"Realised his mistakes" - JJ Watt and Dude Perfect named as Burnley FC praise levelled at Alan Pace | OneFootball

FLW's Clarets fan pundit has urged Pace to continue the style of ownership that has served him well over the last four years

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more...

Burnley owner Alan Pace has been urged to continue to run the Clarets in a similar vein to the way he has done since he took over in 2020, and has also been praised for the way he has dealt with both on-pitch and off-pitch situations in recent times.

American businessman Pace took over as Burnley's owner and chairman from Mike Garlick in the middle of the 2020/21 campaign, and has since overseen numerous seasons of both success and failure at Turf Moor as he continues to learn more about English football with each passing year.

He built his fortune in sports and financial services, and was previously the CEO and president of Major League Soccer side Real Salt Lake in his native USA, before founding ALK Capital in 2019 with the ambition to acquire a football club.

The 56-year-old has now been at the helm at Turf Moor for over four years, and while they are in the Championship this season with the aim to return to the Premier League once again, he has been told to continue the way he has run the club since arriving to eventually see the long-term benefits.

Alan Pace told to 'keep doing what you are doing' at Burnley

Pace's time in charge of the Clarets has been of varying success up to now, with a 17th-placed Premier League finish in his first half-season as owner, then followed by relegation from the top-flight in 2021/22, as he made the tough decision to part ways with long-serving manager Sean Dyche.

Burnley cruised to an immediate return to the top-flight in 2022/23, as the appointment of Vincent Kompany paid dividends, but then another relegation from the Premier League followed, and he left at the start of this campaign to be replaced by Scott Parker.

Pace has once again overseen a successful season in the second tier so far, with Parker's side on track to stay in the automatic promotion race for the duration of the campaign, while some smart summer and January business means their squad is well-stacked in all areas to return to the top-flight.

Our Clarets fan pundit, Will Lancaster, has praised the American owner for the way he has operated at Turf Moor over the last few years, and sent a message of support after we asked him for one thing he would tell Pace at this very moment in time.

“If I could send one message to Alan Pace, I’d just say ‘stick with what you’re doing,’” Will told FLW.

“I don’t think he has done too much wrong in his time here. When he took over from Mike Garlick, the squad had suffered previously from years of underappreciation and a lack of investment.

“It wasn’t actually Pace’s fault that Burnley went down in his first season. He signed the likes of Nathan Collins, Connor Roberts and Maxwel Cornet, he gave Dwight McNeil a new contract too. I think that was one of the first things he did at the club.

“You can’t fault his lack of effort. We went down and he signed an up-and-coming young manager (Vincent Kompany) who stormed the league.

“I think he’ll have realised his mistakes from the Premier League transfer window that we had in 2023, where you’ve just got to sign your club favourites.

“Nathan Tella, not signing him and signing Mike Tresor instead has been arguably his biggest mistake as Burnley owner. He’ll have learned from that.

“In terms of what he has done for the club though, he’s modernised the stadium, he’s got us investment from abroad in JJ Watt and Dude Perfect, who are two massive investors now, especially in the American market.

“He’s clearly not afraid to back the team and the manager with money. You can’t really say that he’s done a lot wrong.

“When you look at the likes of Sunderland, when they went down with back-to-back relegations, and Luton, who look to be doing the same.

“There are a lot of teams that could have fallen off. Even in the sense that Norwich and Watford have, you know, they were in the Premier League in Pace’s first full season with us, and they’re fighting for play-offs at a push now.

“I can’t say there is a lot that he is really doing wrong. My message would be ‘stick at it, keep doing what you are doing, and you will reap the rewards.’”

Pace has been very hands-on and proactive as Burnley chief

More often than not, a club's owners are usually background figures that only speak publicly when they need to or are pressured into a statement, but that is not the case with Pace, who has been clear in his aim to be transparent and open with supporters since his arrival in 2020.

He has certainly not shirked responsibility or been afraid to face the music when a decision he has made has gone wrong, with interviews and statements aplenty, as well as a very active social media presence.

He has certainly brought more worldwide attention to the Clarets, after commissioning a Sky TV documentary on the club, 'Mission to Burnley', which covered the 2022/23 and 2023/24 campaigns, as well as adding former NFL star JJ Watt and YouTube stars Dude Perfect to his team of high-profile investors.

Pace has continued to host regular fan forums to be consistently open and honest with supporters, and while he may have drawn criticism at times for poor recruitment, he is a breath of fresh air in English football, where clubs can be run into the ground by poor ownership, and fans are often left in the dark over struggles at boardroom level.

Burnley could seal a return to the Premier League this season, but even if they fail to go up this time around, they will be pretty well-prepared to go again in 2025/26 thanks to Pace's smart investments and decisions.

Scott Parker is a top manager in the Championship who has impressive depth in his squad, while there is the potential for numerous players to be sold on for big fees this summer, of which a large chunk would then likely be re-invested into the squad for another crack at promotion.