Worries

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Happy New Year to you all.

Much brighter times ahead. Heads up and onwards

Nice to hear from you Casper - it's been a while. All the best to you and yours mate.

[CaspertheClaret]

Likewise BT - hope all is well. Been a crazy year. We both had the Rona back in March right at the beginning of Lockdown 1 but we were lucky and it was minimal. Sarah has still not got her sense of smell/taste back properly yet though. Since then we have been silly busy. We are slowing down this year and stopping stocking as many shops. Downsizing to a tiny cottage on the Solway Coast and will just do Farmers Markets and events. One thing the last year taught us is that the is more to life than killing yourself.

Still have a browse on here now and then and good to see the old familiar names.

[oldcolner]

Some questions needing answers

https://www.lancs.live/sport/footbal...tions-19546661

Are they all gonna be hands-on, or just Alan?

That remains to be seen at this stage, Alan will be moving to Lancashire and playing a hands-on role as chairman but as yet there has been no announcement about whether anyone else will be joining the board at Turf Moor or what roles they might play. I expect to get some clarity in the coming days.

What is ALK's business model and vision for the club? Garlick and Co. did a great job keeping the club in the black but found that revenues were not sufficient to invest heavily in the squad. How does that change under ALK?

Evolution rather than revolution. ALK will sanction signings but don't want to over-spend. They are here for the long-haul and the objective will be to build on what has already been done and stretch the spending of the club on players. Off the field, I think they see an opportunity to build Burnley as a brand overseas, which could help increase sponsorship etc.

What changes should we expect to see in the first 100 days?

I don't think there will be loads. ALK want to support the manager in January, so a new signing or two could arrive. Behind the scenes, there may be some additions to the board. But I think ALK will want to take stock of the club, meet the key people and establish a strategy going forward for on and off-pitch matters. Long term I can see a move towards trying to exploit markets such as the US and China.

Who are the wealthy individuals that funded the takeover? - Can we find out more about the other companies that they own/have a stake in?

Will tackle these together. I think more detail will emerge on this but we do know that ALK are well resourced and are in it for the long haul at Turf Moor. We will be trying to establish the situation on other companies and who is involved where as things develop. But it is a consortium rather than one super-rich owner so don't expect billions to be spent on transfers!

Should we be worried by the loan to help purchase the club?

It's a good question. I don't think so just based on a loan to purchase. That happens in the majority of takeovers. For me, it will be more a case of how ALK go about their business and what their strategy is, they have made the right noises so far, and we should get a clearer indication when we speak to Alan Pace in the next few days.