Espanyol

[Corway]

Currently drawing 1-1 with Athletico Madrid after a 73 min equaliser from Miguel Rubio 4 mins left.

[Corway]

2-1 up two mins left Pere Milla scorer.

[BurnleyFC]

Huge win if they can hold on.

Alan and JJ will be happy.

[Vegas Claret]

I'm hoping there are lots of lessons they can learn over there that they can apply here, especially in terms of recruitment

[ClaretAndJew]

I'm hoping there are lots of lessons they can learn over there that they can apply here, especially in terms of recruitment

Why have a British team that bounces between the leagues when you can go all in on a top flight team in La Liga?

Just like Kompany using us as a stepping stone to bigger things, so is Alan Pace and ALK. We are but a vessel for their ambition, to leave when the success runs out.

[Corway]

Great win for Paces other club. Hope it rubs off on us!

[Rileybobs]

Yay. Go Espanyol

[Claretnick]

Seen JJ post on Instagram from the stadium, he was enjoying the attention from the Espanyol fans...

[Longsider]

We are not the shiny new thing anymore.

[Vegas Claret]

Why have a British team that bounces between the leagues when you can go all in on a top flight team in La Liga?

Just like Kompany using us as a stepping stone to bigger things, so is Alan Pace and ALK. We are but a vessel for their ambition, to leave when the success runs out.

I concur

[Casper2]

Huge win if they can hold on.

Alan and JJ will be happy.

They will be happy if they are making money , nothing more , nothing less.

[randomclaret2]

" Its Barcelona, not Burnley..."

[BurnleyFC]

The Emporer’s new clothes.

[randomclaret2]

Pace tweeting about it now.

[kentonclaret]

We are not the shiny new thing anymore.

Been watching too much Toy Story

[TsarBomba]

Why have a British team that bounces between the leagues when you can go all in on a top flight team in La Liga?

Just like Kompany using us as a stepping stone to bigger things, so is Alan Pace and ALK. We are but a vessel for their ambition, to leave when the success runs out.

Nice stadium, beautiful city, far greater chance at remaining in the top flight- Espanyol ticks a lot of boxes. What they don’t have is the TV money coming in, which is where we fit in. It’ll be very interesting to see if we loan them any players before the window shuts. Koleosho perhaps, maybe Tresor? I think we’re going to get leaned on quite heavily in the next few years until at least Espanyol become more established in La Liga.

[NewClaret]

Nice stadium, beautiful city, far greater chance at remaining in the top flight- Espanyol ticks a lot of boxes. What they don’t have is the TV money coming in, which is where we fit in. It’ll be very interesting to see if we loan them any players before the window shuts. Koleosho perhaps, maybe Tresor? I think we’re going to get leaned on quite heavily in the next few years until at least Espanyol become more established in La Liga.

Spot on. Unless the money changes in La Liga, we’ll always be the top of the tree. Even on relegation, selling players for big money will most likely be achieved through England and the platform it gives players to attract bids from the Premier League clubs.

If you subscribe to the view that the owners anre entirely money motivated, you can’t ignore the fact the big money is here. Along with the best league in the world.

I watched the game last night. Thought they played well and mixed it up too - long balls in to the channels, etc. was a decent watch. Can’t say I saw any players I thought would make it in to our side, so feel it may be more us “leaning on them” to get us out of jail with the likes of Tresor and others that we want to move on.

[Cooclaret]

Why have a British team that bounces between the leagues when you can go all in on a top flight team in La Liga?

Just like Kompany using us as a stepping stone to bigger things, so is Alan Pace and ALK. We are but a vessel for their ambition, to leave when the success runs out.

Opinion presented as fact to rile up the usuals.

To be successful, you need a multi club model or so most Premier League clubs believe. You might not like that, you might lament for good old days, but it’s a reality of the current situation of football.

AP is a great chairman, ambassador and custodian of our football club.

[Penwortham_Claret]

Seeing JJ having a pint with the Espanyol fans or Pace posting from the stadium strangely makes their interaction’s with the Burnley fans feel somewhat disingenuous.

[claretonthecoast1882]

It is a shame Farnell & El Kashashy didn't buy the club... some on here definitely deserve them

[Row x]

Seeing JJ having a pint with the Espanyol fans or Pace posting from the stadium strangely makes their interaction’s with the Burnley fans feel somewhat disingenuous.

Why?
They were doing the same in London on saturday

[Row x]

It is a shame Farnell & El Kashashy didn't buy the club... some on here definitely deserve them

Bearing in mind they were the only other option, I think we've done quiet well

[Casper2]

Watt celebrating Espanyols victory like we celebrate victory over Rovers is pathetic, can’t people understand we are being played.

[ClaretAndJew]

I guess it depends on your thoughts on the whole thing.

To me, having another club that you celebrate and support so publicly after championing our club for 5 years seems very disingenuous.

[Woodleyclaret]

They are Yanks they speak a similar language but emotionally they are light years behind us English.

[Ightenhill_Claret]

It's all a bit strange to me - as a Burnley fan of 35 years, I struggle to understand being that passionate about another club, let alone one I've only started supporting five minutes ago.

