Burnley chairman Alan Pace appeared on the BBC’s Football Focus programme on Saturday lunchtime ahead of the game against West Ham.
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The ALK Capital chief was asked about the Clarets’ Premier League struggles, pressure on Scott Parker, the quiet January transfer window and what the future looks like for the club.
Here’s the full transcript from the interview:
Q: You’ve proven yourself too good for the Championship, but staying in the Premier League is a very difficult thing to do…
AP: “Yes, it's one of the hardest things that I could have ever imagined.
“Coming into this a few years ago, people made it sound like it was just a given, and it's far from a given.
Burnley chairman Alan Pace pictured before the recent game against Tottenham (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)placeholder image
Burnley chairman Alan Pace pictured before the recent game against Tottenham (Photo by Molly Darlington/Getty Images)
“From our perspective, it is exceptionally difficult. We've spent over £300million in the last four or five years, and it's not easy, and we're going to spend hundreds more, I have no doubt, over the coming years.”
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Q: Any manager is going to be under pressure with these sort of run of results that Scott Parker's been under, any club is going to feel the pressure, there's going to be noise about it, and fans probably hoping that new signings in the January transfer window could be a rescue, but it's not as easy always as it might appear...
AP: “No, look, the pressure's always immense, no matter when, but certainly during a winter window.
“I'm sure that those that don't just play this game on a computer somewhere realise how tough it really is, but there were multiple signings that fell through, didn't happen, couldn't make it. There's also crazy things that always come up.
“The reality is it's a tough window, it always is, but there wasn't a lack of effort, wasn't a lack of desire, wasn't a lack of willingness.
“The problem is it is hard, it is very hard, and that's going to be what it is as we go forward.”
Q: So from where we sit right now, where do you see that forward direction? Where do you see the club moving now over the next 6-12 months?
AP: “Look, let's not even just go 6-12 months. This club's been around for 144 years. It's not going anywhere, okay?
“It's going to have good days, bad days, tough days, great days. We've seen that over the last five years that we've been involved.
“I had people coming up and congratulating us on the street for making up for the 90s in Blackburn. I mean, there's just crazy stuff that happens. I don't get credit for it, but I certainly get all the blame for it, and that's absolutely okay.
“There will be great days ahead, I have no doubt. You have kids? Yes, okay. You ever have a three-year-old throw a temper tantrum in the middle of a public event?
“Okay, well, at the end of it, you get embarrassed and you say: ‘I'm sorry’, but it doesn't stop you from being a good parent and you hope that they grow up and that when they do grow up, they're going to be contributors to society in the way that I'm sure your kids have and my kids have.
“The reality is, we're going to keep going and we're going to try and be the best parents that we can possibly be for this family.”
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