| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke 08:17 - Mar 27 with 1909 views | Zx1988 |
I can't imagine that he'd resign in a month of Sundays, especially at this stage in the season.
Doubtless his contract contains a promotion bonus and, if he were to walk away, he'd be walking away from a chance of whatever bonus would be payable to him if we go up.
If the owners are minded to sack him, I dare say that part of their due diligence will be regarding any promotion bonus as well. If he's sacked before any possible promotion is confirmed, he'd no doubt claim that he still played a pivotal part in the season's result, and should be entitled to his pay-out.
Given the chap's colossal ego, it wouldn't surprise me either if the owners would seek to insert a gagging clause into any potential dismissal package. You can just imagine the bloke trying to smear the club in the media if he ends up being relieved of his position. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:17 - Mar 27 with 391 views | Bobbychase |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:17 - Mar 27 by tractorboy1978 |
A large portion of fans won't stop spending though. And I highly doubt most sponsors will pull out. If they did, there will be others willing to step into their place. If we get promoted revenues will go through the roof again irrespective of any fan/sponsor spending. |
Will there be 29,000+ at Portman Road on Easter Monday? Almost certainly. Like you say, fans are still going to spend. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:19 - Mar 27 with 378 views | Jon_456 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:08 - Mar 27 by grow_our_own |
Other than KM, MA has underperformed overall. Cat 1 and improved training facilities were to be expected with our budget. When the stakes got higher and the landscape more competitive, his ability to build a scouting/research team and then negotiate in the transfer market was found wanting. |
He’s taken us from a £40m club to a ~£350m club in the space of 5 years.
I’m struggling to find too many areas when we’re haven’t improved. Sure, he’s had a nice budget to achieve those things but it still requires someone to drive that change. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:20 - Mar 27 with 370 views | nrb1985 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:17 - Mar 27 by tractorboy1978 |
A large portion of fans won't stop spending though. And I highly doubt most sponsors will pull out. If they did, there will be others willing to step into their place. If we get promoted revenues will go through the roof again irrespective of any fan/sponsor spending. |
I think it’s inconceivable that sponsors won’t at least be asking some very tough questions.
And even if they aren’t - there is clear collateral brand damage which calls into question terminal value of their investment. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:21 - Mar 27 with 367 views | CastroSito |
For me, Ashton has been on the positive side of 'fine' in his role.
Doesn't change the fact he needs to go. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:21 - Mar 27 with 369 views | farkenhell |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 08:53 - Mar 27 by Bobbychase |
I don't understand why people are turning this into "Ashton hired McKenna and didn't do anything else for us". It's just not true.
It is possible to say he has made a massive error of judgement on this one, but has also taken the club from a shabby, out-of-touch shadow of its former self to one of the best run outfits in the country with facilities to match. |
This 100%. I'm as dismayed as most on here about the attempt to gloss over Farage's distasteful visit and what appears to be misleading information about it (and if the reports in the Athletic are wrong, the club need to clarify what is wrong and what is right). However, some of the hyperbole that I've read questioning what Ashton has achieved since he came to the club are simply laughable.
Keep it balanced folks and stick to the knitting. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:22 - Mar 27 with 361 views | nrb1985 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:16 - Mar 27 by Bobbychase |
The various funds have, so far, done spectacularly well out of ITFC - just look at the club's valuation from the L1 days to now. That is in part due to the double promotion, the immediate jump to the Premier League probably an unexpected bonus.
They will look at Ashton and set aside the politics and ask is he still their man, can he still run the club in a way that gives them a return on their investment. That's all they will consider. They have far more extreme politicians than Farage in the USA and they may even have investments linked to them. |
Not sure you’ve grasped what I’m saying.
Nothing to do with what’s happened to date and everything to do with what happens going forward.
See point about Clearlake. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:23 - Mar 27 with 351 views | Bobbychase |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:19 - Mar 27 by Jon_456 |
He’s taken us from a £40m club to a ~£350m club in the space of 5 years.
