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Ashton and the Owners 08:20 - Jun 29 with 8687 viewsChurchman

I was interested to read Mark Steed’s comments in the EADT. If Ashton is just a snake oil salesmen many people claim him to be, he’s not going to last long. I’ve a feeling the Americans are somewhat demanding to work for and are all over what’s happening with the club.

“I've told Mark (Ashton) that I’ll be impressed when we stop losing money and start winning games! Frankly, that’s how it works!" he declared, with Ashton sat to his right.

“We’ve got other opportunities to fund away from Ipswich, so when Mark comes to us he’s got to make a case.

“I have lots of emails from people who want to spend my money and very few want to come and talk about what they’ve done with the money we’ve already given them.

“To be up front about it, we have a saying in Arizona which says ‘don’t p1ss on my boot and tell me it’s raining’. We work with a lot of CEOs and they all have various ways of trying to hide things. We know all the tricks.

“Sometimes people see me and think ‘he should have more decorum, he’s a man of repute, he should behave himself’. I just don’t operate that way
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Ashton and the Owners on 08:25 - Jun 29 with 5605 viewsCheltenham_Blue

“Sometimes people see me and think ‘he should have more decorum, he’s a man of repute, he should behave himself’. I just don’t operate that way"

I like him.

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Ashton and the Owners on 08:29 - Jun 29 with 5580 viewsGuthrum

I'm pretty sure that's exactly the kind of environment Ashton and O'Leary are used to working in. Every decision will have to be justified and then validated by progress towards targets.

CEOs are perhaps a little safer than Managers in football, but neither have much security without success.

The present ownership may have more open purse-strings than Evans, but probably far less patience with simply ticking over.

Good Lord! Whatever is it?
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Ashton and the Owners on 08:33 - Jun 29 with 5506 viewsCheltenham_Blue

Ashton and the Owners on 08:29 - Jun 29 by Guthrum

I'm pretty sure that's exactly the kind of environment Ashton and O'Leary are used to working in. Every decision will have to be justified and then validated by progress towards targets.

CEOs are perhaps a little safer than Managers in football, but neither have much security without success.

The present ownership may have more open purse-strings than Evans, but probably far less patience with simply ticking over.


When they came in, I said that they were never going to accept the kind of mediocrity that Evans seemed so happy to oversee, and that if Cook wasn't doing it by Christmas, he'd be gone.

They didn't even wait that long.

For all the good McKenna is doing, we have to be there or there about in December, these guys won't accept failure.

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Ashton and the Owners on 08:34 - Jun 29 with 5510 viewsJ2BLUE

Let’s be honest, if the Bristol City fans hadn’t come on here crying then no one would be saying a word.

For some reason when other fans say something a certain group of our fans parrot it forever more thinking it’s some sort of clever insight so when it goes wrong they can claim they were ‘right’. It’s pathetic.

Truly impaired.
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Ashton and the Owners on 08:36 - Jun 29 with 5490 viewsCheltenham_Blue

Ashton and the Owners on 08:34 - Jun 29 by J2BLUE

Let’s be honest, if the Bristol City fans hadn’t come on here crying then no one would be saying a word.

For some reason when other fans say something a certain group of our fans parrot it forever more thinking it’s some sort of clever insight so when it goes wrong they can claim they were ‘right’. It’s pathetic.


I don't think any post on this thread, (yet), is remotely agreeing with Bristol City fans J2. The OP was quite dismissive about it with lots of 'If's.
[Post edited 29 Jun 2022 8:37]

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Ashton and the Owners on 08:40 - Jun 29 with 5446 viewsJ2BLUE

Ashton and the Owners on 08:36 - Jun 29 by Cheltenham_Blue

I don't think any post on this thread, (yet), is remotely agreeing with Bristol City fans J2. The OP was quite dismissive about it with lots of 'If's.
[Post edited 29 Jun 2022 8:37]


I’m agreeing.

Truly impaired.
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Ashton and the Owners on 08:40 - Jun 29 with 5462 viewshomer_123

Ashton and the Owners on 08:34 - Jun 29 by J2BLUE

Let’s be honest, if the Bristol City fans hadn’t come on here crying then no one would be saying a word.

For some reason when other fans say something a certain group of our fans parrot it forever more thinking it’s some sort of clever insight so when it goes wrong they can claim they were ‘right’. It’s pathetic.


I don't know if I speak for others on this but I'm really quite indifferent to Ashton - in that he's no more or less disposable that McKenna, players etc.

