| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke 08:17 - Mar 27 with 3555 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 10:18 - Mar 27 with 630 views | nrb1985 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:04 - Mar 27 by tractorboy1978 |
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. |
Those really aren’t the issues mate, I can assure you.
Their issues are down to a perceived lack of competence and dissatisfaction amongst LPs that such a tiny part of the firm’s overall portfolio has become a very noisy and unwanted distraction. And the amount of airtime and bandwidth said issue takes up.
As you say, we shall see and I think it mostly hinges on what the sponsors do.
However - my view is very clear, he needs to fck off and take the pants sniffers Wehrum and Nash with him. [Post edited 27 Mar 10:24]
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:18 - Mar 27 with 634 views | Bobbychase |
| 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. |
Yes, it has exposed fractures that were already there. And are there in any fanbase.
We seem to live in a very angry/extreme world these days. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:24 - Mar 27 with 609 views | MattinLondon |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 08:25 - Mar 27 by le2blue |
No chance he resigns or is sacked. He is the reason most of the investors have invested in the club, he is also on an incentive plan linked to club valuation and growth, which he has driven successfully. He is held in incredibly high regard by all the investors and within the wider industry, putting aside this significant issue, he has repeatedly delivered and built a high growth business and team.
He has also positioned himself as an advocate of community give back which he has successfully delivered through transforming the foundation. He has very good relations with the wider Suffolk community and businesses.
I think he will come out and apologies at some point once the revelations have finished and everything has died down a little, suspect that will be around Tuesday next week to then allow sometime before Kieran’s press on Friday next week. |
A football manager could well oversee huge success in the pitch - bringing in players that transform the club further, he could be immensely popular but then the results slide and he gets the sack. The club brings in a new manager who takes the club further.
If Ashton leaves, those projects will still continue. If the club appoint a CEO and chairperson that are both competent then the club will continue to grow. |  | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:31 - Mar 27 with 588 views | FBI |
Yes, he's a supremely talented CEO. That much is undeniable and neither is it that apparently he's a charlieunit behind the public persona. In many industries the two go very well together. Personally, if the stories are true he has to go, preferably at the club's instigation. Cauterize the wound.
There are other talented people out there who would be very tempted by this project. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:55 - Mar 27 with 563 views | Guthrum |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:09 - Mar 27 by farkenhell |
...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? |
Maybe he thought it would just be a quiet lunch and stadium tour. But that displays an unexpected level of naivety for someone so experienced in the political side of football (including on the EFL Board).
Or perhaps he genuinely believed everyone would see it as a bit of a laugh, a few bad jokes, nothing more. Which would suggest he doesn't have his ear very close to the ground. Perhaps unsurprising for a workaholic in the rarefied football bubble.
I'm with Heinlein in favouring the attribution of events more to incompetence than malice. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 11:01 - Mar 27 with 532 views | nrb1985 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:04 - Mar 27 by tractorboy1978 |
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. |
Hi - sorry to spam you but hadn't even seen this snippet in Phil's artcile;
"Prominent sponsors are also understood to have made contact to express their displeasure"
What about this gives you such confidence that there isn't going to be a financial fallout from this? | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 11:11 - Mar 27 with 524 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. |
Sorry, just to be very clear, so we're all on the same page and understand how this works;
One fund has done very well because they've had a partial exit.
Brightpath on the other hand... | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 11:11 - Mar 27 with 512 views | darkhorse28 |
Thinkers are reaping what they sewed. Zero oversight, allowing one man to mar all executive control about him and him alone.
Basic governance says you don’t do that, it’s 101 at this level and why other clubs have more people with power less concentrated .., we’ve been lazy at best, in allowing one person to build themselves such a moat.
We need an entirely new executive structure and bodies, and that isn’t easy.
The paradox. That the walking ego built his moat and power base precisely so he could be bigger than the club, and do exactly why he wants when he wants, with no financial risk or skin in the game.
It’s poor ownership, there’s no other way to describe it, Brett worked Ashton out, and reduced their stake accordingly, they saw the risks, other owners less so, clearly.
