| Ashton and the Owners 08:20 - Jun 29 with 8721 views | Churchman |
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 |  | | |  |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:32 - Jun 29 with 1172 views | FrimleyBlue |
This is why I said Ashton and KM have 12 months to save their jobs. This pension pot won't sit around whilst we sit in league 1. This is a serious season. Anything less than promotion is a severe failure and we could either see a change in CEO and management team. Or we say goodbye to the pension pot owners and worry who we have after that. |  |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 10:33 - Jun 29 with 1185 views | galacticoblue |
Yes read this this morning and I found everything he said made sense and appears to be refreshingly direct and transparent.
The only thing I don’t think has made much sense so far, as it appears completely out of kilter with the owners/investors philosophy, was to completely trust Cook last year by allowing him to demolish a team that that he made worse after he joined and to then replace players in such a haphazard and presumably expensive way which resulted in a wasted season on the pitch.
All signs are good going forward though, just hope McKenna has what it takes to motivate a team when things get tough. |  | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:44 - Jun 29 with 1131 views | xrayspecs |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:32 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
This is why I said Ashton and KM have 12 months to save their jobs. This pension pot won't sit around whilst we sit in league 1. This is a serious season. Anything less than promotion is a severe failure and we could either see a change in CEO and management team. Or we say goodbye to the pension pot owners and worry who we have after that. |
Behave. That is nonsense "save their jobs". MA and KM will be given time to progress the club. MA has made good progress (from a standing start) in terms of fan engagement, community outreach, increasing attendances and commercial revenue etc. He has made a good hire in KM.
Town need to be seen to be consistently trending upwards.
If we finish 11th again, then I agree KM will be under pressure but I do not see that happening. A top six finish would be the minimum I would expect and if we achieve this, then I would expect KM to be given more time.
Building a business and organisational culture takes time, and the owners have talked about this being a long term project.
Yes, they will put pressure on MA, but that is a normal relationship between owners/Board and CEO. Hiring and firing senior executives/managers on a regular basis is not the way to make a sustainable business and is counter-productive. Who would want to join a business where there is a indiscriminate firing. | | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:48 - Jun 29 with 1118 views | Dyland |
| Ashton and the Owners on 09:14 - Jun 29 by Guthrum |
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. |
Bit of a gravy train too. Pro football encapsulates a lot that is meh about capitalism, as has been written about extensively. |  |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 10:49 - Jun 29 with 1116 views | Dyland |
| Ashton and the Owners on 09:44 - Jun 29 by Dubtractor |
The beard is fine (obviously), it's the little waxed moustache that's the real crime. |
Yeh innit. I could have said face furniture instead, for clarity :) | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 10:53 - Jun 29 with 1105 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:44 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
Behave. That is nonsense "save their jobs". MA and KM will be given time to progress the club. MA has made good progress (from a standing start) in terms of fan engagement, community outreach, increasing attendances and commercial revenue etc. He has made a good hire in KM.
Town need to be seen to be consistently trending upwards.
If we finish 11th again, then I agree KM will be under pressure but I do not see that happening. A top six finish would be the minimum I would expect and if we achieve this, then I would expect KM to be given more time.
Building a business and organisational culture takes time, and the owners have talked about this being a long term project.
Yes, they will put pressure on MA, but that is a normal relationship between owners/Board and CEO. Hiring and firing senior executives/managers on a regular basis is not the way to make a sustainable business and is counter-productive. Who would want to join a business where there is a indiscriminate firing. |
Only way it can be seen as progressing upwards is promotion. Finishing 5th but losing a play off gives the same result as finishing 11th. Another season of league 1 the season after, therefore a failure. There are no excuses this season. Core of squad already there. Full pre season, finances to add quality to the squad. If we don't go up someone has to be accountable. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 11:01 - Jun 29 with 1088 views | xrayspecs |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:53 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
Only way it can be seen as progressing upwards is promotion. Finishing 5th but losing a play off gives the same result as finishing 11th. Another season of league 1 the season after, therefore a failure. There are no excuses this season. Core of squad already there. Full pre season, finances to add quality to the squad. If we don't go up someone has to be accountable. |
We are not Watford. | | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:04 - Jun 29 with 1089 views | Dyland |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:33 - Jun 29 by galacticoblue |
Yes read this this morning and I found everything he said made sense and appears to be refreshingly direct and transparent.