I’m struggling to find too many areas when we’re haven’t improved. Sure, he’s had a nice budget to achieve those things but it still requires someone to drive that change. |
I remember queueing for 40 minutes to get a coffee in the fanzone before a Boxing Day match at the end of the Evans era as the catering company hadn't twigged it might be a big crowd. May seem trivial but the customer experience for fans back then was littered with examples like that, from crap service in the club shop to mould on the stadium roof, Norwich holding outreach sessions in the heart of the town which nobody seemed bothered about and many other signs of the decline. That's before you even get to how we got robbed with sales like Adam Webster and had to shop in the bargain bin for rubbish loan players.
That has all been turned around and while people may not like his cliches and Brentisms, you need a strong leader who is prepared to not tolerate mediocricity to make that happen. | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:25 - Mar 27 with 338 views | farkenhell |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:12 - Mar 27 by Bobbychase |
More replica shirts sold than some Premier League teams? Oversaw more than 100 improvements to the stadium to make it fit for the premier league? Improvements to the training ground, the expansion of the foundation's work?
The Cat 1 stuff - "to be expected". People seem to think having rich backers makes everything simple and easy. It doesn't, you still need hardnosed people at the top to get things done.
We need to separate what Ashton HAS done, and not play it down, from this incident.
What is baffling for me is that a club whose media operation has been so slick for so long could make such an error of judgement. |
Spot on again. | | | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:27 - Mar 27 with 324 views | farkenhell |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:17 - Mar 27 by pointofblue |
Thinking about it, surely there must be something in his contract about bringing the club into disrepute, which would negate most of not all of the bonuses and pay offs due? |
Neither you, me or anyone else knows what's in his contract, so it's pointless speculating. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:28 - Mar 27 with 314 views | Bobbychase |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:22 - Mar 27 by nrb1985 |
Not sure you’ve grasped what I’m saying.
Nothing to do with what’s happened to date and everything to do with what happens going forward.
See point about Clearlake. |
I have grasped exactly what you are saying. It's also my point in a way. This comes down to whether the owners feel he is still the right man to keep making them money. If they do, then he can survive. | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:28 - Mar 27 with 306 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:20 - Mar 27 by nrb1985 |
I think it’s inconceivable that sponsors won’t at least be asking some very tough questions.
And even if they aren’t - there is clear collateral brand damage which calls into question terminal value of their investment. |
If they were looking to sell tomorrow, maybe. Outside of Ipswich, this will all be chip paper in a few weeks let alone in the medium-long term though. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:30 - Mar 27 with 291 views | lowhouseblue |
the owners are american. sacking people because of an online pile on is now far less fashionable over there. |  |
| And so as the loose-bowelled pigeon of time swoops low over the unsuspecting tourist of destiny, and the flatulent skunk of fate wanders into the air-conditioning system of eternity, I notice it's the end of the show |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:30 - Mar 27 with 285 views | pointofblue |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:27 - Mar 27 by farkenhell |
Neither you, me or anyone else knows what's in his contract, so it's pointless speculating. |
If that isn't in his contract then it's another disastrous oversight from Gamechanger. It should be there as a matter of course. | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:31 - Mar 27 with 269 views | farkenhell |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:30 - Mar 27 by pointofblue |
If that isn't in his contract then it's another disastrous oversight from Gamechanger. It should be there as a matter of course. |
The point is we'll never know. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:32 - Mar 27 with 248 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:05 - Mar 27 by le2blue |
Of course, they'll have done their due diligence, but knowing some of the investors and sponsors, I can guarantee you the reason for their trusting the pitch and journey was and is him and his team. You can also listen to Ed Schwartz and his take on Ashton at the last fan forum to gain an insight into their relationship.
Doesn't mean to say things may change, but I would suspect they won't, we will have a maeculpa, and they'll move on. |
I'm in the same boat as you. I can't see anyway that he moves on. But I can see a chairman being put in place and that person taking over as the 'Face' of ITFC. At least in the medium term. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:33 - Mar 27 with 251 views | Sharkey |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 08:30 - Mar 27 by homer_123 |
I think the analogy we can use here is Gerald Ratner.