Our owners will know what they need from their investment and if Ashton delivers, great, if he doesn't I have no doubt they'd move him on and that then works down through the Club.

As I have said right from the start and I said the same when Evans came in - I'll judge on results. So far, all the signs are very good and there is more than enough evidence to suggest we are on a much better path towards promotion etc than we have been for years.

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Ashton and the Owners on 08:44 - Jun 29 with 5396 viewsunbelievablue

Ashton and the Owners on 08:29 - Jun 29 by Guthrum

I'm pretty sure that's exactly the kind of environment Ashton and O'Leary are used to working in. Every decision will have to be justified and then validated by progress towards targets.

CEOs are perhaps a little safer than Managers in football, but neither have much security without success.

The present ownership may have more open purse-strings than Evans, but probably far less patience with simply ticking over.


The season ticket and shirt sales are immediate wins for Ashton and co. against (presumably) pre-determined targets.

Le meilleur des mondes possibles
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Ashton and the Owners on 08:45 - Jun 29 with 5383 viewsChurchman

Ashton and the Owners on 08:34 - Jun 29 by J2BLUE

Let’s be honest, if the Bristol City fans hadn’t come on here crying then no one would be saying a word.

For some reason when other fans say something a certain group of our fans parrot it forever more thinking it’s some sort of clever insight so when it goes wrong they can claim they were ‘right’. It’s pathetic.


Indeed some people do recite others comments, almost verbatim at times. This is why I was so interested in the comments by Steed and the others. Ashton may be a CEO with all the chat, but he’d better deliver or he will be gone.

I actually like Steed’s approach. You know where you stand with somebody like that, though I’d reprimand him over the Pale Rider beard. Too 1880s for me.
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Ashton and the Owners on 08:53 - Jun 29 with 5336 viewsDyland

Ashton and the Owners on 08:25 - Jun 29 by Cheltenham_Blue

“Sometimes people see me and think ‘he should have more decorum, he’s a man of repute, he should behave himself’. I just don’t operate that way"

I like him.


I'm familiar with this from my last corporate gig, and I agree with you. This attitude and style (in both senses of the word) still ruffles feathers, especially outside of the US. It's a cliche but true, that business is 100% results driven nowadays, and the yanks have a certain way of doing it, and if you are successful the ultimate paymasters don't give a hoot how bold or brassy or forthright you are. Or if you have a silly beard :)

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Ashton and the Owners on 08:56 - Jun 29 with 5307 viewsGuthrum

Ashton and the Owners on 08:45 - Jun 29 by Churchman

Indeed some people do recite others comments, almost verbatim at times. This is why I was so interested in the comments by Steed and the others. Ashton may be a CEO with all the chat, but he’d better deliver or he will be gone.

I actually like Steed’s approach. You know where you stand with somebody like that, though I’d reprimand him over the Pale Rider beard. Too 1880s for me.


Whereas I approve of the facial fuzz, quite a magnificent specimen. But then I've been a bearded wierdo most of my adult life.
[Post edited 29 Jun 2022 8:56]

Good Lord! Whatever is it?
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:00 - Jun 29 with 5282 viewstextbackup

Ashton and the Owners on 08:40 - Jun 29 by homer_123

I don't know if I speak for others on this but I'm really quite indifferent to Ashton - in that he's no more or less disposable that McKenna, players etc.

Our owners will know what they need from their investment and if Ashton delivers, great, if he doesn't I have no doubt they'd move him on and that then works down through the Club.

As I have said right from the start and I said the same when Evans came in - I'll judge on results. So far, all the signs are very good and there is more than enough evidence to suggest we are on a much better path towards promotion etc than we have been for years.


I’m just so glad we have a club now where people are held accountable for failure.

Previously nobody gave two shts, now we have players that have character about them and more than 5 brain cells so will own/try to resolve issues in game without needing a manager to hold their hands.
We have a very intelligent manager who (I firmly believe) leaves no stone unturned in his prep work.
A CEO driving everything below him aggressively and has set huge standards for people to follow…

Then to top it all off, a group of guys that will question everything below them to demand a return for their investments.

If one part of that starts to fail, it seems it simply won’t be tolerated.