The only thing I don’t think has made much sense so far, as it appears completely out of kilter with the owners/investors philosophy, was to completely trust Cook last year by allowing him to demolish a team that that he made worse after he joined and to then replace players in such a haphazard and presumably expensive way which resulted in a wasted season on the pitch.
All signs are good going forward though, just hope McKenna has what it takes to motivate a team when things get tough. |
They could have got rid of Cook immediately, but I think they timed it well all things considered and ignoring hindsight.
The club was rudderless and it probably wouldn't have made much difference anyway.
I get a very strong impression they 100% know what needs to be done and are going about it as well as any owners could. Football is a funny business though and so so nuanced. There is no perfect formula, but the foundations are there now and the yanks will absolutely not tolerate town finishing outside top six this season. Yeh I know, no sh1t Sherlock :) | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 11:06 - Jun 29 with 1074 views | Dyland |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:53 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
Only way it can be seen as progressing upwards is promotion. Finishing 5th but losing a play off gives the same result as finishing 11th. Another season of league 1 the season after, therefore a failure. There are no excuses this season. Core of squad already there. Full pre season, finances to add quality to the squad. If we don't go up someone has to be accountable. |
I think you'll be held accountable for it all, and fired from the board. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 11:09 - Jun 29 with 1064 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:01 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
We are not Watford. |
How do you know we aren't?
The first full season under new owners we got rid of the manager after 20 games of that season. Regardless of your belief in how right that was. That's just what happened.
We've all seen and read the benefits of what is being done at the club but as per the OP, all Mark wants is for us to win games of football..
If KM has us bottom half at Xmas, do you see the owners sitting by? Again regardless of personal views on that sort of situation, but seeing it from the owners who clearly have a level of expectation Mark has made clear.
I will add tho as the point was about non promotion not about having a bad start.. from the start, every speaker on behalf of the club all said 2 seasons was their max expectation before we got promoted. From the owners. To the 3 lions, to O'leary. [Post edited 29 Jun 2022 11:13]
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| Ashton and the Owners on 11:19 - Jun 29 with 1057 views | Dyland |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:09 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
How do you know we aren't?
The first full season under new owners we got rid of the manager after 20 games of that season. Regardless of your belief in how right that was. That's just what happened.
We've all seen and read the benefits of what is being done at the club but as per the OP, all Mark wants is for us to win games of football..
If KM has us bottom half at Xmas, do you see the owners sitting by? Again regardless of personal views on that sort of situation, but seeing it from the owners who clearly have a level of expectation Mark has made clear.
I will add tho as the point was about non promotion not about having a bad start.. from the start, every speaker on behalf of the club all said 2 seasons was their max expectation before we got promoted. From the owners. To the 3 lions, to O'leary. [Post edited 29 Jun 2022 11:13]
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"The first full season under new owners we got rid of the manager after 20 games of that season. Regardless of your belief in how right that was. That's just what happened."
Why are you ignoring the season before? That's when Cook fooked it up, and the new owners clocked that but still gave him a long rope. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 11:25 - Jun 29 with 1036 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:19 - Jun 29 by Dyland |
"The first full season under new owners we got rid of the manager after 20 games of that season. Regardless of your belief in how right that was. That's just what happened."
Why are you ignoring the season before? That's when Cook fooked it up, and the new owners clocked that but still gave him a long rope. |
Because as mentioned I was talking about their first full season as an ownership group. It didn't take long before action was taken. With hindsight it's a shame it took so long but that's a different discussion.
I only mentioned it all together as the other poster said we aren't Watford. So even if you indeed include PCs time the season before, we've changed manager within the same calender year... that's a Watford type decision regardless of anyone's personal thoughts on them doing so. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 11:47 - Jun 29 with 995 views | xrayspecs |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:09 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
How do you know we aren't?
The first full season under new owners we got rid of the manager after 20 games of that season. Regardless of your belief in how right that was. That's just what happened.
We've all seen and read the benefits of what is being done at the club but as per the OP, all Mark wants is for us to win games of football..
