Mattyblue

Now you’re talking! The Rest is History Podcast with Tom Holland (not that one!) and Dominic Sandbrook is fantastic. Great knowledge, but they don’t take it all too seriously like many an American podcast. With events in Ukraine it has got me delving into the aftermath of the Second World War a lot at the moment. It is striking to see how many of the major issues we are having across the world currently goes back to the fallout from it… the advance of the USSR across Eastern Europe, the Chinese civil war and the escape of the losing Nationalists to Taiwan, the end of Empires, Israel/Palestine etc etc.

It’s a daft question because neither are fit to be anywhere near the running of Blackburn Rovers, so I wouldn’t appoint either if I was somehow the owner of the club. ’Yeah, yeah, but if you HAD to? Blind or deaf?’ ’Leg or arm chopped off?’

Is this what it’s come to?

Hmm, pretty sure you said JW ‘did ok’ this very afternoon! Though if you don’t think having Balaji Junior potentially run the place is a positive, I’m glad to hear it! Apologies, must have read your post wrong.

Imagine once of a day having standards so high that you thought John Williams merely ‘did ok’, to now being happy for some kid out of uni to run Blackburn Rovers… and still be in the mindset that this lot are a good thing for the club.

Uncalled for? Give over. He’s been on the wind up for 12 months, he’s told us absolutely nowt, and he now spends most of his time saying how we are all ‘clueless’, yet won’t tell us a single thing to give us mushrooms a clue, and it’s long become tiresome. He either needs to put some meat on the bones or put a sock in it.

Eh? That’s the exact opposite of my point. I don’t like our club and fanbase being besmirched. It was a great initiative all round and 99.9% of feedback was positive, apart from professional trolls. A real positive by and for the club. So try again!

You still don’t rate JW after everything that has happened since. Amazing.

A tiny minority of social media trolls, as to be expected. Look at the penalty missers at the Euros, also a tiny minority of knuckle draggers, it’s the modern social media world. The club has had massive positive publicity. Your posts are getting increasingly odd, 1864, you seem to enjoy being divisive and I’ve no idea what you are trying to achieve. Unfortunately you seem to be the very last person the club should be engaging with…

Bit of positivity around Wigan, I imagine they won’t be a million miles from us either. Year upon year decline in sales for the flagship product of any football club, indeed hitting new lows in sales I wouldn’t have even believed possible a decade ago. At a club with any kind of accountability heads would roll, but this is modern day Blackburn Rovers after 12 years of going through the motions…

I see, so you believe there should now be a hierarchy of loyalty even before the season has kicked off! Maybe STs should now have a ‘Purchased on’ stamp so you can have exclusive perks on a sliding scale. And despite it being the exact same product whenever you buy it, if you can’t afford one until pay day and are waiting till the claim your seat deadline, like every year, you are, of course, less loyal. Don’t recall ever reading that in the Ts&Cs. Didn’t expect any different from said poster though, what a strange view of the world he has…

Yes, of course. But where this is different is they are prioritising ST holders for a season that hasn’t even kicked off. We are not even at the claim your seat deadline yet, so as some of your most loyal fans won’t be renewing until the end of the month, they are excluded.

…so that’s TWO down. Get those planning applications burned before any other chancer sees them.

Reminds me of when Dave Whelan appointed his grandson as Chairman after a less than stellar stint running the chippy at the ground…

Wonder how much more we make on hospitality than Accy game by game? You know that former Northern Premier club that just about hits 2k home fans. A far smaller gap than a few years back, I would imagine…

How does going to a ‘top university’ prepare you for the absolute batshit world of the Championship? How do we know he ‘will have an idea about football’?

