Forum | Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing by skankerman

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Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing 09:43 - Aug 6 with 3061 views

I guess we don’t understand many of the challenges behind the scenes in trying to get a transfer of a decent player over the line.
In my job I recruit a fair bit and it is challenging to say the least if you want to get a decent candidate, until they have worked their notice period and actually start in the business many things can happen and the applicants changes their mind.

I am sure Mark Ashton finds it even more challenging with complex contracts and agents involved.

One thing is for sure MA / KM want the best for the club, if it was just to fill a position with a weak player they could sign me!!!

Patience is key and I can remember some of the dross we signed in the ME days.

Keep the faith and let’s have a great season

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 14:17 - Aug 6 with 534 views

darkhorse28

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 11:06 - Aug 6 by Nutkins_Return

It really was! Absolutely no evidence backing any of it up and a lot of it you could point to evidence to the contrary. Ashton has absolutely hired very qualified people consistently from higher levels to take on roles to move the club forward and take him out of operations himself.

The fact that he stepped up when first onboard to plug gaps himself does not make him a control freak or anything. That's leading from the front and he has increasingly taken more of a back seat albeit remained the main voice for the organisation.

It's almost hilarious that we have a few complicated transfers which leads to that whole mess of an analysis.

The evidence.

Our owners have put 52% of the club up for sale.
We just had the worst season in our entire history (relative to the league we are in) we’ve never scored so few points, ever.
Our manager is in champions league wages.

We literally just sold our best 5 players, and all the young talent Mark said we’d build a future around…, all of them. And we still have significant amortisation that will linger for maybe 3 more years.

That’s all measurable, facts, nobodies conjecture.

How much evidence would it take relative to your emotional investment in people who aren’t good enough?

Does Mark have to be worse than Clegg to qualify as not elite?

Because I’m not sure that’s a good benchmark.

How does he compare to Brentford? Brighton? Bournemouth? Wolves? .., these aren’t big legacy clubs.

Even Delap want a top target.., although I would agree some of the league one recruitment was very good.., it’s just that Cook brought in Walton, Chaplin and Morsy - all brilliant.

Broadhead. Hutchinson very good - all our recruitment last summer was very poor with none of them measuring up that will be retained.

We know Jack Clarke could be brilliant this season.., but won’t ever play in the prem consistantly and you can’t develop EPL talent in the EFL anymore, that’s the reality.

Agree with Chris Wilder ‘the premier league level is twice as good as 5 years ago.., the championship is actually lower quality over the same period’

It’s not possible for OShea and Clarke and Greaves to improve massively playing at this level.., that’s the new reality.

It’s why even Sommerville hasn’t stepped up, and nobody has in years now.

Sorry but 35 years for Mark is long enough.

If the owners didn’t want continuity for a dale, he’d already be gone.

Good at this level, but if we want to grow, not good enough.

-2

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 14:31 - Aug 6 with 505 views

darkhorse28

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 11:09 - Aug 6 by dirtyboy

Total utter guff.

I get what you're saying about him getting people in to do what he's not good at, but there's an awful lot of change that has needed 'managing' and he's done exceptionally well in a short space of time.

For clarity, I cannot stand the spiel he comes out with at times, but I get the circles he operates in that tend to like it.

In his tenure t/o has gone from what? £17 to £22m in L1, then to £37m in the Championship, god knows what for the PL year.

* We've had concerts and boxing
* New pitch
* Training ground pitches and adjustments
* Planning for a new Training complex
* Cat 1 achieved
* Mental amount of works carried out at stadium prior to PL season starting,
* Football staff from 102 to 160
* Other staff from 65 to 135
( I think we can safely say people are being in to do jobs - will take time to improve those - knowing their capabilities, just like the players)
* 2 promotions

You might look for fault, but I look for achievement.

The positives of what's been achieved at this club, and things still look positive, are far in excess of the perceived failings of transfer windows.

Rome wasn't built in a day and transfers of players are probably the most complex of all deals any club makes.

Delap was a decent profit in a year.

We might make £20m on Omari and not be significantly weaker across the front 3 that started the last Championship season.

If we sell Broadhead for the reported £7m, then that again is pretty impressive should it happen.

I think he's clearly demonstrated that he can make strides, he'll also be learning every day, like all of us. His year in the PL will also have helped, like the players too.

I don’t disagree with almost all of that…, I just don’t see anything you listed as a metric for an elite club.

Brighton, Bournemouth, etc etc they only measure one thing…, results in the pitch.

As for revenue, then last season was so poor, we have lost £150 million PA and have maybe £15 million PA of liabilities a year still to service.

Football is weird. If we go up, £150 million covers a lot of sins, and ok, the results say everything, can’t argue.

If we don’t. We are worse off than when we were promoted at the end of parachute money.., down to £5 million in TV money, and still servicing legacy debt from last summers spending.

