| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… 11:21 - Sep 4 with 8986 views | unstableblue |
… I was reviewing the 10th (tenth) page of bile and unanimous slating of Mark Ashton on ‘The Only Team in Bristol’ forum. The huge criticism of his tenure at Ashton Gate.
They’ve picked up our reaction on TWTD to their views -
Perhaps our fans calling them ‘knuckle staggers’ was unwise! - But actually there seems good feeling towards ITFC as a club.
A summary of the factors to which they despise Ashton are: took over control and footballing matters, manager selection based on his imperious role, hung out the manager he’d brought in to dry once found to be flawed, allowed an appalling injury situation to develop and an enquiry he instigated was a joke (some of that fitness team are now here), they find Ashton smarmy, PRish.., etc etc
They obviously think he will be a disaster here, and cast aspersions on our 19 player influx he has orchestrated. Slightly ignoring revenue and wage bill benefits of outgoing players!!
But looking on the positives and calling out some of the views they are missing, just a couple of thoughts from me:
- Cook has it seems identified all the players brought in, I think there is no suggestion that Ashton suggested any players - he just executed the transfers. Ashton is not acting as a pseudo manager as much as Bristol City fans suggest
- Cook is in charge of the footballing side of the football operation;
I don’t think Cook would accept direct interference from Ashton
- Ashton does not just have a non footballing owner above him - O’Leary is his governance and control; and The Three Lions especially our Turkish investor are quite savvy in running a football club and will be providing necessary oversight
- if we get the wins we so desperately need I am expecting Ashton to turn to non footballing operations issues such as ground, ticketing, PA etc, where his work was positively received at Bristol
What do you think?
Certainly Ashtons US style motivational approach and management system concept has grated the Bristol fans… and maybe a few players and fans will not buy in… but let’s repeat a key point WE HAD MILNE AND CLEGG
I am concerned about the unanimous negativity, no smoke without fire, but I DO think Ashton is operating in a different set-up and environment.
Now let’s get that WIN so that Cook is left to it, and Ashton, OLeary and the Three Lions can focus on the longer game. |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:06 - Sep 5 with 2070 views | shamboy |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 19:59 - Sep 4 by bluestandard |
Having read a pretty large sample of views of both Watford and Bristol fans, it is more than a little disconcerting to see the contempt in which they all hold Ashton. My take on what I’ve read so far for what it’s worth is that he seems to have some desirable CEO qualities, and from a footballing perspective he seems to have left the clubs he was at in a better position than when he arrived. The two red flags for me are a) potential for financial mismanagement, and b) his track record on professional relationships with his staff, media etc. Let’s hope he’s learnt a thing or two from his previous experiences……. |
The Watford Observer story is jaw-dropping. Two things I know for sure: you can rarely fool the press, and more than that, you can never fool the players. Everyone else is governed by the politics of the situation. [Post edited 5 Sep 2021 9:42]
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:33 - Sep 5 with 2001 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:06 - Sep 5 by shamboy |
The Watford Observer story is jaw-dropping. Two things I know for sure: you can rarely fool the press, and more than that, you can never fool the players. Everyone else is governed by the politics of the situation. [Post edited 5 Sep 2021 9:42]
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Not particularly. It was written 13 years ago. I also noticed that during that period they got promoted.
People can hammer the bloke all they want, it’s all about what he does here, now. In three months here he’s been light years better than the gormless trolls he replaced. I’ll reserve putting the size nines in until he has done something to deserve it. |  | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:51 - Sep 5 with 1989 views | ketton_itfc |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:33 - Sep 5 by Churchman |
Not particularly. It was written 13 years ago. I also noticed that during that period they got promoted.
People can hammer the bloke all they want, it’s all about what he does here, now. In three months here he’s been light years better than the gormless trolls he replaced. I’ll reserve putting the size nines in until he has done something to deserve it. |
In all walks of life, you like to think we learn by our mistakes. I personally I think I’m a way better Engineer than I was 13 years ago and I’m sure Ashton would admit he’s made mistakes and consider himself a better CEO than his Watford days.