For all the good Ashton has done during his time here, and no argument can really be made against that, he's undone all the work you list with one, single, stupid decision. |
Two decisions. One, to meet. Two, not to ‘come clean’. |  | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:35 - Mar 27 with 240 views | stickymockwell |
My worry with the silence is that there could be a "Its him or me" that goes coming from KM and there's a lot going on behind the scenes.
The fact that KMs job was brought up by Farage, his willingness to ship out players who upset the dressing room and he might feel his name and reputation would now be muddied with Reform unless something is done. He could walk away from this with his rep enhanced by taking a stand rather than dumping us for another club. He then would probably have some serious options. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:35 - Mar 27 with 234 views | PrideOfTheEast |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:10 - Mar 27 by Exiled2Surrey |
Best guess is that the owners decide to bring in a new Chairman to apply some balance.
As others have pointed out, he is not everyone's cup of tea, but he appears to be a decent enough operator, and he does have some credit in the bank, but this has all the hallmarks of a someone who has too little control being applied - more checks and balances are demonstrably required.
I don't know what the thinking was that led to him being appointed into the combined role in the first place, but you will only find out that it isn't working when the going gets rough, and its not working.
The issue may be that the person who did champion this combination of the roles no doubt has egg on her/his face, and is likely to be as egotistical as MA, so will need some persuasion to back down. |
That is presumably the only vaguely plausible alternate outcome.
Would imagine Ashton owns a stake in the entity above the club by now too. Makes it quite hard to straight sack him. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:35 - Mar 27 with 226 views | grow_our_own |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:16 - Mar 27 by Bobbychase |
The various funds have, so far, done spectacularly well out of ITFC - just look at the club's valuation from the L1 days to now. That is in part due to the double promotion, the immediate jump to the Premier League probably an unexpected bonus.
They will look at Ashton and set aside the politics and ask is he still their man, can he still run the club in a way that gives them a return on their investment. That's all they will consider. They have far more extreme politicians than Farage in the USA and they may even have investments linked to them. |
But we aren't in America, we're in the UK. We don't have their extreme politics, not yet at least. The owners will want an exec team who will build a successful football club in the community of Ipswich, not West Virginia. They will *not* want leadership who'll hold party political campaign events, lie about it, and break the bond of trust with its customers, sponsors, most important staff (players), the Foundation, and various supporters groups. Forget the Americans' politics (Phil says they aren't MAGA anyway), it's just bad for business. [Post edited 27 Mar 9:38]
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:38 - Mar 27 with 190 views | Bobbychase |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:35 - Mar 27 by grow_our_own |
But we aren't in America, we're in the UK. We don't have their extreme politics, not yet at least. The owners will want an exec team who will build a successful football club in the community of Ipswich, not West Virginia. They will *not* want leadership who'll hold party political campaign events, lie about it, and break the bond of trust with its customers, sponsors, most important staff (players), the Foundation, and various supporters groups. Forget the Americans' politics (Phil says they aren't MAGA anyway), it's just bad for business. [Post edited 27 Mar 9:38]
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If it starts being bad for business yes, that becomes an issue. I'm not sure it moves the needle enough for drastic action now. We may be in the UK, but our owners are not and they will look at things from a hardnosed financial point of view.
At the very least, we will be in the play offs this season. If things go well, we'll get however many tens of millions of pounds next season and the playing squad will upgrade too, increasing the overall value of the club again. And if that happens, a lunch with Farage and the ghastly optics of the shirt photos will not be forgotten, but will be left behind. | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:44 - Mar 27 with 148 views | nrb1985 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:28 - Mar 27 by tractorboy1978 |
If they were looking to sell tomorrow, maybe. Outside of Ipswich, this will all be chip paper in a few weeks let alone in the medium-long term though. |
Chip paper in a few weeks…
Think that’s what a lot of people said on Tuesday no? Remind me how that went?