Genuinely one of only a few periods that I’ve proud to be a Town fan

We’ll be good again... one day
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:06 - Jun 29 with 5229 viewswrightsrightglove

So refreshing to read. I’ve long said that the club needed a plan with measurable outcomes rather than a finger in the wind five point plan. Everyone at the club should be held accountable for being successful in their role, that’s the same in pretty much every industry. If someone is consistently not able to meet the necessary levels of performance then they shouldn’t be in the job. Chalk and cheese from the Evans era and exactly how the club should be looking to operate.
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:14 - Jun 29 with 5113 viewsGuthrum

Ashton and the Owners on 08:53 - Jun 29 by Dyland

I'm familiar with this from my last corporate gig, and I agree with you. This attitude and style (in both senses of the word) still ruffles feathers, especially outside of the US. It's a cliche but true, that business is 100% results driven nowadays, and the yanks have a certain way of doing it, and if you are successful the ultimate paymasters don't give a hoot how bold or brassy or forthright you are. Or if you have a silly beard :)


People may think fondly of an era where a bunch of eccentric local brewers oversaw a bucolic environment where things jogged along in a haze of near-constant success. The game on the pitch may not have changed (completely), but off it is an entirely different picture. Not just with the sums of money involved, but also the way things are done, the corporate intensity, the full-time workload.

The former vision also masks the work put in by the likes of Robson and Ramsey, on top of their coaching responsibilities, in a time when managers simply did all that. It's just that nowadays the juggernaut has got too big for one man to handle alone.

Good Lord! Whatever is it?
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:20 - Jun 29 with 5071 viewstractorshark

Like most on here, I’m happy to hear there won’t be a tolerance of failure.
And I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from the owners so far.
But these guys are here to make money.
They want to sell on at a profit and that means reaching the Premier League.
But there is no guarantee of achieving that, no matter how much money you pump in.
In fact the more money you invest, the more ruthless the eventual parting of ways.
I am not trying to sound pessimistic here because I’m not. I’m genuinely excited about the direction the club is going in and I believe the owners have given us hope.
But I do retain a sense of realism over the romanticism because as Steed openly admits, success is paramount and there are other opportunities where they can invest.
Ipswich won’t be a never-ending loss leader for them.
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:25 - Jun 29 with 5010 viewsdirtyboy

I think the way Ashton operates works well with this ownership group.

Yes he's a good talker, but he does seem genuine too and genuine people tend to be able to elicit results when asking for things to be done.

The owners have allowed him to put all of the right people in the right positions too, so he's able to manage rather than picking up the pieces from people who are not doing their jobs.

We've seen incredible progress, communications are top drawer so fans aren't in the dark and feel part of the club.

We know they're making changes to the ground and training ground, but have been told outright that some of it can't happen until promotion, so there's no worrying about when and if things will happen, it's all very much black and white which removes so many uncertainties.

The manager is very open in interviews, most refreshing, says what he sees and there's rarely been any comments about "we should have done this or..." as McKenna has provided all the answers and said what went right and wrong immediately afterwards, integrity at its finest and the ownership must appreciate that as much as we do.

Ultimately results will still dictate the longevity of all of those involved, but there's so much progress in such a little time and still so much to do that we all know it's going to get better.
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:29 - Jun 29 with 4979 viewsWestcountryblue

I think Ashton is generously paid and will have some big promotion bonuses written into his contract.

Fully deserved in my opinion, he's played a huge part in generating a renewed sense of pride in the club which is shows in the season tickets.
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:37 - Jun 29 with 4907 viewsmarkchips

Ashton and the Owners on 09:20 - Jun 29 by tractorshark

Like most on here, I’m happy to hear there won’t be a tolerance of failure.
And I’m very happy with what I’ve seen from the owners so far.
But these guys are here to make money.
They want to sell on at a profit and that means reaching the Premier League.
But there is no guarantee of achieving that, no matter how much money you pump in.
In fact the more money you invest, the more ruthless the eventual parting of ways.
I am not trying to sound pessimistic here because I’m not. I’m genuinely excited about the direction the club is going in and I believe the owners have given us hope.
But I do retain a sense of realism over the romanticism because as Steed openly admits, success is paramount and there are other opportunities where they can invest.
Ipswich won’t be a never-ending loss leader for them.


I got the distinct impression that Ashton was getting a shot across the bows that they needed to see some results this season after all of the investment so the pressure is on and maybe unlikely a big signing is on the way.
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Ashton and the Owners on 09:42 - Jun 29 with 4862 viewsBlueandTruesince82

Ashton and the Owners on 08:34 - Jun 29 by J2BLUE

Let’s be honest, if the Bristol City fans hadn’t come on here crying then no one would be saying a word.