Like you say you can only judge him on his performance in the here and now and I’m impressed. He’s set about sorting the issues which we’ve moaned about for years so great so far.
I’m not sure what The City fans expect us to do. Turn on him and boo his every move? He may well be a slippery eel but if he gets us back in the Campionship with a well oiled structure in place that will do for me.
I also don’t think we can underestimate Mike O’Leary in his role. I get the feeling he doesn’t take fools gladly so if he’s supportive of Ashton the guy clearly has something going for him. |  | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 11:05 - Sep 5 with 1978 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:51 - Sep 5 by ketton_itfc |
In all walks of life, you like to think we learn by our mistakes. I personally I think I’m a way better Engineer than I was 13 years ago and I’m sure Ashton would admit he’s made mistakes and consider himself a better CEO than his Watford days.
Like you say you can only judge him on his performance in the here and now and I’m impressed. He’s set about sorting the issues which we’ve moaned about for years so great so far.
I’m not sure what The City fans expect us to do. Turn on him and boo his every move? He may well be a slippery eel but if he gets us back in the Campionship with a well oiled structure in place that will do for me.
I also don’t think we can underestimate Mike O’Leary in his role. I get the feeling he doesn’t take fools gladly so if he’s supportive of Ashton the guy clearly has something going for him. |
And O'Leary has known/worked with him now at 3 different clubs spanning over the past 20 odd years.
I posted this the other day, but the idea Ashton has total control here is nonsense. He is firmly accountable to O'Leary and to the US owners/investors, who despite not physically being here, are extremely hands-on. There won't be any half fundamental decision that is made without agreement and scrutiny from a large number of highly experienced and competent businessmen - incidentally whom also have experience running a football club. [Post edited 5 Sep 2021 11:16]
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 12:35 - Sep 5 with 1915 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:51 - Sep 5 by ketton_itfc |
In all walks of life, you like to think we learn by our mistakes. I personally I think I’m a way better Engineer than I was 13 years ago and I’m sure Ashton would admit he’s made mistakes and consider himself a better CEO than his Watford days.
Like you say you can only judge him on his performance in the here and now and I’m impressed. He’s set about sorting the issues which we’ve moaned about for years so great so far.
I’m not sure what The City fans expect us to do. Turn on him and boo his every move? He may well be a slippery eel but if he gets us back in the Campionship with a well oiled structure in place that will do for me.
I also don’t think we can underestimate Mike O’Leary in his role. I get the feeling he doesn’t take fools gladly so if he’s supportive of Ashton the guy clearly has something going for him. |
Agree totally with this. When I look back, I was a very different person at the end of each stage of my career than I was at the beginning.
I think a lot hangs on O’Leary. He is no fool and from what I’ve read and heard about the takeover, it’s him that did a lot of work on behalf of the owners. They clearly rate Ashton and O’Leary’s known him a long while. You could see he and O’Leary are very comfortable with each other at that forum the other week and this is important.
If those two and the owners work tightly on this, then we will be alright long term, regardless if Cook succeeds or fails. | | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 19:22 - Sep 5 with 1866 views | Bluedicea |
Ashton is what we need and in a position we need. Football is no longer just a game, it's business(big business).
The most successful business leaders in the world nearly all fall into the 'sociopath' category, it's their ability to ignore passion and sentiment and just operate off of pure logical facts, so they can make ruthless decisions. For the rest of us we tend to think with a certain compassion, and that's why figures like Ashton get hated, especially for mistakes as they come across as colder people.
Where he was before there was very little structure above him, so he could control more, whereas here there are several people above him who are knowledgeable in football and have put the structure above him so he has a framework to work within, which should hopefully make use of his ruthlessness when it comes to hiring and firing, making sure all departments are running efficiently, etc.
