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He doesn’t fit this club. Some great work by McKenna and the players over the past few weeks. Some humble interviews by all, but Ashton appears to have such a massive ego I fear he’s going to drag the club down.
I think it is deeper than that. I don't think KM and Ashton are as close as before. I know in his post QPR interview he said something that was eye catching
At 3m40 he says
"I think there are many reasons, I'm not going to go into them"
When asked 'Why has this (promotion) been the hardest'
I think it is plausible to believe that Ashton is more involved in the recruitment process based on more than anything Bristol's B team has had to say
[Post edited 4 May 13:06]
Pure guesswork though.
Look at the post match photo gallery on TWTD. McKenna makes a point of going over to embrace Ashton. Standing on a seat to get high enough to do so.
There are players you'd expect would have had more of an impact. On the Second Tier podcast, the neutrals summed up my feelings on recruitment
6m30s - 12m10s with the biggest quote of interest being at 11m20s.
The idea they talk about is we've not had a good return on investment for the last 2 transfer seasons. We've signed some good players, but some strange business too.
This podcast team is very objective and we'll researched too, so not some gobshite kids having a go at youtube.
I'm a big fan of that podcast and really missed it last season in the Premier League but I think they were a little hard on us yesterday. Not so much about the recruitment but how underwhelmed they have been with us this season.
Justin has never been a fan but Ryan loved us in 2024. The stuff about us hardly being in the top 2 this season really annoyed me. We were two or three games behind most teams with all the re arrangements.
“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it........."
He was the right man, at the right time, but as his record has proven, the next step is massive and it’s beyond him. Compared to. Right one and Brentford’s etc he’s light years away, and Leeds’ and Sunderland and even Burnley, and that’s how we are measuring ourselves, or should be. Not WBA or Forest Green.
It’s a reflection of what a good job he’s done at EFL level, that we’ve outgrown him, and building a club around one man, was never the right strategy…, that is going to make any exit almost impossible.
He’s indexed the entire club, and its future, to himself, for a reason.
It’s not good corporate governance from the owners, in fact irrespective of outcomes it’s really poor.
I'm a big fan of that podcast and really missed it last season in the Premier League but I think they were a little hard on us yesterday. Not so much about the recruitment but how underwhelmed they have been with us this season.
Justin has never been a fan but Ryan loved us in 2024. The stuff about us hardly being in the top 2 this season really annoyed me. We were two or three games behind most teams with all the re arrangements.
Yeah, the 27 days in the top 2 is a nonsense stat.
But can't we accept from a footballing POV he has done a good job. He has apologised for the misstep. Cant we just move on? Back to football we have so much to be excited about and look forward to.
"He has apologised for the misstep"
Point of order...he apologised for “any hurt, pain or distress” caused by the misstep, not the misstep itself and the shambolic way it was dealt with. Also went on to say:
“The full board of directors are now reviewing the policy regards how we engage with local politicians and political parties,” he said. “We’ll decide how, if and when we do that moving forward. Because, again, lessons have to be learned.”
So didn't even rule out something similar happening again in future.
I've reached the point where I'd be content with Ashton continuing in the CEO role if someone comes in as chairman. Have someone for Ashton to report to again, rather than running the joint. I assume having Ashton do duel roles is the cheaper option, but I preferred it when O'Leary was in place - even if he was just a figurehead.
I doubt cost comes into it. I am not sure how the reporting structure quite works, beyond the owners speaking to Ashton on a daily basis.
O’Leary’s job beyond figurehead ended after the buyout sadly. He struck me as very able and steady. A good counterpoint to the energy that MA has brought to the CEO role. In any team, balance of skills and personalities is everything really.
I'm a big fan of that podcast and really missed it last season in the Premier League but I think they were a little hard on us yesterday. Not so much about the recruitment but how underwhelmed they have been with us this season.
Justin has never been a fan but Ryan loved us in 2024. The stuff about us hardly being in the top 2 this season really annoyed me. We were two or three games behind most teams with all the re arrangements.
Oh yes, they seem preconditioned to support the underdog, which is fair as it is huge when people go up without fiscal support. We'll see though, I do think our prem promotion was panic stations, which you'd expect given we'd got a League 1/Championship squad.
I do still believe that they are right to highlight recruitment though. We need a good plan and not to be scrambling to build a squad - can Ashton support this is a big question mark to me.