It's not something that I'm that bothered by, just struggle to understand it.

[123EasyasBFC]

This needs closing before use this as another thread to just call out the owners

[randomclaret2]

This needs closing before use this as another thread to just call out the owners

Or maybe let people express their opinions ?

[agreenwood]

It's all a bit strange to me - as a Burnley fan of 35 years, I struggle to understand being that passionate about another club, let alone one I've only started supporting five minutes ago.

It's not something that I'm that bothered by, just struggle to understand it.

I don’t think you can compare a hobby you’ve devoted a chunk of your life to, with the behaviour of a financial investor.

I think I could be pretty passionate about multiple things if I had money riding on them.

[123EasyasBFC]

Or maybe let people express their opinions ?

Having an opinion as to why you don’t think is beneficial to Burnley football club is abit different than basically saying they are yanks so they don’t get it and because they have been to an espanyol game means they suddenly don’t care about Burnley after the club has spent best part of 100m this summer.

Balanced opinion, rather than just calling the owners because of who they are or where they come from.

[TsarBomba]

It's all a bit strange to me - as a Burnley fan of 35 years, I struggle to understand being that passionate about another club, let alone one I've only started supporting five minutes ago.

It's not something that I'm that bothered by, just struggle to understand it.

Naturally, we’ve all done our best to buy into the new ownership, partly off the back of the many platitudes Pace and JJ have trotted out.

Their cheering and support for another club lays bare their true intention and motivation in all this, which is fine. They are owners and investors, not fans, and never will be. Again, no issue with that. There aren’t many, if any, owners left that are proper fans. Not at the top end of the pyramid anyway.

The multi club model, the leveraged buy out- it all stinks, but what was the alternative? A dodgy Egyptian?

I welcome the day ALK pack up and leave but who comes in next? There are some terrible owners out there, and for all their failings, Pace and Co are far from the worst*.

*caveating with the potential of what may happen should we spend 2+ years in the Championship.

[Ightenhill_Claret]

Yeah I agree Tsar - as Bobby Robson once said far more eloquently than I can, the only real constants in a football club are the fans. Not the players, not the managers, not the owners, not the investors, not the hired hands in the offices.

Appreciate that in rare circumstances, some of the above are also fans but it is rare. I've no real issue with the multi-club model (it's a part of the modern game) and the leveraged buy-out I've whinged about since it happened.

I've also no issue with Pace and JJ Watt's 'true intentions' (I think we all realised that primarily a football club is an investment). I do believe that Pace, JJ Watt and others do have a real affection for the football club that has grown over time since their arrival. But the love of a football club should grow over time - I'm not sure I could go to a random Bundesliga, Ligue 1, La Liga or Serie A game and suddenly muster up the same passion I have for Burnley.

But, in Watts defence, I've never played sport at the very highest level so I wonder whether his passion is born out of that elite level mentality of buying absolutely into whatever project they may be involved in. I like Watt, I think he's been great for Burnley. I don't trust Pace but I think the way he has backed Parker over the last two years should be applauded, as should some of the appointments into key positions. He's not perfect by any stretch (I think he'd prefer it if football could be profitable without having to pander to normal fans) but hey ho, we are where we are.

(And I appreciate that having said 'I'm not bothered by it', that is a very long post! haha)

[ŽižkovClaret]

We are not the shiny new thing anymore.

Not always a bad thing.......

[TPClaret]

Some fans would be happy to see us drift back to league 2 with 7000 fans on the turf.

[ClaretAndJew]

Some fans would be happy to see us drift back to league 2 with 7000 fans on the turf.

Halve that amount and that’s about the level we were at in that league.

Burnley v Millwall 1985 division 3, 3586 on the Turf.

[taio]

Some fans would be happy to see us drift back to league 2 with 7000 fans on the turf.

I don't know a single Burnley supporter who'd want this. How many have you come across who'd want that, or were you referring to fans of other clubs?

[Darnhill Claret]

How about this for a wild suggestion.

Alan Pace, JJ and any others might want both football clubs to do well, be successful.

[randomclaret2]

How about this for a wild suggestion.

Alan Pace, JJ and any others might want both football clubs to do well, be successful.

No doubt, but I want Burnley FC owners to be 100% focussed on Burnley FC.

[jojomk1]

No doubt, but I want Burnley FC owners to be 100% focussed on Burnley FC.

Alan Pace is being paid a substantial salary to be Chairman of BFC

Does he have a paid title/role at Espanyol - just asking

[trickytrev]

Help needed here please.
Velocity Sports Ltd the sports investment arm arm of ALK Capital Group have bought Espanyol for €130 million from Chinese owned group Rastar.
In return part of the deal brokered was that Rastar werre given 16.5% in share ownership of Velocity Sports Ltd at a value of £65 million does that mean we are now part owned an funded by the Chinese?

[Pickles]

Barcelona or Burnley? Hmm. Tough one.

JJ Watt is playing to the gallery, it's performative and we're his plaything. I'm not saying he's not a nice guy and that there's zero authenticity with him. But ultimately he's the poster boy and he's playing his role.

