I don't really get the point of it. I can't see that a club with average attendances of 6,000 generating much money or that many players.

If we had a thriving academy like Chelsea, which has become a business in its own right and generates revenue by developing players that aren't good enough for the top 6 in the PL but still have a market value then fair enough but at the moment the academy does not seem to be a focus of attention.

PL 18/19 year olds could really benefit from playing in the top Belgian league but as far as I am aware we are not generating that kind of player in the academy.

ALK seem very under capitalised to be able to commoditise an academy and make money from investing in the best young talent and then selling them to other clubs.

Unless Kortrijk have £10 - £20 million in the bank that Tan wants to get out and ALK can use to fund a purchase I would suggest that any additional revenue spend would be better spent on playing assets securing a PL place for Burnley and not on longer term projects in the Belgian league.

If we can buy the likes of Benson and Zaroury for less than £5 million from the top Belgian sides then I'm not sure what Kortrijk can offer unless of course the Belgian league is so good that they produce PL quality players for fun...

The point is that it enables players to get a work permit by playing games in the Belgian league that they wouldn’t get otherwise. Worked wonders for Brighton with the likes of Mitoma and McAlistair

Denno97 wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 11:06 am

The point is that it enables players to get a work permit by playing games in the Belgian league that they wouldn’t get otherwise. Worked wonders for Brighton with the likes of Mitoma and McAlistair

Lot of possibilities with it and that’s definitely a big one that other clubs have utilised for some time.

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 10:57 am

I don't really get the point of it. I can't see that a club with average attendances of 6,000 generating much money or that many players.

If we had a thriving academy like Chelsea, which has become a business in its own right and generates revenue by developing players that aren't good enough for the top 6 in the PL but still have a market value then fair enough but at the moment the academy does not seem to be a focus of attention.

PL 18/19 year olds could really benefit from playing in the top Belgian league but as far as I am aware we are not generating that kind of player in the academy.

ALK seem very under capitalised to be able to commoditise an academy and make money from investing in the best young talent and then selling them to other clubs.

Unless Kortrijk have £10 - £20 million in the bank that Tan wants to get out and ALK can use to fund a purchase I would suggest that any additional revenue spend would be better spent on playing assets securing a PL place for Burnley and not on longer term projects in the Belgian league.

If we can buy the likes of Benson and Zaroury for less than £5 million from the top Belgian sides then I'm not sure what Kortrijk can offer unless of course the Belgian league is so good that they produce PL quality players for fun...

Then your very ignorant because the benefits have been explained repeatedly on this thread its all about work permits, work permits and yes work permits (Thank you BREXIT). This club provides Burnley a footprint on the continent where we can send players who otherwise wouldnt get a permit allowing us to buy them earlier and cheaper than we otherwise would have which in the long term will recover what is otherwise a very small outlay. Brighton doesnt benefit from USG's academy or anything else but that works purely because of work permit benefits. Karou Mitoma went to USG before he went to Brighton.

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 10:57 am

I don't really get the point of it. I can't see that a club with average attendances of 6,000 generating much money or that many players.

If we had a thriving academy like Chelsea, which has become a business in its own right and generates revenue by developing players that aren't good enough for the top 6 in the PL but still have a market value then fair enough but at the moment the academy does not seem to be a focus of attention.

PL 18/19 year olds could really benefit from playing in the top Belgian league but as far as I am aware we are not generating that kind of player in the academy.

ALK seem very under capitalised to be able to commoditise an academy and make money from investing in the best young talent and then selling them to other clubs.

Unless Kortrijk have £10 - £20 million in the bank that Tan wants to get out and ALK can use to fund a purchase I would suggest that any additional revenue spend would be better spent on playing assets securing a PL place for Burnley and not on longer term projects in the Belgian league.

If we can buy the likes of Benson and Zaroury for less than £5 million from the top Belgian sides then I'm not sure what Kortrijk can offer unless of course the Belgian league is so good that they produce PL quality players for fun...

But surely having a partner club would help for example, the season just gone churlinov struggled with an injury at start of the season and never really got a look in, a 6 month loan to a partner club would of been perfect

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 11:24 am

But surely having a partner club would help for example, the season just gone churlinov struggled with an injury at start of the season and never really got a look in, a 6 month loan to a partner club would of been perfect

Poor choice of player to support the argument. Having played for VfB Stuttgart at the beginning of the season he wouldn’t have been able to play for anyone else.