But we’ve all been guilty of zero oversight. Fans, media, owners.
All the red flags were there and have been for years.
Wanting to make out promotion about singing ‘shit on the villa for him’ that’s a red flag bigger than even his ego.
The worst season in our history last year.
Spending SO much money for poor results. Because he was house a deal!
Giving a manager a salary more than almost anyone in Europe, without a single seconds exorerimce at that level.
And then ultimately, but predictably, destroying our entire brand and commercial value, by playing party career politics.
The owners will be furious with the new commercial reality, he’s cost them hundreds of millions in all likelyhood and the silence I would imagine is legals around his exit.
He only stays if they signed it off - with his ego, I doubt he thought he needed sign off for anything.., so I think we’re safe on him going!
You don’t watch someone’s fire to your assets future and hundreds of millions in brand equity and retain them - ever.
But we still have a big problem.
Owners that never worked Mark out, and never even provided basic oversight and governance …, that’s a problem. They didn’t need to be elite owners that was just the basics…, there’s more to being good custodians of our club than resources. And trusting in one person, we need more on the football side for sure. | | | |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 11:25 - Mar 27 with 483 views | tractorboy1978 |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 11:01 - Mar 27 by nrb1985 |
Hi - sorry to spam you but hadn't even seen this snippet in Phil's artcile;
"Prominent sponsors are also understood to have made contact to express their displeasure"
What about this gives you such confidence that there isn't going to be a financial fallout from this? |
Are those sponsors really going to pull out and what is that really worth money wise in the context of the total package for these investors though? Ultimately the real money to these investors is in the value of the club - which means being in the PL, new training ground, infrastructure, new stand. All of which they may think Ashton is best placed to deliver as he has their trust and has delivered well for them in the past. It's a cost/benefit analysis I suspect they would work through. I don't see the club suddenly losing multiple millions of pounds over this personally. Again, I might be wrong. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 11:56 - Mar 27 with 444 views | Cheltenham_Blue |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 10:55 - Mar 27 by Guthrum |
Maybe he thought it would just be a quiet lunch and stadium tour. But that displays an unexpected level of naivety for someone so experienced in the political side of football (including on the EFL Board).
Or perhaps he genuinely believed everyone would see it as a bit of a laugh, a few bad jokes, nothing more. Which would suggest he doesn't have his ear very close to the ground. Perhaps unsurprising for a workaholic in the rarefied football bubble.
I'm with Heinlein in favouring the attribution of events more to incompetence than malice. |
I remain convinced that is exactly it. I don't think he knew what would happen after that lunch, simply because if he did know then Ashton is as thick as two short planks and he's been doing a brilliant job of pretending to be an intelligent CEO since he walked in the door.
There is just no way at all that Ashton said, "Yes do your pictures", "In the changing room? No bother", "Put your Farrage shirts on the pegs of players with immigrant backgrounds?, That'll be fine"
I think what probably happened is Reform look likely to have a say in local and national politics in the short and possibly medium term, someone said to Ashton, "we should probably meet them".
Ashton agreed to it and then at the end of the lunch, where Farage probably said something along the lines of "Of course we would support your plans to expand the stadium", Ashton told someone or other to do a tour for Farage and whoever was with him, might have been Nash or possibly whoever set up the meeting, but Ashton didn't even know what was happening, and the rest is history.
It's not a stretch to imagine that the reason we've heard nothing from Ashton is because there is a disciplinary action underway, possibly against Ashton, possibly against someone else, we don't know. Disciplinary hearings take time, there will need to be a panel of at least 3 senior managers. In the case of Ashton, it will 100% need Schwartz to fly in. Things like that don't happen overnight, and inspite of how unpalatable the incident is to many of us, it's probably not considered by the ownership as gross misconduct suitable for summary dismissal.