So yeah he might come across as a David Brent, or Boycie, to people, with the corporate speak and attitude, but every successful club will have one of them somewhere in the day to day running. To become a successful club in the modern era, you have to use all the tools in your kit, not just rely on passion and sentiment. |  |
| What is the use of knowing about everything else, when you do not yet know who you are. |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 07:43 - Sep 6 with 1761 views | Coastalblue |
It's going to take time, far, far more than we've already had before we begin to see the way the club is being run.
Thus far Ashton has done what we all wanted, gone out and upgraded an entire squad, it'll be a couple of years down the line when we'll find out if we're starting to sell out best assets at the height of their value to fund the project, and how succesful we are at replacing them. We might not, we might be just looking at continual investment to push us higher up the pyramid, none of us knows at the moment and that strategy when it becomes clear is likely to colour a lot of people's opinions of Ashton. |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 07:59 - Sep 6 with 1751 views | ElephantintheRoom |
There is an air of deluded desperation about denying the serial awfulness of Mark Ashton as a freeloading, gibberish-spouting and largely incompetent professional football exec.
You have to accept the reality that he is an oily, showboating freeloader, inexplicably appointed by absentee owners with no knowledge, or even interest in the English leagues. I doubt he can believe his luck or his bank balance.
The role is not that demanding really - espcially at a small club like Ipswich - where he has an equally dubious overseer in O'Leary who might provide a bit of damage limitation when things start to go pear shaped - which they surely must as he is simply repeating the same mistakes as before - this time at a smaller club.
Aside from that - and the fact that he is appointing his cabal of hangars on to feast in the trough of borrowed money there isn't much to worry about . Judge him on what he does here. It's not as though Ipswich dont have history in incompetent, fan-friendly stewardship. | |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:31 - Sep 6 with 1723 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 07:59 - Sep 6 by ElephantintheRoom |
There is an air of deluded desperation about denying the serial awfulness of Mark Ashton as a freeloading, gibberish-spouting and largely incompetent professional football exec.
You have to accept the reality that he is an oily, showboating freeloader, inexplicably appointed by absentee owners with no knowledge, or even interest in the English leagues. I doubt he can believe his luck or his bank balance.
The role is not that demanding really - espcially at a small club like Ipswich - where he has an equally dubious overseer in O'Leary who might provide a bit of damage limitation when things start to go pear shaped - which they surely must as he is simply repeating the same mistakes as before - this time at a smaller club.
Aside from that - and the fact that he is appointing his cabal of hangars on to feast in the trough of borrowed money there isn't much to worry about . Judge him on what he does here. It's not as though Ipswich dont have history in incompetent, fan-friendly stewardship. |
Can you put the phrase ‘debt peddlers’ in next time please? Your seemingly limitless hate sort of lacks something without it.
Have you expressed this view to Ashton and O’Leary? I’m sure they’d welcome it.
Lastly, do you have any actual evidence for your opening paragraph, other than a 13 year old Watford report and the views of some Bristol City supporters? | | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:54 - Sep 6 with 1706 views | Radlett_blue |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:06 - Sep 5 by shamboy |
The Watford Observer story is jaw-dropping. Two things I know for sure: you can rarely fool the press, and more than that, you can never fool the players. Everyone else is governed by the politics of the situation. [Post edited 5 Sep 2021 9:42]
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Yes, the story is old, but my contact (not a newspaperman) is very reliable. Whatever Ashton's character, we won't care too much if Town are successful on the pitch & he can bask in the reflected glory. |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:15 - Sep 6 with 1668 views | bluejacko |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 07:59 - Sep 6 by ElephantintheRoom |
There is an air of deluded desperation about denying the serial awfulness of Mark Ashton as a freeloading, gibberish-spouting and largely incompetent professional football exec.
You have to accept the reality that he is an oily, showboating freeloader, inexplicably appointed by absentee owners with no knowledge, or even interest in the English leagues. I doubt he can believe his luck or his bank balance.
The role is not that demanding really - espcially at a small club like Ipswich - where he has an equally dubious overseer in O'Leary who might provide a bit of damage limitation when things start to go pear shaped - which they surely must as he is simply repeating the same mistakes as before - this time at a smaller club.
