Two BFC scenarios: pick one

[Big Vinny K]

Does the £80m include previous non-recurrent bonusses for staying in the premier league and ceased contracts?

Without looking back on the accounts tbh I cannot remember what our last wage bill was in the premier league - especially with the 13 month accounting period etc. The £80m was my rough guess from memory and cannot be far off. Again without looking at the accounts I can’t remember whether it included the one off performance bonuses either (think it did)

But the real revelation in my post was the current wage bill. And that figure is very unlikely to include bonuses as I don’t think it was articulated as a worse case number based on us getting promotion etc.

[taio]

Without looking back on the accounts tbh I cannot remember what our last wage bill was in the premier league - especially with the 13 month accounting period etc. The £80m was my rough guess from memory and cannot be far off. Again without looking at the accounts I can’t remember whether it included the one off performance bonuses either (think it did)

But the real revelation in my post was the current wage bill. And that figure is very unlikely to include bonuses as I don’t think it was articulated as a worse case number based on us getting promotion etc.

In any case, if we go straight back it will be a big succes and if we do so as league winners that will have far exceeded most people's expectations. It would be exactly what we need for several reasons.

[Big Vinny K]

In any case, if we go straight back it will be a big succes and if we do so as league winners that will have far exceeded most people's expectations. It would be exactly what we need for several reasons.

100%.
It’s hard to get your head round what we have done with the player turnover and the transformation we are seeing every week on the pitch.
I cannot think of a club in recent memory that has been relegated from the premier league and within effectively 6 months done what we have done.

[ClaretPete001]

Without looking back on the accounts tbh I cannot remember what our last wage bill was in the premier league - especially with the 13 month accounting period etc. The £80m was my rough guess from memory and cannot be far off. Again without looking at the accounts I can’t remember whether it included the one off performance bonuses either (think it did)

But the real revelation in my post was the current wage bill. And that figure is very unlikely to include bonuses as I don’t think it was articulated as a worse case number based on us getting promotion etc.

It went down from around £100 million in 20/21 to £85 million largely because we made no signings months during the Covid crisis and the early period of the ALK reign.

If I recall rightly 10 senior players were out of contract at the end of last summer so the wage bill was always likely to be greatly reduced if we went down. Because we got rid of PL contracts and replaced them with Championship ones and loans.

It will likely increase if we go back up because all the players currently on loan will have to be signed on PL contracts.

It's a circular argument because:

The consequence of winning in the Championship is ending up back in the PL.

And the consequence of not going back into the PL is likely financial difficulty and not winning.

So, even if you chose option 2 because you have a fondness for beating Rotherham United 3-0 it will only last one season and next season we will be back up against big strong teams who will have lots of possession and bang lots of big balls into the box for PL quality players to have a go at...!

[RammyClaret61]

We could be sat 4th place in the league with our best ever start to a premier league campaign!

Hypothetically of course

[Vegas Claret]

2 for me. Wanting to play at the highest level is for players. I just want to enjoy my Saturdays.

perfectly put

[Big Vinny K]

It went down from around £100 million in 20/21 to £85 million largely because we made no signings months during the Covid crisis…..

I don’t recognise these numbers.
Not sure our wage bill ever reached this even in the 13 month accounting period. I might be wrong.
But agree it did peak a couple of years ago and start to come down.
Difference if we get promoted this time is the wage of a lot of our current squad and first team players is presumably a lot lower than the last championship team we had. I doubt many of the last team that went up were on the kind of salaries our younger signings in particular are on now.
So whilst of course they will all get increases if we do go up and new signings will come in I’d be surprised if in the first promoted season at least our wage bill is over £80m or even over £75m. But this is pure speculation !!

[yosserhughes]

Option 2 for me.

Enjoying the football again.

[chekhov]

Hypothetically of course

It illustrates the daftness of the question, because the hypothetical scenario in the question doesn’t let us know where we would be in the premier league had we won that last game!

[Corky]

Which option did the rubber duck go for

Sadly the duck, of which weirdly we still have one from when our children were young, was non-committal.

[ClaretPete001]

I don’t recognise these numbers.
Not sure our wage bill ever reached this even in the 13 month accounting period. I might be wrong.
But agree it did peak a couple of years ago and start to come down.
Difference if we get promoted this time is the wage of a lot of our current squad and first team players is presumably a lot lower than the last championship team we had. I doubt many of the last team that went up were on the kind of salaries our younger signings in particular are on now.
So whilst of course they will all get increases if we do go up and new signings will come in I’d be surprised if in the first promoted season at least our wage bill is over £80m or even over £75m. But this is pure speculation !!

Staff costs in the last set of accounts.

Playing costs cited from the web site is:

"During the season we extended contracts on several key players and managed to reduce wages year over year from £92m to £86m, in part due to a lower retention bonus at the end of the 2021 season. Despite Covid challenges and our lower turnover, the group ended the season with £50m of cash on hand after reporting a small loss before tax of £3m."

Albeit staff costs in the accounts in 20/21 is £86 million as above but different in 19/20.

[Notsosuperstevedavis]

Option 2.

No point pining for something you cant have.
I think its worked out for the better.
As much I liked Tarks, Pope, Dwight, etc - keeping them and their wages would have made the rejuvenation (almost reincarnation) of our entire squad impossible to achieve financially.

I think we fell on our feet with the relegation coinciding with all the players contracts ending/being sold on.

It was time for Burnley to shed its skin and start again. Its the cleanest fresh start I’ve seen from a relegated side.

