| Mark Ashton Masterclass 21:39 - Aug 10 with 3062 views | Chris_ITFC |
Less than 1 week ago:
If a man’s “set to sign”, not even Football Manager lets you do this madness. |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 22:32 - Aug 10 with 2440 views | WestSussexBlue |
MA has never failed to deliver has he?
Incredible work load to give KMc the oxygen that he needs to deliver the results. |  | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 05:49 - Aug 11 with 1879 views | Chris_ITFC |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 22:32 - Aug 10 by WestSussexBlue |
MA has never failed to deliver has he?
Incredible work load to give KMc the oxygen that he needs to deliver the results. |
Give the guy a paper round. Mark Ashton DELIVERS.  | |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 06:19 - Aug 11 with 1762 views | textbackup |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 22:32 - Aug 10 by WestSussexBlue |
MA has never failed to deliver has he?
Incredible work load to give KMc the oxygen that he needs to deliver the results. |
You mean apart from the couple of times we’ve needed a striker and we’ve not got one?
And, we still need a striker.
And a CM.
Great bit of work to get Akpom tho, chuffed with that |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 06:58 - Aug 11 with 1607 views | chicoazul |
There are a few things not to like about the current regime but the bootlicking of the CEO might be the worst. He failed to give McK a CF in the summer window 3 years on the trot so far. |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 07:11 - Aug 11 with 1498 views | Swansea_Blue |
Didn’t we know Akpom wanted to come here at that point? Phil reported on it. Not that I don’t believe Bennie Jacob Somebody on Twitter isn’t completely itk of course (much!). |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 07:35 - Aug 11 with 1334 views | londonben |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 06:58 - Aug 11 by chicoazul |
There are a few things not to like about the current regime but the bootlicking of the CEO might be the worst. He failed to give McK a CF in the summer window 3 years on the trot so far. |
Apart from Hirst two summers ago and Delap last summer? | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 07:54 - Aug 11 with 1210 views | chantryblueboy |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 07:35 - Aug 11 by londonben |
Apart from Hirst two summers ago and Delap last summer? |
We were a striker short in both of those seasons, and were absolutely hopeless in the Championship from the point Hirst got injured until Big Kieff turned up | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:25 - Aug 11 with 1054 views | BondiBlue |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 07:54 - Aug 11 by chantryblueboy |
We were a striker short in both of those seasons, and were absolutely hopeless in the Championship from the point Hirst got injured until Big Kieff turned up |
So boo ashton for not signing a striker but then big kieff just 'turns up'? | |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:36 - Aug 11 with 995 views | Marshalls_Mullet |
Morning Mark. |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:39 - Aug 11 with 951 views | textbackup |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:25 - Aug 11 by BondiBlue |
So boo ashton for not signing a striker but then big kieff just 'turns up'? |
What don’t some fans understand about us leaving things to chance?
We acted and got in Moore because we HAD to, if A N Other is already in the building that worry/stress isn’t there.
Very short sighted sometimes | |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:44 - Aug 11 with 911 views | Jon_456 |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 06:19 - Aug 11 by textbackup |
You mean apart from the couple of times we’ve needed a striker and we’ve not got one?
And, we still need a striker.
And a CM.
Great bit of work to get Akpom tho, chuffed with that |
Don’t need to praise him but equally think it would be harsh to blame him for not getting players in.
Summer 22 - Ladapo & Ahadme
Jan 23 - Hirst
Summer 23 - None
Jan 24 - Moore & AAH
Summer 24 - Delap
Jan 25 - None
Summer 25 - Akpom
2/7 windows where we haven’t brought a striker in. Is that the fault of Ashton or our recruitment team aiming too high? Based on most of our transfers I’d argue the latter. Supposedly Summer 23 we were after Adam Armstrong when realistically that was never going to happen.
Similar to Hackney if we don’t get more CMs in. Is that Ashtons fault or McKenna & the recruitment team for targeting players who clearly have reservations about joining? | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:57 - Aug 11 with 788 views | londonben |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:44 - Aug 11 by Jon_456 |
Don’t need to praise him but equally think it would be harsh to blame him for not getting players in.
Summer 22 - Ladapo & Ahadme
Jan 23 - Hirst
Summer 23 - None
Jan 24 - Moore & AAH
Summer 24 - Delap
Jan 25 - None
Summer 25 - Akpom
2/7 windows where we haven’t brought a striker in. Is that the fault of Ashton or our recruitment team aiming too high? Based on most of our transfers I’d argue the latter. Supposedly Summer 23 we were after Adam Armstrong when realistically that was never going to happen.