Aside from that - and the fact that he is appointing his cabal of hangars on to feast in the trough of borrowed money there isn't much to worry about . Judge him on what he does here. It's not as though Ipswich dont have history in incompetent, fan-friendly stewardship. |
Don’t know how old you are but your attitude and general downer on life is a bit disturbing!
Usually we grow out of this stage in our teen years but it seems you still have problems that you really need to see about! Good luck 👠| | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:27 - Sep 6 with 1657 views | NthQldITFC |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 17:36 - Sep 4 by Churchman |
Haha, ‘Customer journey’. That made me break out into a sweat. How about ‘plucking low hanging fruit’ before ‘touching base’? My guess is there are people out there who’ve made a fortune coming up with this cr@p.
Edit: RonnyD - you are right, this tosh goes back decades. I first really noticed it in the early 90s when some idiot started banging on about paradigms on some grindingly tedious management course. We all nodded enthusiastically… [Post edited 4 Sep 2021 17:41]
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How about ‘plucking low hanging fruit’ before ‘touching base’?
Standard dogging procedure. |  |
| # WE ARE STEALING THE FUTURE FROM OUR CHILDREN --- WE MUST CHANGE COURSE # | | Poll: | It's driving me nuts |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 12:09 - Sep 6 with 1589 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 10:27 - Sep 6 by NthQldITFC |
How about ‘plucking low hanging fruit’ before ‘touching base’?
Standard dogging procedure. |
You can get arrested for ‘horizon scanning’ too if you are not careful. | | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 14:01 - Sep 6 with 1531 views | oldburian |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 07:59 - Sep 6 by ElephantintheRoom |
There is an air of deluded desperation about denying the serial awfulness of Mark Ashton as a freeloading, gibberish-spouting and largely incompetent professional football exec.
You have to accept the reality that he is an oily, showboating freeloader, inexplicably appointed by absentee owners with no knowledge, or even interest in the English leagues. I doubt he can believe his luck or his bank balance.
The role is not that demanding really - espcially at a small club like Ipswich - where he has an equally dubious overseer in O'Leary who might provide a bit of damage limitation when things start to go pear shaped - which they surely must as he is simply repeating the same mistakes as before - this time at a smaller club.
Aside from that - and the fact that he is appointing his cabal of hangars on to feast in the trough of borrowed money there isn't much to worry about . Judge him on what he does here. It's not as though Ipswich dont have history in incompetent, fan-friendly stewardship. |
Stop beating about the bush, do you rate him? | | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 04:33 - Sep 7 with 1419 views | The_Romford_Blue |
From the Sunderland forum by a Bristol city fan:
@IpswichFanInPeace @Tractorboy etc, we've been kindly invited on to your forum to explain our disdain for Ashton. I don't care enough to actually sign up on your forum, but if you could share some views via here.
Oh dear. They really don’t know what’s going to hit them do they.
Ipswich fans moaning about their previous owners not being able to maintain the floodlights …..tell you, it would have been a blessing if the friggin floodlights went out in most of our games under Ashton’s command.
His only achievement after 4 years tenure was to have made me fall out of love with the ‘beautiful game’…. something no previous regime had achieved in 50 years - even when we were bottom of the entire league.
No, Ipswich you’re more than welcome to Ashton and his people. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
If Ipswich fans want a simple metric as to why we despise Marky-boy, it's the following.
- We were 23rd in this division, when he took reigns as CEO. He was in an advisory position previous to that when Keith Dawe was Chairman, bless that man, who planned and initialised the stadium and training ground plans that Ashton ultimately took credit for.
- At the point MA left we were 20th - however:
- Never connected with fans; no updates or news from the club with regards to general communications when things were not going well.
- Sacked well liked media staff members among others under NDAs (same as he did at Watford).
- Net transfer spending and wages were up £35m and 50% per annum respectively, leaving us in a lack FFP sh*t-pile having been solvent he previous 3-4 year period with outgoings.