I agree. That statement is far too professional and open to interpretation for it to be read as any criticism of Ashton from McKenna.
From the little that has been said by journalists, I reckon McKenna is furious with Ashton but he is far too professional to express that in public.
Even if you leave aside the politics, Mczkenna would and should be rightly furious that someone invited to the club made a joke about McKenna looking for a new job. I’m not going to trawl social media to find the exact words Farage said but imagine being KM and how you’ve completely transformed this club - and made substantial money for the owners and Ashton - and you get some gobsheeeeite coming to thr club, blagging free shirts and making cracks about your position.
Even if you leave aside the politics, Mczkenna would and should be rightly furious that someone invited to the club made a joke about McKenna looking for a new job. I’m not going to trawl social media to find the exact words Farage said but imagine being KM and how you’ve completely transformed this club - and made substantial money for the owners and Ashton - and you get some gobsheeeeite coming to thr club, blagging free shirts and making cracks about your position.
So again, Mark, what the fk were you thinking?
Not aware of what you are referring to but the professionalism of McKenna and unprofessionalism of Ashton and Farage is absolutely chalk and cheese.
How much is Ashton involved in recruitment? Genuine question.
Quite a lot if you have listened to his previous interviews. Whether that includes the identification of talent or just getting the deals done who knows, of course there will be UK agents that also shop their clients with contacts. He’s also talked about getting Ed on the phone to help get the Delap deal done. So it doesn’t sound like he’s in the background. McKenna obviously has players he’s wants in the club and must sign off on the players who come in but don’t get that confused with what it takes to run an entire operation for recruitment.
At PL level you need eyes in all areas of the world to bring players to the managers and player staffs attention, it seems like we have made steps to increase this visibility and presence and hopefully this vastly improves and widens the talent pool. Not to mention so of the value you can get in certain markets.
Oh yes, they seem preconditioned to support the underdog, which is fair as it is huge when people go up without fiscal support. We'll see though, I do think our prem promotion was panic stations, which you'd expect given we'd got a League 1/Championship squad.
I do still believe that they are right to highlight recruitment though. We need a good plan and not to be scrambling to build a squad - can Ashton support this is a big question mark to me.
The appalling decision to invite Fargae to the club aside, I think Ashton has driven this club forward behind the scenes to bring the infrastructure into the 21st Century. But our recruitment has been very poor both last season and this. We need a proper director of football who has worked at the highest level.
“What is a club in any case? Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it........."
There are players you'd expect would have had more of an impact. On the Second Tier podcast, the neutrals summed up my feelings on recruitment
6m30s - 12m10s with the biggest quote of interest being at 11m20s.
The idea they talk about is we've not had a good return on investment for the last 2 transfer seasons. We've signed some good players, but some strange business too.
This podcast team is very objective and we'll researched too, so not some gobshite kids having a go at youtube.
I agree with much of what you and the Second Tier guys said but this idea that we have not had a good return on investment for the last few transfer windows is a mad thing to say.
Last summer we had over £80M in player sales from 4 players who cost us £40M. If we sell Muric/ Szmodics this summer that is another £10/15M.
We've been promoted with the team who we signed for the original PL money which is another great return on investment.
Then there is the rolling ROI on the existing players and really the only two players who we wouldn't get more for selling now than we did when we bought them would be Egeli and McAteer.
Yes we could have spent better but for our outlay, I actually think we have had a pretty good return on investment.
I know some aren't able to forgive/move on from Farage-Gate, but that aside I don't see much else to be highly critical of. His stint at ITFC has mostly been a huge success. So what if he's a bit corporate or has an ego. Those things are probably par for the course for someone in his position.
It willl come down to whether the Americans think the damage to our brand outweighs the financial rewards of promotion. Is suspect the return to the PL will probably see him stay - I think it’s more likely another limp PL season with poor recruitment, would be the end for Ashton at Town.
By any football or finance metric, Ashton has delivered nothing but success. Just crazy how he threw away five years of goodwill and positive energy for an hour-long lunch with a toxic charlatan.
People need to let this go now, or at the very least accept they are likely to be in the minority. Ashton is going nowhere.
Everyone agrees the Farage episode was wrong. But the reality is the majority of the fan base will move on and let it go or not feel strongly enough about it, least of all protest or give up their tickets. A minority might and I respect those folks opinion.
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