Also, while neither of us know how this shakes out, I think you’re being a bit naive with the “outside Ipswich” part.
ITFC might be a small part of both ORG and Brightpath’s portfolios but it is probably one of their most visible assets - much more so than a software company in Palo Alto or similar which might be 10% of the portfolio. So if this rumbles on , whether it’s Ipswich or not, it’s going to make uk headlines (as it already has) and that might well put off new or existing LPs. Particularly if they have any designs on expanding their fund raising to the UK at some point. ITFC will be the frame of reference for any UK investors or LPs.
As I’ve said, some of you may wish to have a little delve into some of the issues Clearlake are facing at the moment before being so dismissive. [Post edited 27 Mar 9:47]
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:53 - Mar 27 with 126 views | Guthrum |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:12 - Mar 27 by Bobbychase |
More replica shirts sold than some Premier League teams? Oversaw more than 100 improvements to the stadium to make it fit for the premier league? Improvements to the training ground, the expansion of the foundation's work?
The Cat 1 stuff - "to be expected". People seem to think having rich backers makes everything simple and easy. It doesn't, you still need hardnosed people at the top to get things done.
We need to separate what Ashton HAS done, and not play it down, from this incident.
What is baffling for me is that a club whose media operation has been so slick for so long could make such an error of judgement. |
Another thing is that a lot of the investment has been poured into improvements to the facilities and infrastructure - not simply buying the most expensive players possible (breaking FFP/S&P/SCMP rules in the process). The latter is vastly more common than the former in modern football. There is no evidence we have been financially mismanged under Ashton's watch.
Other than this event with Farage and it's aftermath, most criticism is limited to not having moved even faster and dislike of his personal mannerisms. The club's hit/miss rate with transfers, compared with preceding years, is certainly no worse and generally much better. Results and promotions underline that.
Comparisons with what Bristol fans have said about him are way off the mark. Completely different things being talked about. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:04 - Mar 27 with 92 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:44 - Mar 27 by nrb1985 |
Chip paper in a few weeks…
Think that’s what a lot of people said on Tuesday no? Remind me how that went?
Also, while neither of us know how this shakes out, I think you’re being a bit naive with the “outside Ipswich” part.
ITFC might be a small part of both ORG and Brightpath’s portfolios but it is probably one of their most visible assets - much more so than a software company in Palo Alto or similar which might be 10% of the portfolio. So if this rumbles on , whether it’s Ipswich or not, it’s going to make uk headlines (as it already has) and that might well put off new or existing LPs. Particularly if they have any designs on expanding their fund raising to the UK at some point. ITFC will be the frame of reference for any UK investors or LPs.
As I’ve said, some of you may wish to have a little delve into some of the issues Clearlake are facing at the moment before being so dismissive. [Post edited 27 Mar 9:47]
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Tuesday was 3 days ago, not 3 weeks ago.
Clearlake's issues ultimately boil down to financial concerns rather than reputational ones linked to Chelsea. If there is a significant financial hit/concern that comes from this then I agree the owners have a decision to make, but I don't think that happens. I might be wrong, we will see. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:06 - Mar 27 with 83 views | Guthrum |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:01 - Mar 27 by Bobbychase |
He's undone all that work for SOME Town fans. Some don't feel that way. Others I have spoken to cannot believe there has been such a strong reaction. It's a microcosm of society as a whole, as football has always been. |
Tho part of the issue is that by doing this, it has highlighted acrimonious differences within the fanbase at exactly the moment when we could have done with maximum unity fighting for promotion. | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:09 - Mar 27 with 68 views | farkenhell |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:06 - Mar 27 by Guthrum |
Tho part of the issue is that by doing this, it has highlighted acrimonious differences within the fanbase at exactly the moment when we could have done with maximum unity fighting for promotion. |
...which rather neatly brings us back to the rhetorical question, what on earth was he hoping to achieve by inviting him/allowing this to happen in the first place? | | | |
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