If KM has us bottom half at Xmas, do you see the owners sitting by? Again regardless of personal views on that sort of situation, but seeing it from the owners who clearly have a level of expectation Mark has made clear.
I will add tho as the point was about non promotion not about having a bad start.. from the start, every speaker on behalf of the club all said 2 seasons was their max expectation before we got promoted. From the owners. To the 3 lions, to O'leary. [Post edited 29 Jun 2022 11:13]
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Cook was also fired because he did not fit the new operating model. Cook is an old-fashioned manager who did not embrace the high performance set up that MA introduced.
Cook may have got longer if the results were better, but at some point I believe he would have been discarded for a manager who is a better fit.
If KM gets us to the play-offs this season, he will have achieved something we have not done in last three years and will be given time and resource to go one better next season. | | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:51 - Jun 29 with 990 views | SE1blue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 09:00 - Jun 29 by textbackup |
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 |
And reading his comments, it’s no surprise that the likes of Norwood are going to be moved on.
Absolute focus on success, without any side circus on view to stakeholders is very much key here. They will be the ones determining levels of investment and if someone’s not proving to be in line with that, I’m sure they’ll be gone. |  |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 12:14 - Jun 29 with 952 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:47 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
Cook was also fired because he did not fit the new operating model. Cook is an old-fashioned manager who did not embrace the high performance set up that MA introduced.
Cook may have got longer if the results were better, but at some point I believe he would have been discarded for a manager who is a better fit.
If KM gets us to the play-offs this season, he will have achieved something we have not done in last three years and will be given time and resource to go one better next season. |
Have to disagree. If he gets us into the playoffs but lose them he's achieved nothing different to the others, it's one of those that will split opinion 100% but non promotion Is imo a massive failure considering what KM has to work with. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 12:26 - Jun 29 with 952 views | Radlett_blue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 11:47 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
Cook was also fired because he did not fit the new operating model. Cook is an old-fashioned manager who did not embrace the high performance set up that MA introduced.
Cook may have got longer if the results were better, but at some point I believe he would have been discarded for a manager who is a better fit.
If KM gets us to the play-offs this season, he will have achieved something we have not done in last three years and will be given time and resource to go one better next season. |
This shows the lunacy of Evans choosing Town's new manager just before he sold the club. |  |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 12:42 - Jun 29 with 914 views | xrayspecs |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:14 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
Have to disagree. If he gets us into the playoffs but lose them he's achieved nothing different to the others, it's one of those that will split opinion 100% but non promotion Is imo a massive failure considering what KM has to work with. |
We have a squad that is capable of top 6, but not guaranteed a top 2 finish. I would expect SW to be the best team in the league this season and we are one of a number of clubs vying for second place. | | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:44 - Jun 29 with 911 views | xrayspecs |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:26 - Jun 29 by Radlett_blue |
This shows the lunacy of Evans choosing Town's new manager just before he sold the club. |
I understand that while ME was in discussions with GC for some time, he only decided to sell Town after Cook was appointed. Up until the final day or so, he was still minded to keep the club. | | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:46 - Jun 29 with 911 views | Illinoisblue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 10:32 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
This is why I said Ashton and KM have 12 months to save their jobs. This pension pot won't sit around whilst we sit in league 1. This is a serious season. Anything less than promotion is a severe failure and we could either see a change in CEO and management team. Or we say goodbye to the pension pot owners and worry who we have after that. |
That’s a tad hysterical to be honest. But clearly there’s an expectation that the club moves forward, moves up. As there should be. It’s utterly shameful we’re in the third tier and haven’t ever come close to making the playoffs. Time to deliver. |  |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 12:47 - Jun 29 with 892 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:42 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
We have a squad that is capable of top 6, but not guaranteed a top 2 finish. I would expect SW to be the best team in the league this season and we are one of a number of clubs vying for second place. |
There are 3 promotion places. With what KM has. There is no reason why we shouldn't finish as one of those 3, hopefully we don't need the extra games to finish in that third slot and can challenge with SW for those top 2 places instead.