- Signing players with no regard to tactics or playstyle, scattergun recruitment, leading to a bloated squad, and horrific club culture across most levels.
- Inept staffing (fitness), plus managerial appointment(s). Holden, good coach, should never have been named manager after an 8 week search.
Ultimately, in terms of every remit where he had targets to hit as a CEO, and with the level of backing he had. He failed - badly. None too gracefully either, and made a few tongue in cheek comments also, as well as outright lies on multiple occasions.
I find the Tractor Boys forum thread discussing us also ironic, in whereby they claim we have no idea what it was like for them under Clegg.
No sh*t lads. Pot Kettle Black, etc. Think we have this vendetta against him for fun?
By and large seem confused whereby they seem to think we're the only club ran afoul of by MA. His time at Watford is well documented by the same issues, I.e. disagreeing with managers, not connecting with fans, NDAs to longstanding clubs staff to appoint his own 'people'.
A period that few will miss
Literally one of the first returns on Google. Not exactly 'hidden'.
All we're saying, is take the man never at face value, with a massive pinch of salt, and don't get carried away.
@Davefevs @Mr Popodopolous Out of interest, Not 100% clued up on the L1 FFP requirements, but where did Ipswich position in regards to the latter for the last couple of season, and what impact would the change in ownership have?
"I suspect it is something we will discover for ourselves in the future. In short, Ashton works with sustaining the books, so our best players may be sold quite regularly to finance the future of the club. I presume with Bristol, he may have been a bit too heavy on his sustainable approach.
However, over the long term, it seems to have improved them."
Oh sweet summer child, if only you knew the complete absolute clusterfudge our finances were now in compared to where they were 3 years ago...
I mean, I guess you need to be careful not to tar everyone with the same brush, but the determination across their board that the problem is us and not him is bizarre. It’s actually frightening.
I’ve never heard a nice word said about Ashton from anyone within football who has dealt with him at any point. Ever.
His conduct at Watford is well documented - literally in black and white for public consumption - and, while he’s been given due credit for getting good value for outgoing players, as such there’s ALWAYS been a sense of caution around him. Long before the sh*t really hit the fan.
I’m genuinely staggered, then, that any Ipswich fan really thinks we have a vendetta all because he failed to deliver promotion to a division we apparently “believe” we belong in despite never having been there. That any disdain has no real merit. That, as I’ve even read, it is merely born out of a jealously he left us for a mid-table League One club.
As Nigel would say... “Are you an ostrich?”
And I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved! |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 05:56 - Sep 7 with 1394 views | textbackup |
we've wanted/needed a CEO for how long? and now we are picking him to pieces based on what Bristol city fans say?
fck that, until he fcks up here he's ok for me. |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 08:19 - Sep 7 with 1319 views | trncbluearmy |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 04:33 - Sep 7 by The_Romford_Blue |
From the Sunderland forum by a Bristol city fan:
@IpswichFanInPeace @Tractorboy etc, we've been kindly invited on to your forum to explain our disdain for Ashton. I don't care enough to actually sign up on your forum, but if you could share some views via here.
Oh dear. They really don’t know what’s going to hit them do they.
Ipswich fans moaning about their previous owners not being able to maintain the floodlights …..tell you, it would have been a blessing if the friggin floodlights went out in most of our games under Ashton’s command.
His only achievement after 4 years tenure was to have made me fall out of love with the ‘beautiful game’…. something no previous regime had achieved in 50 years - even when we were bottom of the entire league.
No, Ipswich you’re more than welcome to Ashton and his people. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
If Ipswich fans want a simple metric as to why we despise Marky-boy, it's the following.
- We were 23rd in this division, when he took reigns as CEO. He was in an advisory position previous to that when Keith Dawe was Chairman, bless that man, who planned and initialised the stadium and training ground plans that Ashton ultimately took credit for.
- At the point MA left we were 20th - however:
- Never connected with fans; no updates or news from the club with regards to general communications when things were not going well.
- Sacked well liked media staff members among others under NDAs (same as he did at Watford).
