Alan Pace

[Juan Tanamera]

I have my own not to generous a view of the takeover of our club and the financial situation it left us in, but by golly I hold my hands up with the way he has backed Vincent Kompany in what was the most exciting transfer window in (I would guess) everyone's living memory.
I would be interested in your thoughts.

[California Colner]

I believe every thing he’s done at the club is what was needed.
I’m sure he felt the same as most fans of Burnley, watching the team playing last few seasons was quite testing and felt they had to be changes so the fans could be entertained win loose or draw.
I think the club is doing a good job of rebuilding and will be far better for it.
For me he gets

[sox8595]

I have got to admit, the change of ownership from people who were fans toa corporate kind of ownership made me feel like we had lost a part of our club, however, change was drastically needed.
This window has been a real eye opener on how things could/should have been done in recent times.
Personally loving the new style of play and actually looking forward to matches much more than in the last couple of years

[Fretters]

Thumbs up from me so far. I also think that, whilst loading the club with a £60 million debt, his progressive approach will generate more profit in the long run than Garlic. He'd checked out and was sanctioning journeymen signings with no resale value.

[Vegas Claret]

I wonder how long it will take

[KRBFC]

Putting my opinion aside of the financial mess he put us into with the takeover, I think he's a decent bloke, hit jackpot with a win/win deal of a lifetime.

He could quite easily have abandoned us and lost nothing from his personal bank account, sold everything, paid MSD then sold the club without regard for the team. I'll give him credit for hiring Kompany, I think the window has been exciting and the rebuild looks a really good job.

When I started attending Burnley was a smallish Championship club (fan base wise), I think our years in the PL has changed that. I don't think we'll drop back to 9,000 home fans anytime soon. I think we're in the top 4 or 5 for average home attendance.

Fans are excited again, I haven't had this exciting feeling for a very very long time. Bums are back on seats. Pace must be credited with that. It feels good to be praised by away fans for our home support and also it feels like we're finally shaking that horrible ugly hoofball brexit tag we were stuck with.

I'd have liked maybe 1 or 2 less loans and replaced with permanent additions but I think we're in a really good spot to have an exciting successful season. Hopefully some of those loans come with an option to buy.

[NottsClaret]

Let’s wait and see. We’ve made a reasonable start and had an intriguing transfer window. That’s good.

But then we are a division lower and tens of millions of pounds more in debt than when he arrived. So I’m not overwhelmed with gratitude yet.

[RVclaret]

The signing of Vincent Kompany was a masterstroke and Pace deserves full credit for it. Most of us, myself included, were half expecting a Carlos Carvahal / Alex Neil type appointment, followed by your run of the mill Championship signings and mid table finish. I was even predicting 5/6 of our under 23s filling out our first team squad as we were looking thin.

To then bring in 15/16 players in 2 months is quite remarkable, to negotiate fair fees for our outgoings at an early stage of the window is also great work, I’m sure there has barely been a day off in this period for him, a well earned rest is due.

The most important factor of the business we’ve done is backing the manager, and I don’t just mean spending money. At many clubs these days you see owners strategies not aligning with the manager, for example Alex Neil just quit Sunderland as he wanted a different type of signing to what the owners wanted. He wanted ready made Champ players, the owners looking for younger players who might need some development work.

Kompany has been able to implement his play style so quickly as all the signings are HIS. Obviously the risk to that is the manager turns out to be a dud and you’re left with a load of rubbish, but I think trust has gone into Kompany’s football knowledge and talent ID - let’s hope it reaps rewards.

[Goody1975]

Thank you for a more measured view KRBFC.

I made a point yesterday about where we would be without Alan Pace and ALK, obviously there is no factual answer.

In my opinion we'd have still been relegated but would be a cash rich Championship club, my reasoning for this is the chronic underinvestment in the squad for two years before the takeover was a major contributor to our demise and that can't be changed, so what would have happened in the past two years?

We'd have a chairman and manager not talking, and a transfer policy that wouldn't have seen Collins, Cornet or Weghorst arrive.

There was only one other bidder for the club and that doesn't fill any of us with any confidence that would have been a better outcome.

Could the previous regime have the tools and the stomach for the required rebuild of an ageing squad and would the manager have been willing or able to do it?

I'm not happy with the debt at all and time will tell whether this has a happy ending but I'm going to judge Alan Pace on his actions so far and from now on in, I would like more interaction between the club and fans as that is one area that needs massive improvement but he is currently doing more than okay.

We NEED promotion and then a sensible approach of long term planning and debt reduction to get us back to where we feel we should be, hopefully with an exciting and enjoyable ride getting there.

So far, so good and ask the question again in May.

[fanzone]

It wasn't Paces fault that Garlic sold the club in the way that he did. Pace made an offer in a structured way that I imagine Garlic had very much hoped for and had his hand snapped off.

