Burnley used to be Barnsley.

Don't think they have to be fair - three groups - out of reach ones, group battling for Europe at a push - Everton etc then the ones who will struggle like Palace. As well as they are doing I'd put Burnley in there because like us if they are doing well then clubs will come sniffing

 

No chance really but it must be nice trying and being in the position to try. And for all the wealth in the premier league it's teams should be in the final every year (money he he) but this is far from being the case either

 

I don’t disagree with that times have changed.

 

You mean the club that deliberately went into administration and came out with a shiny new ground and no debts? The club that made the FA bring in rules about docking points for clubs that go into admin? Hardly a shining example of financial probity, a club that deserves to be where Coventry are today.

 

I believe they spent spunk loads

 

I certainly haven't.

 

Did we pay all our debts when we went into Admin?

 

Well said!! Glad it's not just me thinks this way

 

I'm not sure "Burnley used to be Barnsley" is completely accurate.

They have actually spent almost 50% of their history in the top flight.

Granted we have been higher up the pyramid at times, but top flight football isn't completely new ground for them.

 

Yes that leicester. The point is about those achieving with less money spent than others.

 

Im talking about the similarity in terms of size, population fan base etc. From the late 70s to 2000 ish i did not see us as any different to burnley.

 

Just been looking at their board. Garlick only holds 49% stake, another guy 27% so there must be others involved.

I would imagine they have had more money than us even before they got into the top flight.

Hopefully this takeover will happen and the new guys will be a bit more ambitious than just wanting to get by.

As things are we're paying to watch us experiment on a new way of running on the spot, and that won't wear for too long if it carries on in the same fashion.

 

Not sure mate but we had to sell a lot of club assets to the council (via Peter Doyle) including Oakwell. I understand our debts were in the order of £3.5M (massively less than Leicester) much of which was underwritten by Patrick Cryne.

Edit - I'm a bit sketchy on the details so don't have a go at me, I'll be happy to be corrected though.

 

What usually happens is that a company comes to an agreement with the creditors via an administrator on who gets paid what and when. If the company is viable then it can continue by paying a significant portion of the debt and/or come to a formal agreement with creditors without having to liquidate/dissolve the business. If its deemed not viable then the business is liquidated and creditors are left to the scraps. It doesn't seem to work the same in football, you can leave creditors high and dry and continue to trade so it seems. I'm not sure what happened with us and what was agreed to come out of administration, but unless we repaid all our debts we can't really preach about Leicester.

 

Like I said we were only £3.5M in debt and the administrators were brought in because we missed a payment of less than £150,000 to a bank.These numbers really are tiny in comparison to the debts racked up by clubs like Leicester. Ok we don't hold the moral high ground - debt is debt - but come on, the two situations were completely different, Leicester took the piss and deliberately set out to use (and abuse) the system.

 

On the subject of ambition - or the lack of - back in the 80s and 90s, even during THAT season, my dad said at every available opportunity, "they'll not go up, they dunt want to go up, it'll all turn rarnd in November and we'll be feightin' relegation". Cheerful owd lad mi dad.

 

I've heard that loads over the years.

I even heard said by someone in our club the night we had beaten Oldham 2 0 at Oakwell and were well on our way.