Similar to Hackney if we don’t get more CMs in. Is that Ashtons fault or McKenna & the recruitment team for targeting players who clearly have reservations about joining? |
Would you rather aim lower and end up with players who aren’t good enough to help us kick on? I remember a lot of whinging on here when we didn’t get Simms in 23, and he’s scored 6 in 43 for Cov…not exactly impressive.
There’s also the problem that there clearly just aren’t many good centre forwards out there. I’d say at least half the Prem teams are after a forward or two and I think literally every championship team would like to sign at least one.
Our recruitment has been very good over the past few seasons. Yes we haven’t signed a 20+ a season centre forward but to be fair no one else has either. Three weeks left of the window, got to trust the process and judge when it closes. | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:59 - Aug 11 with 771 views | Kieran_Knows |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 06:58 - Aug 11 by chicoazul |
There are a few things not to like about the current regime but the bootlicking of the CEO might be the worst. He failed to give McK a CF in the summer window 3 years on the trot so far. |
Don't you know, that if MA says 'jump', you're meant to say 'how high sir?'. |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:01 - Aug 11 with 752 views | Steve_M |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:44 - Aug 11 by Jon_456 |
Don’t need to praise him but equally think it would be harsh to blame him for not getting players in.
Summer 22 - Ladapo & Ahadme
Jan 23 - Hirst
Summer 23 - None
Jan 24 - Moore & AAH
Summer 24 - Delap
Jan 25 - None
Summer 25 - Akpom
2/7 windows where we haven’t brought a striker in. Is that the fault of Ashton or our recruitment team aiming too high? Based on most of our transfers I’d argue the latter. Supposedly Summer 23 we were after Adam Armstrong when realistically that was never going to happen.
Similar to Hackney if we don’t get more CMs in. Is that Ashtons fault or McKenna & the recruitment team for targeting players who clearly have reservations about joining? |
The point is very much that we wanted another another striker in all three Summer transfer windows and failed to get one. That left us short at critical times.
If we don’t get another central midfielder it’s a massive failure from Ashton and will probably cost any chance of promotion. |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:14 - Aug 11 with 659 views | Jon_456 |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:57 - Aug 11 by londonben |
Would you rather aim lower and end up with players who aren’t good enough to help us kick on? I remember a lot of whinging on here when we didn’t get Simms in 23, and he’s scored 6 in 43 for Cov…not exactly impressive.
There’s also the problem that there clearly just aren’t many good centre forwards out there. I’d say at least half the Prem teams are after a forward or two and I think literally every championship team would like to sign at least one.
Our recruitment has been very good over the past few seasons. Yes we haven’t signed a 20+ a season centre forward but to be fair no one else has either. Three weeks left of the window, got to trust the process and judge when it closes. |
I agree our recruitment has been very good and would much rather we aim higher.
My point was that it’s harsh to blame Ashton if they don’t all come off. | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:17 - Aug 11 with 609 views | Guthrum |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:39 - Aug 11 by textbackup |
What don’t some fans understand about us leaving things to chance?
We acted and got in Moore because we HAD to, if A N Other is already in the building that worry/stress isn’t there.
Very short sighted sometimes |
But then fans grumble when we sign Ahadme to just get a striker in the building, that he is not of sufficient quality.
If we want quality, we stand a high chance of not getting it (certainly not straight away), otherwise we have a string of not great, make-do striker signings going way back into the Evans era. |  |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:18 - Aug 11 with 585 views | textbackup |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:01 - Aug 11 by Steve_M |
The point is very much that we wanted another another striker in all three Summer transfer windows and failed to get one. That left us short at critical times.
If we don’t get another central midfielder it’s a massive failure from Ashton and will probably cost any chance of promotion. |
And this is it for me, so many chuck out the line ‘would you rather we aimed low and got these players in easily?!’
If aiming too high is Hackney, for example, there are still a few levels between Hackney and Taylor, for example… if we could bring in a level above Taylor that’s still improving the CM position | |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:18 - Aug 11 with 587 views | Jon_456 |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:01 - Aug 11 by Steve_M |
The point is very much that we wanted another another striker in all three Summer transfer windows and failed to get one. That left us short at critical times.
If we don’t get another central midfielder it’s a massive failure from Ashton and will probably cost any chance of promotion. |
We were unfortunate last summer that Broja turned out to be unfit/injured. Medical clearly showed up something we weren’t expecting.
Again though, is it completely Ashtons fault if we don’t sign another CM if the recruitment team give him a list of targets that aren’t achievable?