That’s a disaster, and that’s why we are being sold, that really will be worse than the Evans years financially.

This is not a league for legacy debt, even from a compliance view, when wages are over 100% revenue.

Delap, agree, but he wasn’t a top target for us, we spent all summer offering more money for the Greek forward, so he wasn’t high on our list, and that’s why we sold him so far below market value.., that’s a lack of ID talent and a big consequence.

Agree on Hutchinson, great business, but these players we were supposed to build a future around.

They were going to make the club £150-200 million PA!!!

Like it does for Brentford, Forest etc

Look at Forest.

Two seconds ago Mick let them win to stay in the championship.

They just nearly made champions league and they’re in Europe, and we spent the slightly more than them too.

I know it’s fine margins, but that’s why small % in ability REALLY matters.

Forest brought in Edu in the same time you’re suggesting, more staff to answer the phones, a lock of paint to the ground, and extra camera positions, qualify as progress and elite.

Forest did all that too.

AND brought in world class recruitment teams and seam the fecking channel.

Honestly.., you’re entire list, that’s the basic day job, it’s such a low bar, and such a defeatist mentality.

That’s the bread and butter, the things other clubs do that mark cant.

That’s what makes clubs succesful and elite.

That’s why they are in Europe and we play Wrexham, that’s the truth.

Brentford, Brighton, Wolves, Forest, Palace, it’s not on the pitch where there’s the biggest gap, it’s off the pitch.

The Greek owner.., I can spend 10 years organically growing, or I can buy some of the best in the world to do those roles.

And they didn’t spend a penny more than we spent to buy EFL potential, that if it doesn’t work out, we have to sell immediately.

Sorry.

That’s not elite .., if he’s doing any of the jobs you listed, that’s 100% why we did so badly.

None of them should be anywhere near his remit!!

We aren’t measured in how well the boxing and concerts went, however much we made, it’s not worth up to £200 million a year like elite football is.

Our mindset is SO wrong.

SO small…, such a low bar, so accepting of failure for ‘little Ipswich’

It breaks my heart the complete lack of ambition.

In that context, you and a rump on here 200% have the right man.

-3

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 15:11 - Aug 6 with 467 views

SuffolkPunchFC

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 14:31 - Aug 6 by darkhorse28

This is nothing but trolling at a level designed to incite a reaction.

-1

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 15:34 - Aug 6 with 439 views

Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior

We need to expand the recruitment team I think, like yesterday.

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 15:42 - Aug 6 with 417 views

Stadiumofdark

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 15:34 - Aug 6 by Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior
We need to expand the recruitment team I think, like yesterday.

I think we are struggling to recruit, for the recruitment team, so we're struggling to recruit...

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 16:43 - Aug 6 with 361 views

dirtyboy

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 15:11 - Aug 6 by SuffolkPunchFC
This is nothing but trolling at a level designed to incite a reaction.

I disagree actually, ordinarily I would avoid responding, but it's an emotive response which doesn't actually cite any figures, so it's easier to pick apart.

You mention Elite clubs a few times, then go on to suggest Brighton and Brentford only car about results. That's wrong for a start. The results are a by-product of all the things they've done that allowed the results to come. Ipswich won't be in a position like Brighton until and Brentford until they've developed the world class scouting and data analytics that prop those clubs up and are prime examples of clubs that have innovated to get an advantage, rather than rely on being say a top 6 club to attract talent.

Like building a PL team, that's not a 2 season job.

We've not lost £150m and you know that. The expenditure has been on assets. Don't get caught up in numbers looking terrifying when there's carefully thought out processes in place. We do not spend 'willy nilly' we can't afford to.

I can't begin to think how you do as there's literally nothing you can back up your statements with. We don't know who Brighton or Ipswich hired for their recruitment teams, how much they paid to compare etc. Given the relative success of Broadhead, Omari, Delap, Leif all being worth significantly more than paid for, i'd say the recruitment spend versus worth has shown that whatever we're doing has provided a positive return.

According to you, we're not Elite, which i'd agree with, but we're certainly not a failure like you say....how about growth? How about some middle ground accepting we've progressed?

The road to success is rarely linear and you seem to think every purchase should be perfect, that we should have overspent like Forest and took a risk on the future of the club. Again...easy to say with someone else's money, the Forest owner could do that, we can't do it with a f****g pension fund belonging to firefighters.

There's a lot between black and white my friend.

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 17:00 - Aug 6 with 327 views

SuffolkPunchFC

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 16:43 - Aug 6 by dirtyboy

is this a response to me, as you quoted my comment and your use of pronoun appears to address the reply to me?

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 17:15 - Aug 6 with 280 views

dirtyboy

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 17:00 - Aug 6 by SuffolkPunchFC
is this a response to me, as you quoted my comment and your use of pronoun appears to address the reply to me?