IF SW are seen as the best team due to their signings. Is that an admission that you feel we haven't recruited well?, if so then someone will have to be accountable for that if it doesn't result in success. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 12:52 - Jun 29 with 875 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:46 - Jun 29 by Illinoisblue |
That’s a tad hysterical to be honest. But clearly there’s an expectation that the club moves forward, moves up. As there should be. It’s utterly shameful we’re in the third tier and haven’t ever come close to making the playoffs. Time to deliver. |
I don't feel it is, Mark has made it quite clear they spend their money on other things. If regardless of all the spending we do, we continue to sit in league 1.. Mark imo will begin to use that money elsewhere.
I think this is the potential risk with our set up in that our owners aren't the 3 lions. It's literally a bloke in charge of a pension pot who clearly what's ROI and demands to see it. Its a positive in its ambitions.. and one that could really take this club to many levels... but league 1 ipswich isn't what they want to be funding going into year 3 of their ownership. | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 12:56 - Jun 29 with 860 views | xrayspecs |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:47 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
There are 3 promotion places. With what KM has. There is no reason why we shouldn't finish as one of those 3, hopefully we don't need the extra games to finish in that third slot and can challenge with SW for those top 2 places instead.
IF SW are seen as the best team due to their signings. Is that an admission that you feel we haven't recruited well?, if so then someone will have to be accountable for that if it doesn't result in success. |
We clearly disagree, so no point pursuing this further. If KM can show year on year progress, he will be given time. You do not fire one of the top rated young coaches in British football (and his support team) lightly. Progress for me would be competitive at the top end of the division and a play off place or better.
Your second paragraph is a non sequitur. I simply believe that SW have a better squad than us, and more likely have deeper pockets. I have been impressed by what I have seen of our new signings, JJ has potential, so will wait and see how he turns out, the other three are proven and appear to be good additions.
Why are you so keen to point the finger of blame at club officials? | | | |
| Ashton and the Owners on 13:04 - Jun 29 with 832 views | FrimleyBlue |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:56 - Jun 29 by xrayspecs |
We clearly disagree, so no point pursuing this further. If KM can show year on year progress, he will be given time. You do not fire one of the top rated young coaches in British football (and his support team) lightly. Progress for me would be competitive at the top end of the division and a play off place or better.
Your second paragraph is a non sequitur. I simply believe that SW have a better squad than us, and more likely have deeper pockets. I have been impressed by what I have seen of our new signings, JJ has potential, so will wait and see how he turns out, the other three are proven and appear to be good additions.
Why are you so keen to point the finger of blame at club officials? |
There's no blame in any of my replies. I'm very happy with the recruitment this summer, I was just surprised you felt so strongly that SW now look like favourites, when in theory they've signed similar players to us.
However I'm not involved at the club and if we fail to get promoted the owners will want to know why and someone, whether that's Ashton or KM that would be upto them to decide. But this is all about IF.. I still think we will go up. But the OP and the comments by Mark just made me feel my original comments about 12 months is right.
We all want success. That's a given. I just think the days of patience are long gone. And Mark has pretty much shown that imo.
But you are right it's something we will disagree on which is fine. But hopefully it's not even something relevant as that means we've smashed it and go up :) | |
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| Ashton and the Owners on 13:08 - Jun 29 with 839 views | Vic |
| Ashton and the Owners on 09:44 - Jun 29 by Dubtractor |
The beard is fine (obviously), it's the little waxed moustache that's the real crime. |
KM seems to agree with you!
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| Ashton and the Owners on 13:11 - Jun 29 with 828 views | Bobbychase |
| Ashton and the Owners on 12:52 - Jun 29 by FrimleyBlue |
I don't feel it is, Mark has made it quite clear they spend their money on other things. If regardless of all the spending we do, we continue to sit in league 1.. Mark imo will begin to use that money elsewhere.
I think this is the potential risk with our set up in that our owners aren't the 3 lions. It's literally a bloke in charge of a pension pot who clearly what's ROI and demands to see it. Its a positive in its ambitions.. and one that could really take this club to many levels... but league 1 ipswich isn't what they want to be funding going into year 3 of their ownership. |
They will be here five years' minimum whatever happens. Pension pots look at slow growth over time as well as quick returns. They only make a serious return if we are in the Prem, and they are not going to do things like buy the buildings and land behind the SBR and shell out for stadium improvements just to let some other ownership group reap the rewards in a couple of years. No way. |  |
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