For me Pace is doing a fantastic job and everything about the matchday experience is a vast improvement on 12 months ago.

[bfcjg]

If we are going to grow our club by getting more foreign fans watching us then this really is the way to go.
We are where we are and time to look forward.

[box_of_frogs]

Generally pleased other than the bizarre and draconian standing / seating policy.

[Lancasterclaret]

Been an excellent window and the transformation since relegation has been remarkable

I think its possible to praise what has been done, while still being furious at what happened with the sale, and the money being taken out of the club

I also think that is beyond more than a few on this board!

On another point, I'm still struggling with the idea that Garlick would willingly sell the club to someone who would wreck it

But a team our size, with our fan base, will only be able to compete at this level consistently with financial support (either from a rich benefactor or parachute payments)

But a lot happier than I thought I would be three months ago

[ashtonlongsider]

I think AP's grasped the English game very quickly and realises what it needs to get fans on board. The signing of VK was a masterstroke. and we've probably got a bigger profile now than when we were in the PL. Pace has certainly backed VK and by the looks of things given him a free reign. Everything looks in harmony from the Chairman, Directions to the staff and players. Its a new project and will take time to develop to it's full potential and my one hope is that we as fans are patient.

[Culmclaret]

I admit to being very critical of him in his first year or so when he seems to have the opposite of the Midas touch, but the rethinking of the club is what we needed. Having been brought up on Burnley as a beacon of progressive, stylish football, it is refreshing to see the direction things have taken.

[arise_sir_charge]

It appears that the so called asset stripper could actually be an asset builder.

There is still a long way to go before we can determine whether or not the approach we are taking has been successful and whilst the play is settling I still think that there is a much chance that we get pumped tonight as there is of us winning handsomely. It’s bound to take time.

However what can’t be argued is that the managerial appointment and the subsequent seismic shift in approach to play, recruitment, even social media interaction has got everybody interested again.

I’ve not been this interested in Burnley FC for years and can’t wait for the games to keep coming.

Up the Clarets!

[Burnley1989]

Of course I’d have preferred things to be different with how we were purchased, but I’d rather this than a rich Saudi that doesn’t understand the game and uses us as a toy rather than a business.

Great appointment of manager and he looks to have built a good, raw, young team already with lots of potential over the next few years.
The fans are back, folk that I know haven’t been on for years, the footballs exciting and there’s a real buzz about…
I think it sort of tells me, this is a level we can compete at, so feel comfortable again.

It’s an 8/10 so far for me

[alboclaret]

I think he's done everything possible here.
Fire sale was indeed needed. Replaced with a fresh squad.

The only real thing that bothers me is that Pope was sold for £10m and not 20. Crazy in my eye but who knows there might have been a reason

[Burnley1989]

The only real thing that bothers me is that Pope was sold for £10m and not 20. Crazy in my eye but who knows there might have been a reason

I suspect there was more to it myself, perhaps a gentleman’s agreement when an offer came in last season? Who knows

[Colburn_Claret]

I guarantee there isn't a single Burnley fan who would have forecast where we are today, on the day we were relegated. That takes some doing.
Incredible business over the last 2 months, but it's obvious now that the best piece of business was signing VK, and having him align to Alan Pace's vision for the club. The future, whichever division we are in depends on us making a profit from player sales, and after 7 games it looks like we have some gems.
It isn't the way anyone wanted the club to be bought, but we needed a fresh start, and if that was the only option to progress then we should all just accept it. From rhe first interview I always thought AP came across as an honest, competent, hard working businessman, who was fully committed to the Clarets. No evidence just a gut feeling, and I don't think he has done anything since to alter that opinion.
It's been a great window, and on top we've paid off half the loan, are playing excellent football, sit 3rd in the table when i was expecting it to take a few minths to click, there's not a lot that could have gone better.

[forzagranata]

It has been an exciting transfer window - quite unlike anything that has ever happened before. Time will tell how many of the signings are good investments. The signs are promising though with the players we have seen so far.

The football that VK's team is producing has been, overall, very enjoyable to watch and the mood around the ground is far more upbeat and positive.

However, I still fear for the future of the club.

[arise_sir_charge]

By the way I think Goody’s post is excellent but have to question his suggestion that fan interaction is poor.

The content that has been produced this summer has been phenomenal and access to what’s going on behind the scenes has been greater than I can ever remember.

In addition our new manager appears happy to answer questions put to him in press conferences and so you feel more informed as a result.

I say this respectfully but it may be a generational thing if you believe that fan interaction is poor at the moment.

[gandhisflipflop]

Apart from the 4 year Dyche deal (which only looked bad in hindsight) and the north stand debacle this season, I believe he has been faultless so far. The flack pace has taken by short sighted fans has at times been disgraceful and embarrassing to read. I can only hope he hasn’t seen any of it. I even saw posts about us being in administration by the start of the season. Those fans owe an apology, but it won’t happen.