I've found the stuff I've read online about Burnley fans "supporting" Espanyol to be really cringeworthy. People buying Espanyol shirts because some suited Americans they've never met have decided to buy the club. It's bizarre. I couldn't give a flying one about Espanyol.

The money is in the Premier League so currently you'd imagine Burnley are the priority. But that all changes with a relegation and a few 12th placed Championship finishes.

It could all end with us crying into our Estrellas.

[jlup1980]

Alan summed it up nicely when he spoke about his relationship with VK. In this instance Pace and JJ Watt are the "beautiful girl". We are no longer a couple, we are a threesome, and everyone knows three's a crowd.

"It's like dating the most beautiful girl in town, and knowing there's probably no chance she'll ever marry you. But, everybody else wants to marry her. So it's like, how long can you date, how long can you stay together, how long can you stay a couple? I hope it's for a very, very, very long time. But it's up to 'her'."

We're a play thing for a bunch of financial investors. That's the start and end of the conversation. As long as we continue to bounce back into the PL, they will continue to play with us. The moment we fail to return we will see their real love for the club. By that I mean they'll likely strip the place of assets and move on. Hopefully I'm completely wrong with that assessment, but this is the reality of our ownership model.

[Spijed]

Alan summed it up nicely when he spoke about his relationship with VK. In this instance Pace and JJ Watt are the "beautiful girl". We are no longer a couple, we are a threesome, and everyone knows three's a crowd.

"It's like dating the most beautiful girl in town, and knowing there's probably no chance she'll ever marry you. But, everybody else wants to marry her. So it's like, how long can you date, how long can you stay together, how long can you stay a couple? I hope it's for a very, very, very long time. But it's up to 'her'."

We're a play thing for a bunch of financial investors. That's the start and end of the conversation. As long as we continue to bounce back into the PL, they will continue to play with us. The moment we fail to return we will see their real love for the club. By that I mean they'll likely strip the place of assets and move on. Hopefully I'm completely wrong with that assessment, but this is the reality of our ownership model.

Isn't his daughter married to someone who was at the club before Alan Pace arrived and is from the area?

If so, you'd think he'll always have an emotional attachment to the club, well hopefully at least.

[aggi]

Alan summed it up nicely when he spoke about his relationship with VK. In this instance Pace and JJ Watt are the "beautiful girl". We are no longer a couple, we are a threesome, and everyone knows three's a crowd.

"It's like dating the most beautiful girl in town, and knowing there's probably no chance she'll ever marry you. But, everybody else wants to marry her. So it's like, how long can you date, how long can you stay together, how long can you stay a couple? I hope it's for a very, very, very long time. But it's up to 'her'."

We're a play thing for a bunch of financial investors. That's the start and end of the conversation. As long as we continue to bounce back into the PL, they will continue to play with us. The moment we fail to return we will see their real love for the club. By that I mean they'll likely strip the place of assets and move on. Hopefully I'm completely wrong with that assessment, but this is the reality of our ownership model.

Amazing that for all those who took the mick out of Pace for that quote how prescient it turned out to be.

[CoolClaret]

Isn't his daughter married to someone who was at the local LDS church, who then got hired by the club & ended up marrying Pace's daughter.

Fixed that for you.

[ClaretTony]

Isn't his daughter married to someone who was at the club before Alan Pace arrived and is from the area?

If so, you'd think he'll always have an emotional attachment to the club, well hopefully at least.

He wasn't at the club before Alan Pace arrived - he was appointed by the current ownership and works in the commercial department. He was known to someone at the club via the church.

[CoolClaret]

It’s not at all, across all businesses in the world people get employed based on who they know rather than what they know.

Ok then. Call me old-fashioned, but people in any walk of life getting preferential hiring based on their religious background is wrong.

[123EasyasBFC]

Ok then. Call me old-fashioned, but people in any walk of life getting preferential hiring based on their religious background is wrong.

I know someone who was hired by the club a good few years ago without any experience, their family also happened to be a sponsor at the club.

You are purely speculating that it was based on religious beliefs. How do you know that said person didn’t have relevant experience or education for the role.

[billyhamilton82]

No doubt, but I want Burnley FC owners to be 100% focussed on Burnley FC.

Do you think other owners have been 100% focussed on Burnley?

All club owners have other business interests, that's why they own and run football clubs because they have the money to be able to do so, through other business ventures.

Even Bob Lord had his own butchers business that required time and effort, all businesses whatever their size take up time and effort, its the nature of the beast and why so many decide to work for a pay cheque instead.

The good thing in this scenario is that we are able to utilise the situation to our advantage as its another football business/club.

[Casper2]

Do you think other owners have been 100% focussed on Burnley?

All club owners have other business interests, that's why they own and run football clubs because they have the money to be able to do so, through other business ventures.

Even Bob Lord had his own butchers business that required time and effort, all businesses whatever their size take up time and effort, its the nature of the beast and why so many decide to work for a pay cheque instead.

The good thing in this scenario is that we are able to utilise the situation to our advantage as its another football business/club.

Bob Lord didn’t have a branch in Barcelona, not to my knowledge anyway.