New York Liberty of the WNBA, Madison Square Garden and the MSG television network.[1] In 1997, MSG acquired Radio City Music Hall. From 1998 to 2001, the Rangers failed to make the playoffs four straight seasons despite having one of the highest payrolls in the NHL.

In September 2001, Checketts founded SCP Worldwide, a consulting and investment service firm for sports teams. In 2002, SCP acquired SportsWest Communications, a syndicated broadcaster of college sports. In July 2004, SCP bought into Major League Soccer and established a team in Utah, Real Salt Lake, which began play in April 2005. On September 29, 2005 it was announced that SCP had officially signed an agreement to purchase the St. Louis Blues.

In 2009, Checketts was in an ownership group, along with talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, that was publicly linked to a potential purchase of the St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL); after numerous NFL players objected to Limbaugh owning an NFL team,[2] Checketts dropped Limbaugh from the group and never made a bid for the team.[3]

Checketts was hired in 2011 to serve as a consultant for new Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores.[4] Checketts has been Chief Executive Officer of Legends Hospitality Management, LLC since January 2012.[5]