Kind of, more me responding again to the OP, but saying to you that I think they're worth a response.

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 17:42 - Aug 6 with 233 views

SuffolkPunchFC

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 17:15 - Aug 6 by dirtyboy
Kind of, more me responding again to the OP, but saying to you that I think they're worth a response.

OK - understood, thank you. Have you followed any of their other posts though. Some of this is repeating inaccuracies that they have already stated many times, despite being corrected and given independent references to verify that what they claim is substantially wrong.

I still say it's a(nother) troll post, but we can agree to disagree

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 19:38 - Aug 8 with 109 views

darkhorse28

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 16:43 - Aug 6 by dirtyboy

Agree totally, it’s complex, I’ve genuinely never said we are a failure, just that we are not elite, and have a huge amount to do to get there, and it likely doesn’t include Mark, or certainly not him doing everything.

I actually feel sorry for him, in terms of the ownership statement, which pulled the rug from under him.

I look at this thread, and I could say lots that’s positive to be popular, but I’d rather be honest with supporters. And I think the club treat people like village idiots at times, and I really don’t like that.

Other than Leif, all the players you named as good talent ID, none of them will be here at the windows close. Even Leif might not be.

I don’t think many people seem to want to understand the business dynamic and the implications.

We are for sale, and we’re moving player assets on the balance sheet, which are a quickly depreciated assets(worth literally zero at the end of a contract) to cash, that’s to say during a sale, a club is worth far more if player assets are sold.

Hutchinson for example will be on the balance sheet at probably around £15 million at the moment, and it’s less each day, so booking £40 million is 100% happening.

The £100 million figure is about right, and our business will be loans, and maybe £15-20 million to spend if the right players are available.

But there will be a net £80 million in sales, partly for football reasons, partly for compliance, but mostly because we are for sale. We will put depreciating assets, in to cash, at a higher book value, where we can…, that’s the business side.

That may have consequences on the pitch. We have a great squad still, and a talented coach, but if we sell too much inventory, just so we can move assets to cash and stop them depreciating, for a sales valuation, that could stop us getting the £150 million PA prize of promotion.

Our owners won’t be too concerned if they’ve left, with a better exit vakuation.

We should be able to talk about these things devoid of the emotion, and I know Mark has to put fires out, because it doesn’t help us do business when Brett’s statement which I suspect was intended to be private - leaked out.

But our fans who can’t see past his words to the actual evidence, it’s poor to abuse that trust, they’re ignorant truthfully, but they deserve more honesty. Even if they do call me a Norwich fan, a troll, and every other name under the sun, simply because they don’t understand what’s happening in front of them.

At the end of the window you’ll see.., a net 80 million, possibly more, all for a stronger valuation and easier exit for gamechanger.

I’m actually positive for the future. As you say we can’t do this with pension funds alone.

I see new ownership as a very good thing, gamechanger don’t have the right networks and connections to recruit the elite people we need to support what we’ve already achieved.

The next step for us.., it’s about ten time harder than back to back promotions in the EFL, it’s serious levels, and Forest have shown what’s required.

You go and buy the best in class, that’s what’s required at the next level.

But Mark has done very well in the EFL, that can be true alongside never being premier league level, they aren’t mutually exclusive.

This is conjecture, but I suspect he’s retained to help the sale. He’s had success at this level, and it’s continuity.

A big part of gamechanger and the owners wanting out, is because they were made promises last season that financially had huge consequences when we went down.

A champions league contract for KM, and £150 million spent.., there are consequences, you don’t spend that on the promise of potential £5 million instead of £150 million TV revenue…, that gap is massive. And that’s PA if we don’t go back up soon.

So Mark made his own bed with the club sale, and Gamechanger wanting to put players to cash, on on the balance sheet.

It’s 101 of a business for a sale.

So we should discuss it, because it’s a lot more important than the day to day stuff some people think signals Marks success.

Watch where we are at the end of the window. When Delap was sold in last years accounts, it was clear where we want to be financially.

Anyway, we still have a great squad, a talented coach, and we can have a fantastic season in spite of the challenges - so let’s show Brum what ‘levels’ in football actually means.., Sammie and Jack to run them ragged.

This league isn’t all that, we can have an unbelievable season.

Mark Ashton appreciate the job he is doing on 20:18 - Aug 8 with 43 views

tetchris

Interesting piece in Bristol post about Ashton when he left to join Ipswich!

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/football/bristol-city-fans-mark-ashton-54765

“Ultimately a combination of failures on player recruitment, the performance of the fitness and conditioning teams, poor communication and a persona that to many was simply unlikable had already led many to question his role and demand change.”

“He was involved with the club back nearly a decade ago when our Academy achieved its current status but, given most of the graft was done by the likes of Amy Kington and Sean O’Driscoll, it irked some fans when he has claimed significant credit in media interviews.”

[Post edited 8 Aug 20:19]

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