Maybe we could send Luton Shelton and Artim Sakiri there. Finally get those deals over the line.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 1:38 pm

Poor choice of player to support the argument. Having played for VfB Stuttgart at the beginning of the season he wouldn’t have been able to play for anyone else.

You understood the thought process though, if a player you aren’t sure about yet, and know isn’t going to feature being able to send them out on loan rather than play u21 football

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 2:20 pm

You understood the thought process though, if a player you aren’t sure about yet, and know isn’t going to feature being able to send them out on loan rather than play u21 football

Absolutely - lot of advantages in it if it's done sensibly

Denno97 wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 11:06 am

The point is that it enables players to get a work permit by playing games in the Belgian league that they wouldn’t get otherwise. Worked wonders for Brighton with the likes of Mitoma and McAlistair

How did it help them with Mac Allister?
Or Mitoma for that matter? They didn't buy him from USG, they bought him from direct from Japan

Roosterbooster wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:20 pm

How did it help them with Mac Allister?
Or Mitoma for that matter? They didn't buy him from USG, they bought him from direct from Japan

Mitoma was bought and sent out to USG because they he didnt have enough work permit points to come straight into the UK so thats Rooster is just not true.

Ekrem Konur is an anagram of Alan Nixon.

Roosterbooster wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:20 pm

How did it help them with Mac Allister?
Or Mitoma for that matter? They didn't buy him from USG, they bought him from direct from Japan

Mac Allister wasn’t involved but having signed Mitoma they loaned him out to USG. Similar now with a player called Simon Adingra who is currently there on loan.

HistoricalClaret wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:25 pm

Mitoma was bought and sent out to USG because they he didnt have enough work permit points to come straight into the UK so thats Rooster is just not true.

Which bit isn't true?

Roosterbooster wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:39 pm

Which bit isn't true?

You’ve said nothing that’s not true.

Did they loan Mitoma out for work permit points or for experience?

I didn't know you could buy a player who wasn't eligible to play

Roosterbooster wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:40 pm

Did they loan Mitoma out for work permit points or for experience?

I didn't know you could buy a player who wasn't eligible to play

According to Brighton at the time they loaned him out to gain experience playing in Europe. But he was also short of the merit points to get a work permit to play here apparently.

Roosterbooster wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:40 pm

Did they loan Mitoma out for work permit points or for experience?

I didn't know you could buy a player who wasn't eligible to play

During a transfer ban a couple of years ago Barca were signing players, they just couldn't register them so the players spent 6 months or so just keeping fit at Barca.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:44 pm

According to Brighton at the time they loaned him out to gain experience playing in Europe. But he was also short of the merit points to get a work permit to play here apparently.

So it wasnt true as I suggested. For the other question of course you can buy a player who doesnt have the work permit points he just cant get a work permit to play in your country that doesnt mean that he can't be contracted to your club.

HistoricalClaret wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:53 pm

So it wasnt true as I suggested. For the other question of course you can buy a player who doesnt have the work permit points he just cant get a work permit to play in your country that doesnt mean that he can't be contracted to your club.

Players don’t get work permits, their employers do and they are not transferable.

ClaretTony wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 3:57 pm

Players don’t get work permits, their employers do and they are not transferable.

I didn't say they were Mitoma went to USG so he could play the games necessary at the right level to reach the required work permit points

HistoricalClaret wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 4:25 pm

I didn't say they were Mitoma went to USG so he could play the games necessary at the right level to reach the required work permit points

You referred to the player getting a work permit.

Christ, has no one played football manager?

Foshiznik wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 5:05 pm

Christ, has no one played football manager?

Actually no I haven't lol

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Mon May 29, 2023 11:24 am

But surely having a partner club would help for example, the season just gone churlinov struggled with an injury at start of the season and never really got a look in, a 6 month loan to a partner club would of been perfect

If there were no other constraints in the universe then yes it would help but you'd have to buy the club, run it as a successful commercial venture as well as preparing a team for the PL and investing in a PL squad.

You can't just get an idea in your head whether it be this or work permits and decide that's the fundamental issue that needs addressing: it isn't....

