Clarets AGM: All the questions answered

Here's the questions they answered from shareholders ...

• On behalf of everybody here, I would like to welcome Owen Coyle to the club and congratulate him on such a wonderful start to his time here.

Owen Coyle: I thank all the club's supporters for making me feel so welcome. From day one, the support I've had has been invaluable and it's helped me settle in very quickly. I have a good group of players and they deserve the credit for the way they've gone about things. On Tuesday night, I was bitterly disappointed from a manager's point of view, with the defeat to QPR. There were reasons for the loss, without wanting to make excuses. It was a big ask for the same players that had played six games in 17 days. But there's no criticism of the players. The spirit and the camaraderie of the players is second to none. But I've said from day one, it's not just about the players who take the field, or the staff here. The one thing that is constant at Burnley Football Club is the supporters. Players, managers and directors come and go, but the supporters are there every year, so it's important we are all in it together, particularly at home games. I realise we've not won at home since I've been manager, but we will work hard to change that. Despite that, the home support has been fantastic and long may that continue, because players respond to encouragement. I don't know any player that responds to getting stick. But the fans have been great, and as long as they show encourgament, the players will reward them.

• What are your thoughts on youth development?

OC: I'm very big on youth development. I think there's nothing better than when you rear your own players and put them into the first-team and they wear the Burnley shirt. I think the supporters respond to that. We've been fortunate enough to see Kyle Lafferty and Chris McCann come through. In the short space of time I've been here, I've looked at the young lads in a reserve match at Chester, and there were two or three that I recognised as being quite talented. We will get a great gauge when they play against Arsenal in the FA Youth Cup. You want to pit yourself against the best youngsters in the country - and Arsenal probably are the best. In the big scheme of things, we want to bring them through and see them wearing that Burnley shirt with pride. We are working extensively behind the scenes, and we are looking in Ireland, as well as Scotland and England. Myself and my staff just want the opportunity to bring these young players to the club, to let them see what we are all about. I do believe that we can compete with the likes of Liverpool and Manchester United. People might say that's ridiculous, but I don't think it is. We just need that opportunity to bring them in and show them what Burnley Football Club is all about. Yes, we lost John Cofie, and I think that was more to do with the parents than the kid himself. But what we can show them at Burnley is that they will get a chance to develop and a chance to play first-team football at an early age. If they see the platform that we've already given to Chris McCann and Kyle Lafferty, they will accept that they've got an opportunity. It is different to being lost among 30 or 40 kids at Manchester United, Liverpool and all the other glamorous clubs. It won't be possible to bring two or three through every year, but if we can get at least one in, it will give everyone a huge lift. And when they come through, there's a natural enthusiasm, and that hunger and determination.

• What were the full details on John Cofie and his transfer to Manchester United?

Barry Kilby: John Cofie was discovered by our community programme in Germany. His parents were Commonwealth soldiers working in the British Army over there. He was spotted and he had obvious talent. We did everything right, we brought him across to England and into a private school in Clitheroe with his mum and dad's blessing. But people started to notice John Cofie and this was one of the problems we had. The big boys started to notice and his parents had discussions with Liverpool and then, subsequently, Manchester United. They expressed their view that they would like to move John. For a 14-year-old, we don't have that much leverage. You can get compensation, but it's not great for youngsters at that age. We still tried to keep him, and myself and Brendan Flood met up with John's parents. I also wrote a letter to them after that, saying it was still in his best interests to stay at Burnley. They were saying that it was a big club - Manchester United. But we put our argument that John would get special treatment here and fast-track him into our team. It was his best chance of that was with staying with Burnley, but they came back and told us they felt he should move. In that position, we had to try and get the best deal we could. We did get a sum of money that can build up to over £1m if he goes on and plays 50 appearances for Manchester United. We also got a knock-on on the transfer and the promise of a friendly with United. It was the best deal we could get. We would very much have preferred for John Kofie to stay with us, but that's the reality. Hopefully, one day people will accept that these talented boys are much better off at a club like Burnley where we will work hard to nurture them. Steve Cotterill said at the time that he once contemplated putting John in a reserve team game when he reached 15. He was a real precocious talent.