- Net transfer spending and wages were up £35m and 50% per annum respectively, leaving us in a lack FFP sh*t-pile having been solvent he previous 3-4 year period with outgoings.
- Signing players with no regard to tactics or playstyle, scattergun recruitment, leading to a bloated squad, and horrific club culture across most levels.
- Inept staffing (fitness), plus managerial appointment(s). Holden, good coach, should never have been named manager after an 8 week search.
Ultimately, in terms of every remit where he had targets to hit as a CEO, and with the level of backing he had. He failed - badly. None too gracefully either, and made a few tongue in cheek comments also, as well as outright lies on multiple occasions.
I find the Tractor Boys forum thread discussing us also ironic, in whereby they claim we have no idea what it was like for them under Clegg.
No sh*t lads. Pot Kettle Black, etc. Think we have this vendetta against him for fun?
By and large seem confused whereby they seem to think we're the only club ran afoul of by MA. His time at Watford is well documented by the same issues, I.e. disagreeing with managers, not connecting with fans, NDAs to longstanding clubs staff to appoint his own 'people'.
A period that few will miss
Literally one of the first returns on Google. Not exactly 'hidden'.
All we're saying, is take the man never at face value, with a massive pinch of salt, and don't get carried away.
@Davefevs @Mr Popodopolous Out of interest, Not 100% clued up on the L1 FFP requirements, but where did Ipswich position in regards to the latter for the last couple of season, and what impact would the change in ownership have?
"I suspect it is something we will discover for ourselves in the future. In short, Ashton works with sustaining the books, so our best players may be sold quite regularly to finance the future of the club. I presume with Bristol, he may have been a bit too heavy on his sustainable approach.
However, over the long term, it seems to have improved them."
Oh sweet summer child, if only you knew the complete absolute clusterfudge our finances were now in compared to where they were 3 years ago...
I mean, I guess you need to be careful not to tar everyone with the same brush, but the determination across their board that the problem is us and not him is bizarre. It’s actually frightening.
I’ve never heard a nice word said about Ashton from anyone within football who has dealt with him at any point. Ever.
His conduct at Watford is well documented - literally in black and white for public consumption - and, while he’s been given due credit for getting good value for outgoing players, as such there’s ALWAYS been a sense of caution around him. Long before the sh*t really hit the fan.
I’m genuinely staggered, then, that any Ipswich fan really thinks we have a vendetta all because he failed to deliver promotion to a division we apparently “believe” we belong in despite never having been there. That any disdain has no real merit. That, as I’ve even read, it is merely born out of a jealously he left us for a mid-table League One club.
As Nigel would say... “Are you an ostrich?”
And I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved! |
This is all getting a bit silly, even if he completly fecked up now he has done outstanding work.
Him his team and numerous contacts in the game have done an outstanding job in invigorating a club that was dying if not dead.
We should leave watford and bristol fans to their own dubious thoughts, two clubs we will be leaving in our wake. |  | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 08:22 - Sep 7 with 1317 views | itfcjoe |
Ashton, like Cook, will be judged on what they do here - not what they've done at previous clubs.
Ashton has got a lot more right than he has got wrong at the moment, and if that continues with him getting big decisions right then as a club it will benefit us as he is filling what was an utter vacumm of leadership and accountability |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 08:26 - Sep 7 with 1305 views | itfcjoe |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 17:57 - Sep 4 by Churchman |
It woke us dolts up who were trying to stay awake by contemplating the pub. The example used was the Swiss watch making industry. Masters of mechanical watch making, they were presented with this new idea. Quartz watches. Nah, they said. Real watches are cogs and springs. Go away.
When the Japanese were offered the idea (Seiko, Casio etc), they grabbed it with both hands and in turn swallowed up the mainstream watch making business.
