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"Our best prospect is to focus on the 16 upwards age group, both here and abroad, because with under-16s we are always going to get them stolen off us. The John Cofie thing certainly made me aware of what the risks are in relying on that pipeline."
This has prompted the club to go to America to see the possible options there and to secure the services of Billy Bingham in Ireland to look for young talent both north and south, and Flood seems sure that will help the Clarets.
He added: "The USA got into the last eight of the World Cup in 2002. Give it another few years, they'll be in the final. I've no doubt they are going to be one of the leading nations in soccer in the next decade, and if we're in with the right people, we might all look back and think this is a blessed decision. We've got to try things and think beyond Lancashire.
"We're trying to get the strategic youth planning, and we're not quite finished yet after this, but probably by the start of next season we will be, and we hope then that should produce a conveyor belt of two or three players a year coming through, as opposed to one every few years.
Short-term fans might just want to win every game and go up, which we all do, but you've got to look realistically from our position as board directors, we've got to be long-term thinkers. If we don't prepare for the next decade, we'll find somewhere halfway through that we fall behind, and we'll suffer for it.
"So I think we've taken a view that we've got to invest in conduits for good players to come out of, and good relationships for us to learn as a club, and then that might make it easier to compete with the very big clubs, who've got much more resources. And this might make us more attractive as a club."
Flood concluded by suggesting that there might be players for us already at the American clubs we'll play against next month. "When we're on tour, we will be looking. There are three players who will be playing against us that the guys over there think are Championship quality, so we'll be seeing how they perform, and if they do well and impress Owen Coyle, we might bring some back.
"It's being open-minded about prospecting like that. If you've got a lad playing against Chris McCann, who's one of the great young hopes for Burnley in the Championship, and he outplays Chris, you might say he's one we've got to take back. By going on these tours we get a real measure of the quality."
The Clarets, as we know have brought Richard Chaplow, Kyle Lafferty and Chris McCann through to the first team squad in the last five years and we've also got there 18-year-olds in the professional squad in Adam Kay, Alex MacDonald and Jay Rodriguez, all of whom have come through the youth development system at Burnley.
I'm not certain what Flood intends, and whether it is his intention to bring this part of youth development to an end. I can only say right now that I sincerely hope not.