Imagine saying that before this shower turned up…

Sales going well then…

Good piece in the Daily Telegraph that outlines the mess (‘best run’, ‘sensibly run club’ labels certainly have parallels to BRFC c2010)… By Tom Morgan and James Ducker 23 May 2022 • 10:15pm Burnley will play in the Championship for the first time since 2016 next season Over the four years since Burnley reached the heights of European qualification, the decline of the Premier League's "best-run club" began gradually and then, in recent months, went into freefall. Here Telegraph Sport dissects how the risky and contentious American leveraged buyout of a locally owned club leaves the Clarets facing the most expensive relegation in English football history. Boardroom inertia immediately before the takeover Mike Garlick's ownership of Burnley was hailed as a beacon of footballing overachievement. Analysis by the University of Liverpool's Centre for Sports Business Group concluded in 2019 that Burnley were the "most sensibly run club in the Premier League financially". In June 2020, six months prior to the ALK takeover, there was £80million in the bank and minimal long-term debt. However, as he brokered a sale, the club's ability to bounce back from the Championship became a good deal more brittle than it had been after previous Premier League relegations in 2010 and 2015. Those close to the club say alarm bells began ringing in the weeks after the club enjoyed one its happiest days – May 5 2018, when the Clarets secured seventh spot and a return to European football for the first time in 51 years. To some disappointment there would be no ambitious signings that summer to build on the record arrival of the previous season, Chris Wood. As a result the squad's average age gradually rose and cumulative values fell, with pleas for renewal falling on deaf ears as Garlick put an apparent brake on spending while the prospect of a sale grew and negotiations with potential buyers took place. The lack of Premier League safeguards With a £65million millstone now hanging around the club's neck, Burnley fans can quite rightly claim to have been failed by the system. Telegraph Sport reported a fortnight ago how the Football Association and Premier League are in talks about clamping down on leveraged buyouts as part of a new directors' and owners' test. But that will be of no comfort for a club which must now immediately start repaying a relegation clause connected with the takeover. The £170million deal secured by ALK Capital in December 2020 loaded the club with eye-watering levels of debt. Accounts published earlier this month show the fall to the Championship triggers the immediate repayment of “a significant proportion” of a £65million loan from US equity firm MSD Holdings. As a result, the initial parachute payment that gives most recently relegated clubs a head start will be of little help. Burnley are due to receive £42million in the first year from the top tier but that appears almost certain to be swallowed up, with Alan Pace’s ALK Capital also borrowing £37million from the club’s own bank to help finance the takeover. For a club now facing life without the Premier League TV money that currently accounts for 90 per cent of revenues, there will also be concern over interest rates for the debt within the club. The London Inter-bank offered rate is plus eight per cent and US private equity firms tend to use six or 12-month deals. The six-month rate is currently 1.8 per cent, which would make Burnley’s interest rate 9.8 per cent – around £6.5m a year. Unanswered questions for ALK Capital Pace, a former Wall Street financier who led the US consortium ALK Capital, has described the exact details of the takeover as confidential. The level of debt within the club was only laid bare earlier this month in the annual accounts, which detail how, in the event of relegation, "steps to reduce costs and borrowings to a level which are more sustainable for a Championship club" will be required. "In the event of relegation, the directors are satisfied that the group will continue to have the support of its lenders," the accounts add. However, there remains some confusion over how much a club with a proud history of retaining cash reserves has in the bank as it stands. Earlier this month, for example, it emerged Burnley had taken out a £12.5million loan from Australian firm Macquarie Bank in order to effectively claim up front the second half of a transfer instalment from Chris Wood's sale to Newcastle. The striker had moved to St James' Park in January after Newcastle activated a £25million release clause, but the second £12.5million instalment is not due until February 2023. There was no immediate explanation for why Burnley had taken the money as a loan now, rather than wait 12 months for Newcastle to cough up the rest of the cash. Pace, who is a committed Mormon, has repeatedly declined to go into extensive details about how the private investment firm purchased a controlling 84 per cent stake for about £170million. However, outlining his vision, he said in January 2021: "To be super clear, this is not Moneyball." ‘False economies’ under the new regime Pace arrived at the club with a long list of ideas and there has been much activity behind the scenes, which one source describes as: "A lot of fiddling around while Rome is burning." ALK, which embraces data and analytics, would help the club win an innovation award for its use of AiScout, an artificial intelligence-based platform for identifying player talent. Modernisation of Turf Moor has included revamped hospitality suites, new LED big screens and a new stand sponsor, Utilita. There are also new kit sponsors and a TikTok live stream for women’s team matches. New jobs behind the scenes included the