JJ Watt discusses highs and lows of being a Burnley board member with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher
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The NFL great has now been on the Clarets board for a year and eight months, a period which includes the highs of the incredible Championship title win and the lows of the resulting Premier League campaign.
Watt joined Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher on The Overlap US: It’s Called Soccer to discuss what’s happened so far and what may lie ahead in the future.
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Hide AdAmong the topics of debate were: Burnley’s miserable campaign in the top flight and how the club might approach the Premier League if they’re to get promoted again, the debate between philosophy and being adaptable and the club’s approach to spend £100m following promotion.
Watt even found time to make a cheeky mention of Clarets favourite Nathan Tella, teasing fans that he’d love to see the winger back at Turf Moor one day.
Here’s some snippets of what he had to say:
Burnley’s rollercoaster journey


“When we started our ownership journey with Burnley we were in the Championship, we were on our way and we ended up getting promoted. We got the parade, we got first place, it was incredible.
“We were like: ‘this is awesome, this is going to be a lot of fun’. Knowing how tough the Premier League is going to be, it certainly ended up being that tough and more. It didn’t go that well for us.
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Hide Ad“We still enjoyed it, it was a learning experience, but it certainly didn’t go how we wanted it to go.
“Now being back in the Championship, I think our fans are loving it - even though they would like a few more goals here or there from time to time, but we won’t complain.
“It’s a lot of fun, but there’s a lot of differences. The Championship has no VAR and I’m a big fan of that, I love not having VAR. Also, the atmosphere, there’s a difference to the game, there’s a ruggedness, there’s a physicality, there’s just a different aura about the Championship.
“I really enjoy it but don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind being back in the Premier League next year.”
Will you approach the Premier League differently if you get promoted?
“I think it’s a very interesting conversation.
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Hide Ad“It’s a philosophical thing, because if you look at those Burnley teams from the past, they had one team that pretty much stayed together. That’s great for chemistry and everyone playing together, there’s a love for the badge and everything, but they also age together so towards the end of that run you have a squad of older players and you haven’t necessarily brought through that influx of younger guys to fill in and learn from them.
“From our experience the last time we went up, we had a younger squad of players and we tried to add to it.
“Sure, you can look back at it and say ‘should we have kept the core team together and just hoped that chemistry and camaraderie was enough?’ But if you have the same season than we had, then people will come at you and say ‘you didn’t spend enough’.
“Did we learn a lot from that? Absolutely. In hindsight, knowing what we know, of course [we will approach it differently] because the results weren’t what we wanted.
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Hide Ad“But we’re structured differently from that Burnley team of the past, it’s different than the Sean Dyche era. We are doing things differently.
“We have some great players that have gone on to do great things, players like Wilson Odobert and Sander Berge. Some of these guys are different than the past.
“Do I miss Nathan Tella? Yes, I love Nathan Tella and I miss him. I wouldn’t mind seeing him back in a Burnley kit some day.”
Sticking to a philosophy vs being adaptable
“I’m like you guys, I think adaptability is great.
“I understand why…we were obviously talking with Vince regularly throughout the season and there was a plan in place and a philosophy that he wanted to implement and keep it going over time, but clearly it didn’t work for us that season.
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Hide Ad“But I do think there is an American Football parallel in adjusting, you just have to find a way to win.
“I like a nice 9-3 game [in American Football]. Everybody was on me after the 0-0 draw against Leeds, where there was just one shot on goal the entire game and everybody was like ‘this is ridiculous’. Whereas I was like ‘nah, this is pretty good. This wasn’t too bad’.
“But I understand, everybody loves offense, everybody wants goals, I get it.”
What input do you bring and how do you add value?
“It’s a fascinating rubix cube you’re trying to fix at all times. Not only are you worrying about the on-pitch product and trying to win matches every single week, you’re also trying to have a vision for the future about what this squad is going to look like next year or after the next window, what this organisation is going to look like as a whole, how you handle the fanbase and the supporters, literally the structure of the stadium, there’s so much that goes into it.
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Hide Ad“At the same time, you’re dealing with an entire board of people that all have their different opinions and you’re trying to get everyone on the same page on how much money we’re going to spend, how we’re going to delegate that money spend, do you like what we’re doing? Well he doesn’t like what we’re doing, but we need his money and we need him to understand this is what’s best for the future, maybe not what’s best for right now.
“It’s been just a great, great learning lesson for me. I’ve really enjoyed it and everyone has been great.”
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