If Schwartz is pictured at the Salthouse, Ashton is probably cooked, but for now, I think the likelihood is that we'll find out next week that at least two at a lower level will have been relieved of their duties. Nash as head of media is most likely to pay with his job, firstly for the images, and then for the statement. [Post edited 27 Mar 12:14]
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 14:14 - Mar 27 with 386 views | WestSussexBlue |
| 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. |
Exactly right, I’ve never seen such a dislike for someone as much as some of our supporters are showing towards Ashton who has done huge amounts to bring this club to where it is now.
There was never this much hate towards the guy when he was overseeing the appointment of Kmc, the management of stadium and training ground, and ongoing developments in and around the stadium.
If Ashton does go, this club will stop moving forward. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 14:15 - Mar 27 with 380 views | CastroSito |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 14:14 - Mar 27 by WestSussexBlue |
Exactly right, I’ve never seen such a dislike for someone as much as some of our supporters are showing towards Ashton who has done huge amounts to bring this club to where it is now.
There was never this much hate towards the guy when he was overseeing the appointment of Kmc, the management of stadium and training ground, and ongoing developments in and around the stadium.
If Ashton does go, this club will stop moving forward. |
Why? | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:13 - Mar 27 with 326 views | ernie |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 08:36 - Mar 27 by nrb1985 |
Bit of a simplistic take.
There is going to be no room for sentiment if future revenues are called into question by sponsors pulling out or a large portion of fans stop spending.
What happens to the valuation when those future revenues are called into question?
U.S. PE guys not exactly known for being sentimental on these kind of things. And the idea that they were sold by Ashton is a bit silly - they may have enjoyed his presentation but they will have dozens of analysts dispassionately doing the due diligence etc. |
No sponsors are going to pull out and no fans are going to stop spending money. It’s all hot air. What matters to the investors is promotion and a return on their money, not hot air blowing blown about a small minority of the fan base in one small echo chamber of a forum. A large number of those posting on here don’t even attend games. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:21 - Mar 27 with 302 views | Nthsuffolkblue |
I really care little about the detail of what happens. I only know that he has made a big mess and it needs sorting out.
If he can come up with something that genuinely satisfies the calls for him to go, well done. I can't see what that could be.
Aside from that, I think he has to go one way or another. At the very least this shows we need to appoint a Chairman above him for him to answer to and be regularly held accountable to. That was pointed out by many when O'Leary left and it is a failing of the ownership that they didn't recognise this at the time.
I can't think of much the ownership group has got wrong but that is one thing they now need to act to correct. |  |
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| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:26 - Mar 27 with 292 views | PaulYoungs |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 09:04 - Mar 27 by homer_123 |
Of course, no issue there from me either. I would suspect that even for the hardened fans you talk of, some of the lustre and shine must surely have waned?
As an aside, I would argue that there comes a point where something is beyond our Club and even football. |
Unfortunately you are wrong, we are very grateful how he has turned this club around | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:34 - Mar 27 with 278 views | Butterbing |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:13 - Mar 27 by ernie |
No sponsors are going to pull out and no fans are going to stop spending money. It’s all hot air. What matters to the investors is promotion and a return on their money, not hot air blowing blown about a small minority of the fan base in one small echo chamber of a forum. A large number of those posting on here don’t even attend games. |
Did you miss the bit where some staff and players were upset? Do you not think team spirt and morale are pretty fundamental to the principle activity of the club? |  | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:46 - Mar 27 with 259 views | ernie |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:34 - Mar 27 by Butterbing |
Did you miss the bit where some staff and players were upset? Do you not think team spirt and morale are pretty fundamental to the principle activity of the club? |
Money talks - at the end of the day they will toe the line and get on with their jobs. All this will blow over apart from a small minority on here within the wider fan base who will bang on about until the next home game starts. | | | |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:57 - Mar 27 with 238 views | Butterbing |
| Even if Ashton was a decent bloke on 16:46 - Mar 27 by ernie |
Money talks - at the end of the day they will toe the line and get on with their jobs. All this will blow over apart from a small minority on here within the wider fan base who will bang on about until the next home game starts. |
Not sure that works in Football to be honest. In some workplaces maybe but we need the team to be at their absolute best and 100% focussed. | | | |
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