General Premier League Thread 2023-24 Mod Note in op 27/6/23 And 21/05/24

The aiScout app that Burnley uses to find kids for their academy is a data gathering tool. It's used by clubs all over the world.

PlayerLens is a glorified search engine for finding players. Agents and clubs can advertise players that are available for transfer or loan.

TransferLab is another recruitment tool that is data-driven.

Alan Pace made a big deal out of how using such tools as these was going to give Burnley an edge. In reality it hasn't yet done so and the club is not alone in using such tools.

Paying Man City a club record fee for James Trafford last summer would suggest that the club's recruitment decisions have been made by people and not a computer algorithm.

Talking about the success of the transfer of a 21 year old goalkeeper in the here and now is probably not that wise.

People (correctly) refer to Caoimhin Kelleher as a young goalkeeper, and he’s 4 years younger.

James Trafford wasn't ready to be the first choice keeper for a club at Premier League level. Burnley won 10 of their 24 points total in the final 10 games of the season, which supports the argument that he wasn't the best option for the position. It was a massive step up from playing for Bolton in League One the previous season.

It's the kind of decision that would lead me to believe that the objective of the club's owner may be to bring in young players, showcase them and sell them on for profit rather than use more experienced players with a view to keeping the club in the Premier League.

Not here to tell you guys that James Trafford is unquestionably a starting level PL goalkeeper or anything, but I think talk about the goalkeeper position being one of the deciding factors in their relegation, is a bit off.

You’d imagine scoring only 41 goals (and it’s not as if they had this massive xG that indicated they were being awfully unlucky in front or goal) had far more to do with it. Even from a goal conceded perspective, they conceded very very close to what they were expected to.

Burnley got relegated because they were really really bad.

I think it just pushes the value further of those stepping stone jobs where you can actually play that kind of football properly.

You’d have to think a lot of it is managers wanting to put themselves in the shop window. And eh recent developments (or at least for now rumours) would suggest that it’s working for them (if not always their clubs).

And yet probably currently a game away from the sack all the same (or alternatively a game away from putting his name in history)

I suppose when you see the view the likes of Allardyce was held in and how Dyche and Moyes are viewed now then maybe it is a fair point.

They are seen as managers who can do a job to save a team in trouble but those teams then quickly look to move on to another manager who will play "better football.

We are seeing this with Moyes at West Ham now. West Ham have been a team who have very recently been in the championship. Who hired Moyes, and sacked Moyes to move to a better style. Then had to bring back Moyes to save them again and now are once again back looking for a manager with a better style.

West Ham win nothing. They haven't for decades but Moyes got them a European trophy just 12 months ago. He delivered what a lot of their fans would have been praying they'd see before they die and now a season later is being moved on for not playing sexy enough football.

I suppose a young up and coming manager has to look at that and think there's no way for them to make it to the top unless they develop a certain style.

Even managers like Jose are seen as a relic of the past now

If the club's objective was to stay in the Premier League, they recruited very badly last summer. They spent £97M on 13 players, only three of whom had previous Premier League experience, and two that were over the age of 24. They also added a sprinkling of loanees to the mix.

They signed two young left wing players and brought in two more players on loan with an obligation to buy that play the same position. Weghorst was sent on loan to Hoffenheim to facilitate the deal for one of the players, Brunn Larsen. The other, Mike Tresor didn't contribute a single goal or assist. Hopefully somebody at Burnley had the foresight to put a clause in the loan/transfer agreement that the obligation to buy would only activate if they retained their Premier League status, otherwise the club is on the hook for a £16M transfer this summer.

The decision to spend over £16M on Zeki Amdouni to replace Weghorst was questionable. FC Basel had the player on loan with an obligation to buy, they completed the €4M transfer in early July and within two weeks he went to Burnley for €18M. He was a 1 goal in 3 games player in the Swiss league, it was doubtful that was going to be the case in the Premier League. He scored 5 goals and had 1 assist, Brunn Larsen was the top scorer with 6 goals.

Burnley began the season with essentially a new team, the only position for which there wasn't a new player signed was left back. Similar to Chelsea, it was going to take time for things to gel and get some cohesion to form a team.

James Trafford was on a hiding to nothing given that he was playing behind a group of individuals and not a defensive unit. An experienced keeper would have had the authority to organise the defenders to give himself more protection rather than being focused on not messing up himself.

Close to a third of the transfer spend went on two players for the most vital positions in the team. Given their level of experience, neither was up to the level required for Burnley to survive in the league.

I would argue that Brentford are a lot more easy on the eye than Everton.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Everton are the present day Stoke. Absolutely attritions brand of “football”. Long balls, play for set pieces. It’s prehistoric stuff. But effective given how bad their players are.

He’s over the canteen too!

Paqueta charged by the FA for intentionally trying to be booked to affect the betting markets.

Could be in massive trouble for that.

West Ham the biggest losers as they were likely planning their business around that big sum coming in.