The club or someone has to stump up £13 million and manage a team in disarray who finished 5th from bottom of the league on the premise that a team that finished fifth bottom of the Belgian league is capable of producing PL quality players and can lose them with no consequences. Or that we have enough players to be able to lend to them to make up the difference.

I don't know what Kortrijk's financial situation is but it appears they have been bust in the recent past and I would guess they are desperate because Vincent Tan seems to be a walking disaster despite making a lot of money but I think what they require is a period of stability and some proper investment.

If ALK can do all that and have the money then so be it but those are the variables that need to be factored in to decide whether it is a good move or not.

And I know you didn't make this point but the notion that you can do all that just to scam work permits is .....well - what can you say?

ClaretPete doesn’t seem to see the point in anything that the new owners do that isn’t directly in line with what the previous owners did.

arise_sir_charge wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 9:30 am

ClaretPete doesn’t seem to see the point in anything that the new owners do that isn’t directly in line with what the previous owners did.

Haha - I find it quite amusing at this point. He’s done well not to mention the Venkys and how Rovers annual turnover is £20m on this thread yet.

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 9:22 am

If there were no other constraints in the universe then yes it would help but you'd have to buy the club, run it as a successful commercial venture as well as preparing a team for the PL and investing in a PL squad.

You can't just get an idea in your head whether it be this or work permits and decide that's the fundamental issue that needs addressing: it isn't....

The club or someone has to stump up £13 million and manage a team in disarray who finished 5th from bottom of the league on the premise that a team that finished fifth bottom of the Belgian league is capable of producing PL quality players and can lose them with no consequences. Or that we have enough players to be able to lend to them to make up the difference.

I don't know what Kortrijk's financial situation is but it appears they have been bust in the recent past and I would guess they are desperate because Vincent Tan seems to be a walking disaster despite making a lot of money but I think what they require is a period of stability and some proper investment.

If ALK can do all that and have the money then so be it but those are the variables that need to be factored in to decide whether it is a good move or not.

And I know you didn't make this point but the notion that you can do all that just to scam work permits is .....well - what can you say?

It’s really not that deep Pete, relax a little eh, the thought of Burnley having a partner club to me is exciting and certainly doesn’t need to be spun as a negative.

Who has used the term ‘just to scan work permits’ clubs have been sending players out on loan for years to help with them generating enough points to re apply for work permits in the UK

arise_sir_charge wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 9:30 am

ClaretPete doesn’t seem to see the point in anything that the new owners do that isn’t directly in line with what the previous owners did.

Given the previous owners refused to invest presumably so they could sell to ALK via a leveraged buyout I have to be honest I'm not a big fan, however, they ran a community club for many years without debt and up to the point of selling - successfully built a couple of squad to the point we were in Europe.

I realise the fan base has decided it was all a bit boring and we can do the same playing fantastic football like Man City but few clubs manage to do what the previous regime did never mind playing like Man City. So, learning from what they did is probably useful.

...but more to the point that's somewhat the nature of thinking isn't it? You look at what has happened in the past and then hypothesise on the future.

As opposed to just having an opinion unconstrained by reality. That's how Brexit turned into a bit of a disaster and most now agree that is true whether you wanted Brexit, like Nigel Farage, or otherwise.

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 10:41 am

Given the previous owners refused to invest presumably so they could sell to ALK via a leveraged buyout I have to be honest I'm not a big fan, however, they ran a community club for many years without debt and up to the point of selling - successfully built a couple of squad to the point we were in Europe.

I realise the fan base has decided it was all a bit boring and we can do the same playing fantastic football like Man City but few clubs manage to do what the previous regime did never mind playing like Man City. So, learning from what they did is probably useful.

...but more to the point that's somewhat the nature of thinking isn't it? You look at what has happened in the past and then hypothesise on the future.

As opposed to just having an opinion unconstrained by reality. That's how Brexit turned into a bit of a disaster and most now agree that is true whether you wanted Brexit, like Nigel Farage, or otherwise.

yup lets learn what they did by not investing and bringing about relegation. Lets do that instead of learning from what Brighton has done. A club smaller than ours who have now achieved proper European place and will be playing in the Europa League proper next season. Yes I agree lets not try and learn from that and lets not buy a feeder club in the same country and league as theirs. I agree lets not do that because that would be silly wouldn't it Pete lets do what you want repeat the mistakes of the old ownership and steal club and fan money instead of reinvesting into the club.