[jdrobbo]

It illustrates the daftness of the question, because the hypothetical scenario in the question doesn’t let us know where we would be in the premier league had we won that last game!

This is my point and I agree with you. Of course, it’s a silly question, because it’s hypothetical. Hypothetical scenarios are made up and therefore daft… But look, a thread about Burnley football club, that is now on its second page: not one warning given out, not one abusive post, and not one deleted message… it’s a healthy discussion, despite being hypothetical!!!

[ClaretPete001]

This is my point and I agree with you. Of course, it’s a silly question, because it’s hypothetical. Hypothetical scenarios are made up and therefore daft… But look, a thread about Burnley football club, that is now on its second page: not one warning given out, not one abusive post, and not one deleted message… it’s a healthy discussion, despite being hypothetical!!!

It's an interesting question because it shows how people think...! The reality is that option two is no more feasible than option 1 because winning means promotion and promotion means less winning. Coming 7th in the Championship is not feasible either because it would probably lead to financial problems.

I think the prospect of VK leading a PL team with £80 million in the bank and the possibility of signing the players we did with a much enhanced PL squad is much more exciting than beating Millwall and Rotherham Utd 3-0 week in and week out.

I totally understand there maybe little appetite left for the PL after 7 years but the reality is there is probably no Championship option available to us either.

One way or another VK has to get a team winning in the PL and with 5 players on loan and several influential players heading towards their mid 30s you have to think that option 1 is the only option that makes sense in the longer term.

[Tribesmen]

# 1 for me , loved our time in the Prem no matter how hard it was at times but we "were" in the best league in the world .

[Hurstwood_Claret]

Call me odd. NUMBER 1 ALL DAY LONG

[Big Vinny K]

Staff costs in the last set of accounts.

Playing costs cited from the web site is:

"During the season we extended contracts on several key players and managed to reduce wages year over year from £92m to £86m, in part due to a lower retention bonus at the end of the 2021 season. Despite Covid challenges and our lower turnover, the group ended the season with £50m of cash on hand after reporting a small loss before tax of £3m."

Albeit staff costs in the accounts in 20/21 is £86 million as above but different in 19/20.

Just had a quick check of accounts. The £100m was a 13 month figure - hence the £92m figure quoted below which is the annualised figure for a 12 month period. I think that £92m is the highest wage number the club has ever had in its history.

[ClaretPete001]

Just had a quick check of accounts. The £100m was a 13 month figure - hence the £92m figure quoted below which is the annualised figure for a 12 month period. I think that £92m is the highest wage number the club has ever had in its history.

Yes, you are right. I keep forgetting the 13 months....! It's my age.

[jdrobbo]

Bump

[Jimmymaccer]

2… var is killing my enjoyment… and winning is nice,

Also in the main players and managers just seem to get on with it (mainly)……..no screaming, no diving (oops, Corky aside ), no rolly rolly rolly on the ground and no miraculous recovery from what the player thought was a multiple fracture caused by tripping over the long grass ……

[Leon_C]

Tough one...

A hypothetical for a hypothetical...
I'd love to stay in the Championship, and win it every season.
It's odd thinking that, if (when) we get promoted, we're heading back into the lions' den. Obviously, we all carry a sense of optimism that we will perform in the top division with this manager/team, but it's not nailed on.

[jdrobbo]

Bump

[jrgbfc]

I think relegation was a bit of a blessing in the end. Things had gone stale as hell and we needed a big clear out, which I'm not sure would have happened had we stayed up.
It would have certainly been more difficult trying to rebuild whilst struggling in the Prem.

[tiger76]

I think relegation was a bit of a blessing in the end. Things had gone stale as hell and we needed a big clear out, which I'm not sure would have happened had we stayed up.
It would have certainly been more difficult trying to rebuild whilst struggling in the Prem.

This nails it to a tee, sure we could have rebuilt in the PL under Kompany, but my sense is it would have been a struggle to do that and win games at the elite level.

Whereas at least with dropping down to the Champ we've been given the opportunity to almost start afresh and grow a younger more skilful side that might with this year of development be better equipped for the rigours of the PL.

[Nonayforever]

One of the problems with option 1 which I think is resulting in the uneven vote is the probability that VK most certainly wouldn't have kept the listed players apart from Cornet, Wout and Dwight.
Retaining those 3 plus his additions would have been a competitive team in the PL.

[FCBurnley]

I would never vote for my team to be relegated under any circumstances. The vote would have been more interesting on day 1 of this season

[jdrobbo]

One of the problems with option 1 which I think is resulting in the uneven vote is the probability that VK most certainly wouldn't have kept the listed players apart from Cornet, Wout and Dwight.
Retaining those 3 plus his additions would have been a competitive team in the PL.

Pretty certain most were offered new deals, be it on shorter terms or on reduced salary.

[Claretforever]

As the question is about what I would choose, not Alan Pace or the players, I choose option 2.

Yes, I know there’s a loan to repay but, for now, that’s for others to worry about who took the risk or are paid to do so.

I hate VAR and a whole lot more about the Premier League though realise we need to be there ultimately, but I didn’t even want to attend for much of last season as it felt like a chore because we knew what was coming for a long time with an old squad.

This season has been needed by our club and fans for a couple of years. We needed that feeling of winning regularly again, but the way in which we’re doing it is a joy to watch. The town is buzzing and more fans are attending than last season a division higher, record shirt sales, new songs, converting new fans even from our rivals!!

[Nonayforever]

Pretty certain most were offered new deals, be it on shorter terms or on reduced salary.

If that is true, then thank goodness we were relegated..