For some reason when other fans say something a certain group of our fans parrot it forever more thinking it’s some sort of clever insight so when it goes wrong they can claim they were ‘right’. It’s pathetic.


BC fans lose sight of the fact that it's Steve Lansdowne making those final decisions there, they were always clear about that as a club, it was then left to Ashton to negotiate the best deal for them, look at Webster, how much did they buy him for, how much did they sell for? All clubs need to balance books but ultimately owners control purse strings

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Ashton and the Owners on 09:44 - Jun 29 with 4841 viewsDubtractor

Ashton and the Owners on 08:53 - Jun 29 by Dyland

I'm familiar with this from my last corporate gig, and I agree with you. This attitude and style (in both senses of the word) still ruffles feathers, especially outside of the US. It's a cliche but true, that business is 100% results driven nowadays, and the yanks have a certain way of doing it, and if you are successful the ultimate paymasters don't give a hoot how bold or brassy or forthright you are. Or if you have a silly beard :)


The beard is fine (obviously), it's the little waxed moustache that's the real crime.

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Ashton and the Owners on 09:46 - Jun 29 with 4839 viewsMarshalls_Mullet

Is that a genuine quote?! Edit; just found it on EADT.

Kind of what I would expect from a Fund Manager. He seems like a straight forward guy and a good operator.

I think Mark Ashton is generally doing a decent job (although I dislike his cheesy corporate delivery), but the pressure is on this season, big time.

Under the new ownership we havent spent a single day in the play offs. Mark Steed will have some concerns and will want to see a strong start to the season.
[Post edited 29 Jun 2022 9:51]

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Ashton and the Owners on 09:51 - Jun 29 with 4807 viewsclive_baker

Ashton and the Owners on 09:42 - Jun 29 by BlueandTruesince82

BC fans lose sight of the fact that it's Steve Lansdowne making those final decisions there, they were always clear about that as a club, it was then left to Ashton to negotiate the best deal for them, look at Webster, how much did they buy him for, how much did they sell for? All clubs need to balance books but ultimately owners control purse strings


Bristol City commercial revenues grew by 600% under Ashton, from £7.7m to £30.2m. As you say, that was his remit, to negotiate well on player trading and increase both matchday and non matchday revenues, which is absolutely vital for the sustainability and success of football clubs. He did those things, and ensured profitability at Bristol City which was unheard of there before he joined. So far here he's overseen very impressive ticket sales, and record breaking shirt sales in a newly negotiated and presumably commercially favourable arrangement with a different supplier.

The mistake football fans make is judging people in that position by results on the pitch. Of course there might be some correlation between financial perfomance and on field results, but in the short term getting 3 points on a Saturday afternoon is largely outside of his sphere of influence.

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Ashton and the Owners on 09:55 - Jun 29 with 4774 viewsRadlett_blue

“I've told Mark (Ashton) that I’ll be impressed when we stop losing money and start winning games! Frankly, that’s how it works!"
Well if Town get promoted, they will be losing £20m a season to have a chance of being competitive in the Championship. Or we could go down the Evans route and struggle to stay in the Championship.

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Ashton and the Owners on 09:57 - Jun 29 with 4751 viewsxrayspecs

Ashton's task is to make the club more valuable to the next potential owner that the sum the current owners have invested.

Supporter engagement, season ticket sales, attendances, shirt sales are all trending in the right direction. He has also made a good appointment in KM.

MA now needs KM and team to deliver on the pitch so that we can at least move up one division where the opportunity to generate more revenue is higher.
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Ashton and the Owners on 10:12 - Jun 29 with 4625 viewsMarshalls_Mullet

Ashton and the Owners on 08:34 - Jun 29 by J2BLUE

Let’s be honest, if the Bristol City fans hadn’t come on here crying then no one would be saying a word.

For some reason when other fans say something a certain group of our fans parrot it forever more thinking it’s some sort of clever insight so when it goes wrong they can claim they were ‘right’. It’s pathetic.


I don't think that's true.

To be fair, I think Ashton is doing a decent job, especially off the pitch. I don't like his cheesy, corporate delivery, but I can put up with that if he gets the job done.

Despite the encouraging signs under KM, I suspect Steed will have had some stern words for Ashton about another season of underperformance on the pitch last year. And hopefully some praise for improvements off it.

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