HistoricalClaret wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 10:47 am

yup lets learn what they did by not investing and bringing about relegation. Lets do that instead of learning from what Brighton has done. A club smaller than ours who have now achieved proper European place and will be playing in the Europa League proper next season. Yes I agree lets not try and learn from that and lets not buy a feeder club in the same country and league as theirs. I agree lets not do that because that would be silly wouldn't it Pete lets do what you want repeat the mistakes of the old ownership and steal club and fan money instead of reinvesting into the club.

I often think you're Alan Pace, on here to post good things about yourself, but he wouldn't be as stupid to accuse the old owners of stealing from the club.

Especially with all the money he has borrowed from our club.

There’s absolutely no facts to say Garlick proposed the leveraged buyout and to claim Garlick stole money is stupid beyond belief

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 10:41 am

Given the previous owners refused to invest presumably so they could sell to ALK via a leveraged buyout I have to be honest I'm not a big fan, however, they ran a community club for many years without debt and up to the point of selling - successfully built a couple of squad to the point we were in Europe.

I realise the fan base has decided it was all a bit boring and we can do the same playing fantastic football like Man City but few clubs manage to do what the previous regime did never mind playing like Man City. So, learning from what they did is probably useful.

...but more to the point that's somewhat the nature of thinking isn't it? You look at what has happened in the past and then hypothesise on the future.

As opposed to just having an opinion unconstrained by reality. That's how Brexit turned into a bit of a disaster and most now agree that is true whether you wanted Brexit, like Nigel Farage, or otherwise.

This is the thing though, many posters were adamant that the way we did things was the only way a relativity small club could ever succeed, no point dreaming of playing good football or attracting foreign talent we’d hit our ceiling and should be thankful for what we had. There was only one manager that could ever get a tune out of our club and we needed to be careful what we wished for.

Others had a different view and were shouted down.

The current regime are trying to prove there is more than one way and other clubs have proven that there is more than one way of doing things. Ultimately, time will tell but it’s been a fabulous 12 months since they’ve been able to properly apply their vision.

arise_sir_charge wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 11:37 am

This is the thing though, many posters were adamant that the way we did things was the only way a relativity small club could ever succeed, no point dreaming of playing good football or attracting foreign talent we’d hit our ceiling and should be thankful for what we had. There was only one manager that could ever get a tune out of our club and we needed to be careful what we wished for.

Others had a different view and were shouted down.

The current regime are trying to prove there is more than one way and other clubs have proven that there is more than one way of doing things. Ultimately, time will tell but it’s been a fabulous 12 months since they’ve been able to properly apply their vision.

This isn't a fair reflection and summary. There was a view of people similar to me who thought it was inevitable if we kept with Garilicks approach that we would go down quickly and that we might well not come back up again but at least we would have had some amazing years and still be a well run club with no debt and no risk of imploding financially like we've seen with some teams.

My view was that with a takeover like Pace we had a much better chance of staying up and of getting back up but that it came with a high risk that Pace could gamble with our club to make his money because after all he was only initially risking around £10m

At the time my preferred option was one of caution and that Id rather have our club operating well in the Championship and maybe even lower at League One than chase the Premier League dream by putting our whole club at risk.

As it happens I have been really happy with how Pace and co approached rebuilding the side last year and how they limited how much money they were willing to gamble and throw at it. Although there is still risk and whilst we'll never know what they would have done if they had not been successful this season it has to be said that so far they seem like they are running the club well.

The idea you state that for a lot of us it was Garlicks way or no way is way off the mark and as per above I think the majority against the style of leveraged buy out that happened understood that without it we were not going to survive in the Premier League but put other things ahead of playing in the Premier League

arise_sir_charge wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 11:37 am

This is the thing though, many posters were adamant that the way we did things was the only way a relativity small club could ever succeed, no point dreaming of playing good football or attracting foreign talent we’d hit our ceiling and should be thankful for what we had. There was only one manager that could ever get a tune out of our club and we needed to be careful what we wished for.

Others had a different view and were shouted down.

The current regime are trying to prove there is more than one way and other clubs have proven that there is more than one way of doing things. Ultimately, time will tell but it’s been a fabulous 12 months since they’ve been able to properly apply their vision.