[jedi_master]

I have to separate the mechanism used to ‘purchase’ the club from this post as my feelings on the takeover have been said lots of times, needless to say again.

Great summer’s business (on paper - and I only say that because we do not know how half of these players will fare at this level yet, due to not seeing them play) and above all else an unbelievably efficient turnaround from an ageing squad on high salaries to a younger squad on wages that you’d imagine are well within our bracket now. This puts us in a potentially excellent position of being able to raise funds in the future, if required, by trading up on all of these prospects and thereby becoming somewhat self sustainable in the Brentford model.

Above all else, I’m very glad that intelligence and sense was used upon relegation in trying to get rid of as much of the loan as we could as a priority. Yes, there will have been requirements around this forced upon Pace, but to have paid half of it off already is very good to hear. I had massive concerns that he would just go all out for promotion and if it didn’t work he would see it as a gamble failed, with there not being a huge impact upon him personally (but massive, on us). He hasn’t done that - and that is the biggest plus I can give above anything else, as it was my primary concern.

[LowtonClaret]

I'll say it again, it wasn't Pace who put us in debt, it was the previous board who allowed us to go into debt. Pace had the idea and put it to the then board. They didn't have to accept knowing the consequences. Anyway, all in all, I'm glad they did. He's managing the debt and gave us a team to be proud of.

[Burnley1989]

. The flack pace has taken by short sighted fans has at times been disgraceful and embarrassing to read. I can only hope he hasn’t seen any of it. I even saw posts about us being in administration by the start of the season. Those fans owe an apology, but it won’t happen.

Very small but very vocal minority, they’re entitled to their opinion and it’s probably a little early to completely dismiss them as they could end up being correct, even if I’ve never taken notice of their negativity

[tiger76]

Jury's still out for me, however he's gone a long way to getting the ship back on course following relegation, and although we were in the PL it was becoming increasingly stale, and needed a radical change, whether by luck or design we appear to have landed a great fit with Kompany.

Tough to fully judge all our signings yet, but if only a few of them come up trumps we'll have a lot of saleable assets, which a club of our size needs to have if things don't go well regarding promotion.

We do also seem to have made progress off the pitch, notably in our social media output, not really my bag, but if we're to attract the younger fanbase then we do need to embrace new tech.

One thing can't be denied the excitement is back at TM, and for that we should be thankful.

[Bordeauxclaret]

Who knows. Long way to go but maybe some of the pathetic slurs against him will be put on hold for a while.

[strayclaret]

Exciting times ahead, never in my 50+ years supporting the Clarets have I seen anything like it.
AP has giving us a fresh start and I hope he has deeper pockets as it must be costing us a fortune in B&B
UTC

[claretonthecoast1882]

Who knows. Long way to go but maybe some of the pathetic slurs against him will be put on hold for a while.

About 30 seconds after the next defeat more than likely

[martin_p]

When you say ‘backed’ I presume you mean ‘made a huge profit on transfer dealings’. I’m not having a go at Pace in any way but let’s get it straight. Garlick used to get slaughtered for spending less than we’d made.

[forzagranata]

Jury's still out for me, however he's gone a long way to getting the ship back on course following relegation, and although we were in the PL it was becoming increasingly stale, and needed a radical change, whether by luck or design we appear to have landed a great fit with Kompany.

100%

It is a pity that we didn't freshen up and bring about change this time last year when it was so obvious we needed to do that if we were going to survive in the PL.

But that would have required real leadership, brave decisions and actual investment.

[Swizzlestick]

100%

It is a pity that we didn't freshen up and bring about change this time last year when it was so obvious we needed to do that if we were going to survive in the PL.

But that would have required real leadership, brave decisions and actual investment.

We spent over £25m on Cornet and Collins this time last year. By brave decisions, are you saying we should have fired Dyche earlier than we did?

[forzagranata]

I don't think anyone really thought that signing Cornet and Collins was going to be enough to overhaul an ageing team and secure a comfortable finish in the Premier League.

Relegation started to look on the cards at the end of the 20-21 season. The team was looking old, the football stale. Was anyone really surprised we went down last season?

As for Dyche - it did feel like things had run their course by then. But of course, the owner had decided to give him a four year contract so the change was even tougher to make.

[KRBFC]

I'll say it again, it wasn't Pace who put us in debt, it was the previous board who allowed us to go into debt. Pace had the idea and put it to the then board. They didn't have to accept knowing the consequences. Anyway, all in all, I'm glad they did. He's managing the debt and gave us a team to be proud of.