appointment of Russell Ball as head of matchday operations, Harriet Harbridge as fan experience manager, Lola Ogunbote as business lead on the women's team, and Gurpri Bains as equality, diversity and inclusion lead. Wout Weghorst, Burnley's big January signing, shows his disappointment following their relegation Wout Weghorst, Burnley's big January signing, shows his disappointment following their relegation CREDIT: REUTERS In other areas, however, positions have taken longer to fill. Mike Rigg, the technical director since 2018, left last year. The club was for some time without a chief executive, technical director and head of academy. But ultimately it is the lack of player recruitment that has hampered a team which was close to the brink for more than a year. In 2021, Burnley had the lowest points-per-game total of all 92 Football League clubs. Pace flew to Croatia to try to tie up a deal for Mislav Orsic from Dinamo Zagreb in January but it fell through, leaving Wout Weghorst, a £12m buy from Wolfsburg signed as Wood's replacement, as the only mid-season arrival. Owners now need to fill managerial vacuum Whether Dyche still had fresh enough ideas to keep Burnley up is debatable. His relationship with Garlick, once rock solid, had become increasingly strained during their final two years together and there was exasperation at the lack of investment in the squad. Tensions remained in the wake of the change of ownership. Despite declaring initially that Dyche was central to their plans, ALK gradually seemed to be moving in a different direction to the manager, not least over the age and profile of players they wanted to target, and concern began to grow over results and performances. The four-year contract Dyche signed last September was described as a "marriage of convenience" by one insider. Despite his previous success on such a meagre budget, some of the players were also said to be supportive of a refresh when his shock sacking was announced in April. For some of the older players, in particular, there was frustration at Dyche's refusal to modify training schedules to help them cope with the demands of two matches a week. However, a month on, Burnley are no closer to finding a long-term replacement. Results initially improved under caretaker Mike Jackson, but the ownership were targeting Vincent Kompany, the current Anderlecht manager and ex-Manchester City captain, for the summer. Given the tall order facing Burnley now, there are serious doubts over whether Kompany would still consider the job. Whoever takes over faces a much tougher task building a squad than Dyche did in 2012, insiders point out. Player recruitment has become much more sophisticated among rivals over the past 10 years, and, despite a dip post-pandemic, there has also been heavy inflation on player values for youngsters in League One and the Championship. Enforced player clear-out to come The biggest worry of all is a potential struggle in the Championship, with the vultures already swooping to snatch Burnley's best talent. Everton and Aston Villa are already doing battle for the signing of defender James Tarkowski, who is out of contract this summer. Tarkowski is among nine players at the end of their deals and able to leave, with little incentive to stay given salaries will be automatically reduced. Company accounts all but confirm that a change in personnel is required: "In this scenario [relegation] the group has forecast a significant reduction in wages and salaries which will be largely achieved by contractual means existing in player contracts." Nick Pope could be among the players snapped up by Burnley's competitors Nick Pope could be among the players snapped up by Burnley's competitors CREDIT: AFP The England goalkeeper Nick Pope, winger Dwight McNeil and the forward Maxwel Cornet, who has a £17.5million release clause, would be high on the list of targets for rival clubs. Weghorst will also attract interest. Dr Rob Wilson, head of Sports Business Management at Sheffield Hallam university, has said relegation could be even more costly than it was for Sunderland, given the debt involved. Telegraph Sport revelations last week that Burnley's academy is set to lose its category-one status add to the sense of despair over the club's future prospects. The Professional Game Board (PGB) is expected to formally ratify a revokement this week, meaning that the club will no longer have the highest ranking for what will be an increasingly crucial talent pipeline. Burnley were one of a number of clubs, along with Leeds, Crystal Palace, Nottingham Forest and Birmingham City, who were provisionally afforded category-one status in the summer of 2020 during the Covid pandemic on the understanding that a comprehensive audit would be undertaken once it was safe to do so. But, after failing checks carried out by the Professional Game Academy Audit Company (PGAAC) during a full and thorough review earlier this year, it was recommended that Burnley’s academy is downgraded. There are minimal levels of investment expected in coaches, pitches and facilities to meet Cat 1 status.

We aren’t even posting flyers to all our existing (and dwindling) ST holder base, nevermind trying to attract anybody new - the £30 premium for any potential new purchaser tells us that. Still, *everyone* knows how and where to buy one in this day and age, don’t they? So why go to the bother of trying to market them?

To give that lot six years in the PL says he certainly was…

Right, so who else is on the list?

Great news for the N01 Dingle spotters too, they’ll have eleven to boo all in the same game…

I went to Andalusia last summer. You are right, I never saw a Malaga shirt, but spent a few days across in Cadiz and you saw their yellow shirt and flag everywhere…