'Others had a different view and were shouted down.'

Yes but where is your irony gene? I've made a number of points related to finance, the need of KV Kortijk and their fans - the need to invest and you make a snarky comment about the previous regime - whom I did not mention.

I haven't shouted anyone down just proffered an opinion.

No other club like ours has proven anything over 10 years in the PL. No other club has ever done what ALK is trying to do. Again where is the evidence to back up your points?

I go back to the example of Rovers, who won the PL with enormous (for the time) funding but now require £20 odd million from the Venky's just to maintain a challenge in the Championship

And yes, ALK has done brilliantly in the last 12 months (less so before that) everyone can see that but again the world didn't collapse after Brexit even during the pandemic. And the economy didn't collapse and all the things that remainers said would happen didn't but now few have anything good to say about it because there was a reality to Brexit that meant it would take years - if ever - before it would deliver any benefits.

The metaphor is the same. There is a commercial reality to all this, which means that you have to remain a little bit sceptical because we can't see the underlying model or the funding mechanism ALK are able to bring to bear on the situation other than a leveraged approach and ...you know....it's a heck of a long shot to make that work in football because of the inflationary pressure on the PL as it transforms from a local yokel football pyramid into a multi-billion pound industry.

And the point is, you can say and think anything you want but reality constrains opinions......!

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 12:15 pm

This isn't a fair reflection and summary. There was a view of people similar to me who thought it was inevitable if we kept with Garilicks approach that we would go down quickly and that we might well not come back up again but at least we would have had some amazing years and still be a well run club with no debt and no risk of imploding financially like we've seen with some teams.

My view was that with a takeover like Pace we had a much better chance of staying up and of getting back up but that it came with a high risk that Pace could gamble with our club to make his money because after all he was only initially risking around £10m

At the time my preferred option was one of caution and that Id rather have our club operating well in the Championship and maybe even lower at League One than chase the Premier League dream by putting our whole club at risk.

As it happens I have been really happy with how Pace and co approached rebuilding the side last year and how they limited how much money they were willing to gamble and throw at it. Although there is still risk and whilst we'll never know what they would have done if they had not been successful this season it has to be said that so far they seem like they are running the club well.

The idea you state that for a lot of us it was Garlicks way or no way is way off the mark and as per above I think the majority against the style of leveraged buy out that happened understood that without it we were not going to survive in the Premier League but put other things ahead of playing in the Premier League

Yes but all this is irrelevant to the thread. It's just a classic strawman argument. No one on here has made it an argument about this regime and the previous one.

Just respond to the points made instead of disappearing up your own orifice arguing against the things in your head,

Is it £13 million well spent. Does running a small club in Belgium that is currently in turmoil detract from the vision you refer to...! And can you really find PL quality players in clubs that finish 5th bottom of the Belgian league.

Those were the points made not whatever is going on in your head..

there it is!

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 12:23 pm

Yes but all this is irrelevant to the thread. It's just a classic strawman argument. No one on here has made it an argument about this regime and the previous one.

Just respond to the points made instead of disappearing up your own orifice arguing against the things in your head,

Is it £13 million well spent. Does running a small club in Belgium that is currently in turmoil detract from the vision you refer to...! And can you really find PL quality players in clubs that finish 5th bottom of the Belgian league.

Those were the points made not whatever is going on in your head..

I was responding directly to something Arise said that had nothing to do with your posts or views so not sure what your banging on at me for but please carry on by all means

Could we send Wout to play for them?

I thought this thread was about the potential purchase of KV Kortrijk. Unfortunately, this morning there have been so many complaints received about posts on here that have nothing to do with the topic and one poster has been given an indefinite ban.

Can we please keep it civil and on topic please.

HistoricalClaret wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 10:47 am

yup lets learn what they did by not investing and bringing about relegation. Lets do that instead of learning from what Brighton has done. A club smaller than ours who have now achieved proper European place and will be playing in the Europa League proper next season. Yes I agree lets not try and learn from that and lets not buy a feeder club in the same country and league as theirs. I agree lets not do that because that would be silly wouldn't it Pete lets do what you want repeat the mistakes of the old ownership and steal club and fan money instead of reinvesting into the club.