You can say it as many times as you want, it doesn't make it true. It was Pace who put forward the chancer like offer and Garlick accepted it. Both are responsible for the financial shambles, blaming solely one party is just bizarre and stupid.

[KRBFC]

Very small but very vocal minority, they’re entitled to their opinion and it’s probably a little early to completely dismiss them as they could end up being correct, even if I’ve never taken notice of their negativity

Maybe you should take notice of ''negativity'' you might learn a few things, any ''fan'' who wasn't unhappy with over £100m being funnelled out of the club should question if they're really a fan at all. I don't think it's negative to point it out either, pretending things don't exist doesn't benefit anyone.

[Swizzlestick]

But there was ‘actual investment’ - two signings who were equal or certainly close to record fees for us. I believe we brought Roberts in too, one of the Championship’s top performers. Maybe we could’ve done more but we’ve been over how much of a tough sell we were as a struggling PL team under a manager playing functional football. Pace no doubt regrets the contract, but he’s coming into a club and being (rightly) told this is the best manager we’ve had in a generation. Firing Dyche wasn’t in the conversation last summer because of his credit in the bank so it’s pretty harsh to say keeping him on wasn’t ‘brave’.

[KRBFC]

I'm an objective man, I can slate Pace for the finances around the takeover and praise him for hiring VK.

[arise_sir_charge]

It’s been said to me and I believe there to be an air of truth in it that had fans been in the ground for the initial Pace period then Dyche would not have got the 4 year deal. He’d have likely sensed the declining mood and held off.

[forzagranata]

I'm an objective man, I can slate Pace for the finances around the takeover and praise him for hiring VK.

Manchester United fans (the real ones who go to matches) have consistently and loyally supported their team, players and managers, without ever losing sight of what the Glazers are and what they are doing to their club.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Gets a big thumbs up for hiring Kompany and for backing him in the transfer market. Just a shame he didn’t grow up on Brunshaw Road.

[Steve-Harpers-perm]

Manchester United fans (the real ones who go to matches) have consistently and loyally supported their team, players and managers, without ever losing sight of what the Glazers are and what they are doing to their club.

Sure they’ll conveniently forget and put the green and gold scarves away if they win a trophy this season!!

[claretonthecoast1882]

Gets a big thumbs up for hiring Kompany and for backing him in the transfer market. Just a shame he didn’t grow up on Brunshaw Road.

Yep, the local club for local people is never far from some lips

[Lancasterclaret]

Manchester United fans (the real ones who go to matches) have consistently and loyally supported their team, players and managers, without ever losing sight of what the Glazers are and what they are doing to their club.

Er, no

They only started moaning about the glazers when they got s**t

[Swizzlestick]

It’s been said to me and I believe there to be an air of truth in it that had fans been in the ground for the initial Pace period then Dyche would not have got the 4 year deal. He’d have likely sensed the declining mood and held off.

I think there’s a lot of truth to this.

[forzagranata]

Er, no

They only started moaning about the glazers when they got s**t

Thats not really true. The green and yellow scarves were being worn in protest during title winning seasons and FC United of Manchester was set up in 2005.

[2 Bee Holed]

the most exciting transfer window in (I would guess) everyone's living memory.
I would be interested in your thoughts.

Erm....living memory? I am still trying to get used to them. They are only about 20-years old you know.
Quite a few of us are older than 20.

[RVclaret]

Manchester United fans (the real ones who go to matches) have consistently and loyally supported their team, players and managers, without ever losing sight of what the Glazers are and what they are doing to their club.

Even though the acquisition methods resemble similarities, I believe Pace and co have ‘managed’ the club a lot differently.

Glazers basically have zero interest in the footballing side of things, take a complete hands off approach to all matters, have neglected any ground development work and tried to remove the club from English football completely. That’s without mentioning the extraordinary amounts of money they have taken out to pay themselves. Despite being very wealthy they have dipped into their own pockets to fund anything, transfer funds have been entirely from the clubs commerical revenues.

All of the above is pretty much the opposite of what ALK and Pace have done so far. The only major is the academy downgrade. Pace moved himself and his family into the area, had been approachable around the stadium chatting to fans (prior to sacking Dyche anyway), a friend actually bumped into him on Pendle Hill and said he was very friendly, has made ground development work, worked hands on with Kompany with recruitment and in that has rebuilt the entire culture of the club (in a positive manner). The Glazers, on the other hand, have destroyed the club culture.

[claretonthecoast1882]

Manchester United fans (the real ones who go to matches) have consistently and loyally supported their team, players and managers, without ever losing sight of what the Glazers are and what they are doing to their club.

Maybe the real Burnley fans who are unhappy with things could go to games and never lose sight of what Pace has done to their club

[matttheclaret]

Er, no

They only started moaning about the glazers when they got s**t

The Utd fans have been protesting against the Glazers ever since they took control 17 years ago