The Swiss couldn’t see the opportunity before them; the paradigm. Today’s horror phrase which I will use just the once before grabbing a drink to wipe away the memory is ‘thinking outside the box’. |
Sounds like the Swiss were too busy swimming in a 'red ocean' rather than considering a 'blue ocean strategy' | |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 08:29 - Sep 7 with 1302 views | itfcjoe |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 12:35 - Sep 5 by Churchman |
Agree totally with this. When I look back, I was a very different person at the end of each stage of my career than I was at the beginning.
I think a lot hangs on O’Leary. He is no fool and from what I’ve read and heard about the takeover, it’s him that did a lot of work on behalf of the owners. They clearly rate Ashton and O’Leary’s known him a long while. You could see he and O’Leary are very comfortable with each other at that forum the other week and this is important.
If those two and the owners work tightly on this, then we will be alright long term, regardless if Cook succeeds or fails. |
How long will O'Leary hang about for? His career seems to be that of someone who runs M&A's, and helps get them established before moving on to the next one - is it envisaged he stays as chairman for a long period - it seems out of step with his usual roles | |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 08:51 - Sep 7 with 1254 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 08:29 - Sep 7 by itfcjoe |
How long will O'Leary hang about for? His career seems to be that of someone who runs M&A's, and helps get them established before moving on to the next one - is it envisaged he stays as chairman for a long period - it seems out of step with his usual roles |
Given O’Leary’s age and track record, a couple of years maybe?
He was crucial in the takeover negotiations and I suspect he will want to see the club up and running. Now is the crucial time and I suspect he is doing a lot behind the scenes but as the new regime settles down will move more and more into the background. | | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:11 - Sep 7 with 1235 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 09:06 - Sep 5 by shamboy |
The Watford Observer story is jaw-dropping. Two things I know for sure: you can rarely fool the press, and more than that, you can never fool the players. Everyone else is governed by the politics of the situation. [Post edited 5 Sep 2021 9:42]
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Actually, I can tell you the press can be fooled and get an awful lot wrong. They just rarely admit it and if they do, they’ll bury it on page 4 bottom right. They exist to sell their papers and what they don’t know they will guess and make up. They will also slant information to tell a story. | | | |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 11:52 - Sep 7 with 1175 views | BlueBlood90 |
I agree with most of the comments on this thread.
I couldn't care less about Bristol City and I would hope that any errors Ashton may have made there will mean he's learned from them and won't replicate them again here.
I will judge him in a year or two rather than right now but so far I can only praise the job he's done. |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 12:40 - Sep 7 with 1157 views | FBI |
I couldn't give a monkey's chuff about what the Bristol City fans think of him. As far as I'm concerned he's done well so far and as long as he continues to do so then I'll back him. If he turns into what the BC lot describe, then that's a different story but we'll cross that (Severn) bridge when we come to it. He might be an oily git but he's OUR oily git and is doing fine.
On the other thing, I worked for a large heritage organisation that rhymes with 'rational crust' for fifteen years. 'Instructions' and 'Guidelines' were 'Tights' and 'Looses' and at one time we had a Head of Dogs.
Remember the BBC spoof documentary series W1A? I had to stop watching it: it wasn't a spoof in my world. |  |
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| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 14:05 - Sep 7 with 1106 views | Churchman |
| Without wanting to open the can of worms again that is Bristol fans forum… on 12:40 - Sep 7 by FBI |
I couldn't give a monkey's chuff about what the Bristol City fans think of him. As far as I'm concerned he's done well so far and as long as he continues to do so then I'll back him. If he turns into what the BC lot describe, then that's a different story but we'll cross that (Severn) bridge when we come to it. He might be an oily git but he's OUR oily git and is doing fine.
On the other thing, I worked for a large heritage organisation that rhymes with 'rational crust' for fifteen years. 'Instructions' and 'Guidelines' were 'Tights' and 'Looses' and at one time we had a Head of Dogs.
Remember the BBC spoof documentary series W1A? I had to stop watching it: it wasn't a spoof in my world. |
Just remember, there are no such things as problems, just opportunities. As long as you juxtapose your interpersonal skills with working at pace while shooting for the moon in a results orientated environment, you’ll be fine.
Aaaargh! | | | |
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