A club smaller than ours ?
You do realise that their owner has subsidised the club to the tune of more than half a billion ?
It’s only the last couple of years that their fantastic record in the transfer market will mean that they should be turning a decent profit. Before this they made not far from a £50m loss every year but were bank rolled by Tony Bloom.
And during the last decade for most of the time they were in and around the relegation zone like us - which basically means they have spent half a billion pound more than Burnley to achieve around the same result.
They have qualified for Europe once - just like we qualified once. When we were finishing 7th twice where were Brighton finishing even with a £50m loss ?

Let’s not all of a sudden write off the whole of the Dyche and Garlick tenure as a failure when in fact it was up there with the most successful period in the clubs history.

Nothing lasts forever though and things have changed. Nobody will be happier than the supporters if Pace and his team deliver an even more successful period with what is a different strategy of running the club.

As for Brighton the only thing you can be confident about is that at some point like 90% of all teams that have ever played in Premier League they will also be relegated.

Has there been anything other than the one newspaper in Belgium running with the story that ALK are close to purchasing KV Kortrijk to stand the link up, like any journalist from Belgium like that sacha for example who seemed to be in the know regards our business in Belgium last summer and in January

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 1:41 pm

Has there been anything other than the one newspaper in Belgium running with the story that ALK are close to purchasing KV Kortrijk to stand the link up, like any journalist from Belgium like that sacha for example who seemed to be in the know regards our business in Belgium last summer and in January

I saw it in the Welsh paper but of course they could have got it from that one story from Belgium

It's not everywhere but in quite a few places

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/f ... y-27002553

https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/fo ... it-4160405

One of the articles mentions Barnsley, which is part owned by Chien Lee who has investments in a variety of smaller clubs including Belgian clubs but the difference between him and ALK is that he appears to be a part of a multi billion dollar investment consortium.

I think it makes sense if someone can chuck in £10 million into a club and have expert managers who leverage the size of a club portfolio to get it into a higher league with a view to significantly increasing its value but I go back to the point above that the capital required to do that is peanuts to billionaires but a lot of money to those who are not....!

But I go back to my point above, which no doubt a few objected to that the view that this is just about getting players experience is a very naive one.

This is about building portfolios of products with sufficient capital and management expertise. which can give competitive advantage.

If that seems like a good idea or an acceptable trade for getting players a bit of experience then so be it.

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 3:19 pm

It's not everywhere but in quite a few places

https://www.lancs.live/sport/football/f ... y-27002553

https://www.burnleyexpress.net/sport/fo ... it-4160405

Those are just reporting on the initial Belgium paper I thought, there hasn’t been anything since that I can find, suppose takeovers don’t just happen over night

ClaretPete001 wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 12:23 pm

Is it £13 million well spent. Does running a small club in Belgium that is currently in turmoil detract from the vision you refer to...! And can you really find PL quality players in clubs that finish 5th bottom of the Belgian league.

Yes you find them all over the world, especially in South America but they would still have the work permit issues. This is the way around it - it's clearly the reason we are looking at it, I can't see why anyone wouldn't see that or argue against it being a sensible transfer hack and use of money. Let's sign 4 players from South America for 3 million each and stick them in a Belgian club, develop them and them bring them over or lets waste all summer trying to attract ONE PL ready player who would cost 40 million plus wages. Only one of those options makes sense for our club

123EasyasBFC wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 3:41 pm

Those are just reporting on the initial Belgium paper I thought, there hasn’t been anything since that I can find, suppose takeovers don’t just happen over night

No - it's probably a load of crap but if there is going to be a discussion on purchasing clubs then Chien Lee is a good example of why investment consortiums would do it.

Whether you put stock in it or not, there is a direct correlation between the amount you can afford in wages and your position in the league.

There is now an established 6 or 7 that will never go down due to the amount they generate or are given. In the past, there was an established middle order, but the money on offer in the PL means that has now for the most part evened everyone else out, so all it takes is one bad season, the wrong owners and/or a few dodgy signings and you are goners.

We are going to get relegated from the Premier League at some point within the next 10 years whether the club is ran ‘old fashioned’ style or in this new manner.

That is the lot of clubs like ours so that point is moot.

It will happen to all of the other smaller clubs that are doing ok at the moment too - Brighton, Brentford, and so on.