FWIW I think we’ll still sign Hackney and another CM before the end of August. | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:19 - Aug 11 with 569 views | chantryblueboy |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:25 - Aug 11 by BondiBlue |
So boo ashton for not signing a striker but then big kieff just 'turns up'? |
We had been without a striker for a month prior to that and our form had fallen off a cliff. If we already had a decent back up striker signed in the summer it probably wouldn’t have done | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:21 - Aug 11 with 538 views | HighgateBlue |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:39 - Aug 11 by textbackup |
What don’t some fans understand about us leaving things to chance?
We acted and got in Moore because we HAD to, if A N Other is already in the building that worry/stress isn’t there.
Very short sighted sometimes |
At the earlier point in time, when you say we failed to get an additional striker in, if we had done so, it's entirely possible that we would have had to settle for someone of lesser quality than Moore. Bringing someone in for the sake of it, because fans love transfer news, is not a sane basis for managing a football club.
If there is a specific person we miss out on, and the fact we've missed out on them is Ashton's fault specifically, and we then suffer some consequence as a result, fill your boots. But we won a second promotion on the trot. We had brought in Hirst, who has been a big success, we needed to fill a gap, we brought in Moore, he was a success too, and we won promotion. Out of all the seasons to complain about, this is a ludicrous pick.
I am very uneasy about Ashton being Chairman as well as CEO, I cringe at the management speak, but one has to judge the guy on outcomes. Relegation was tamer than hoped. But the guy has done everything reasonably asked of him in view. If we go back up this year, it's extremely difficult to criticise the guy. If we don't, then we can pick over the bodies. Awful start against Birmingham in terms of performance, but we've got two new signings available since then (Cajuste couldn't have played, as KMac said).
We have another 4 weeks to complete the squad. Let's see what happens in those 4 weeks. Until that point, if we pick up points we don't deserve, great. We need a striker badly, and a failure to bring one in will be a real shame, unless Akpom is being viewed as a 9, which seems unlikely. |  | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:45 - Aug 11 with 410 views | BondiBlue |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:39 - Aug 11 by textbackup |
What don’t some fans understand about us leaving things to chance?
We acted and got in Moore because we HAD to, if A N Other is already in the building that worry/stress isn’t there.
Very short sighted sometimes |
Some fans get that it's a bit more complicated. Quite long-sighted actually. | |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:50 - Aug 11 with 353 views | textbackup |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:45 - Aug 11 by BondiBlue |
Some fans get that it's a bit more complicated. Quite long-sighted actually. |
All these complications people talk of, I’m surprised any team manages to make any signing | |
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| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:51 - Aug 11 with 350 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:18 - Aug 11 by textbackup |
And this is it for me, so many chuck out the line ‘would you rather we aimed low and got these players in easily?!’
If aiming too high is Hackney, for example, there are still a few levels between Hackney and Taylor, for example… if we could bring in a level above Taylor that’s still improving the CM position |
You are right but I guess the challenge is knowing the right time to move on. Ultimately we want to end the window with the best possible squad we can. I'd imagine if you could guarantee Hackney would move here on deadline day we would all take that rather than signing someone who isn't as good tomorrow. | | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:53 - Aug 11 with 323 views | DarkBrandon |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 08:44 - Aug 11 by Jon_456 |
Don’t need to praise him but equally think it would be harsh to blame him for not getting players in.
Summer 22 - Ladapo & Ahadme
Jan 23 - Hirst
Summer 23 - None
Jan 24 - Moore & AAH
Summer 24 - Delap
Jan 25 - None
Summer 25 - Akpom
2/7 windows where we haven’t brought a striker in. Is that the fault of Ashton or our recruitment team aiming too high? Based on most of our transfers I’d argue the latter. Supposedly Summer 23 we were after Adam Armstrong when realistically that was never going to happen.
Similar to Hackney if we don’t get more CMs in. Is that Ashtons fault or McKenna & the recruitment team for targeting players who clearly have reservations about joining? |
We signed Hirst permanently in Summer 23 as well as on loan in Jan 23 |  | | |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:56 - Aug 11 with 296 views | SuffolkPunchFC |
| Mark Ashton Masterclass on 09:18 - Aug 11 by textbackup |
And this is it for me, so many chuck out the line ‘would you rather we aimed low and got these players in easily?!’
If aiming too high is Hackney, for example, there are still a few levels between Hackney and Taylor, for example… if we could bring in a level above Taylor that’s still improving the CM position |
This is a fair point.
The question is (using Hackney as an example), when do you give up on your prime target. If they sign for someone else, it's easy - move on to your next target. However, it's less clear-cut in many circumstances - Hackney being the perfect example. Do you completely give up on him now, and sign someone else? | | | |
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