| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football 12:13 - Aug 10 with 1902 views | John_Warks_Willy |
since he joined Town?
Must be on ‘the list’ for many many clubs and investors should he ever leave or can be prized away?
Surely - when looked at as a general trend - one of the more successful in achieving a net gain on transfer fees (at least for our size of club)?
Has repeatedly come good in the majority of transfer windows.
Many more positives than I can be bothered to write
Then why do I see a growing number of posts seemingly questioning him? It’s a minority, but still.
We are so lucky to have him right now. Could it be argued he is more important to us than McKenna even? [Post edited 10 Aug 12:14]
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:17 - Aug 10 with 1754 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
Certainly not more important than McKenna imo |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:18 - Aug 10 with 1734 views | John_Warks_Willy |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:17 - Aug 10 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
Certainly not more important than McKenna imo |
Interesting angle to ponder though! | |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:21 - Aug 10 with 1699 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:18 - Aug 10 by John_Warks_Willy |
Interesting angle to ponder though! |
Im not doubting Ashton has done a good job. But the back to back promotions were masterminded by McKenna and that has probably made everyone at the club look better.
Getting that squad out of the championship was genius and won't be replicated for a long time, Birmingham are throwing money at their team to try do it, McKenna didn't need to. | |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:33 - Aug 10 with 1638 views | OsmansCleanSheet |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:21 - Aug 10 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
Im not doubting Ashton has done a good job. But the back to back promotions were masterminded by McKenna and that has probably made everyone at the club look better.
Getting that squad out of the championship was genius and won't be replicated for a long time, Birmingham are throwing money at their team to try do it, McKenna didn't need to. |
All true, but it was Ashton that appointed McKenna when a lot of people had never even heard of him. We’ll need him to make another astute appointment as and when McKenna eventually leaves. |  | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:38 - Aug 10 with 1606 views | TRUE_BLUE123 |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:33 - Aug 10 by OsmansCleanSheet |
All true, but it was Ashton that appointed McKenna when a lot of people had never even heard of him. We’ll need him to make another astute appointment as and when McKenna eventually leaves. |
very true | |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:03 - Aug 10 with 1515 views | Smoresy |
Was player trading a success at Bristol City? They sold some for good money. Believe a criticism over there was that they then reinvested poorly, and when Ashton left they'd maxed out permitted spending, leaving them to ride out their mistakes in the market.
We've found great value with a few additions, good value with a few others, and would struggle to sell a few others for book value I imagine. The extent of Ashton's responsibility in identifying and developing our best value buy (Leif, probably), or worst value buy, is difficult to know perhaps? Appreciate he's responsible for every department, ultimately, but expect our recruitment process has undergone much change since his opening round of transfers. |  | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:14 - Aug 10 with 1469 views | DarkBrandon |
I agree we are lucky to have him.
There was something in some of the financials a while back about share grants to the executive team. I imagine Ashton was one of those and will have considerable incentive to stay |  | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:17 - Aug 10 with 1447 views | J2BLUE |
He's been excellent. Barely put a foot wrong. Divs gonna div though. |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:39 - Aug 10 with 1380 views | Nutkins_Return |
It's just frustration coming out and a lack of being able to separate emotions from logical thinking. | |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:54 - Aug 10 with 1331 views | Illinoisblue |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:17 - Aug 10 by J2BLUE |
He's been excellent. Barely put a foot wrong. Divs gonna div though. |
Not too many missteps all things considered. But wonder if he’ll give 400 tickets to club staff for Norwich away this season? |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 14:41 - Aug 10 with 1257 views | chantryblueboy |
He rubs me up the wrong way some times with his jargon but has a remarkable record of hiring young managers. This transfer window feels important for him | | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 15:22 - Aug 10 with 1152 views | Guthrum |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:33 - Aug 10 by OsmansCleanSheet |
All true, but it was Ashton that appointed McKenna when a lot of people had never even heard of him. We’ll need him to make another astute appointment as and when McKenna eventually leaves. |
Moreover, compared to noises coming out of many other clubs, there is remarkably little friction between Chair/CEO and Manager. |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 16:39 - Aug 10 with 1018 views | tetchris |
He was known as a divisive character at Bristol and most fans were glad when he left. Many citing poor performance in the transfer market (sounds familiar?) and taking credit for things he had little or no involvement in (new training ground).
Having watched a few of his interviews I do find him a bit of a marmite character. I don’t see him going to a PL team, but his character, demeanour etc would certainly suit the MLS. He’s been at town since 2021 and I think he will be looking for a new challenge in the next 18 months.
There were articles recently that Gamechanger 20 were valuing the club at somewhere between £350-£375 million and could be looking for a full takeover, partial takeover or investment. ORG have already diluted their 90% ownership to 50% have sold the other 40% share for over £100million to Bright Path. If they do sell, new owners might bring in a new CEO so you can bet he has a get out plan. Wouldn’t surprise me if becomes more involved with the Gamechanger 20 guys if they do sell
and take over another club. | | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 17:11 - Aug 10 with 958 views | darkhorse28 |
As a measure. He spent up to £150 million last two windows. Most of which still sits on our books as future liabilities.
The only players in that group who were close to the required standard, have left and are leaving, and our owners are now selling up.
Hard not to conflate the owners selling (to some degree) with Ashton persuading them to award our manager a champions league contract, and spend £100-150 million on players, give or take some add ins which might not be triggered.
In that context. Most would measure the last 18 mk the as a disaster, especially as the club sale now means the owners are selling LOTS of depreciating player assets to inflate the sales value and crystallise any gains to cash on the balance sheet.
That’s not to say he isn’t a very good operator in the EFL, or to detract from two promotions, and bringing a talented young coach in McKenna to the club.
But if anyone is looking for a top tier CEO, he won’t be making any long list, let alone short.
35 years, and maybe you should go and take those 35 years on evidence as a whole. Not just two seasons in the EFL.
Also maybe wait for the end of the window.
If we sell £80 million (net) worth of players, there’ll be a large element which isn’t for compliance or football reasons, but simply to help the owners sell…, and that does inflate directly to Mark, and a VERY poor 12 months strategically.
If he doesn’t have agency for the failures, how does he get credit for the success.
Neither side can have it both ways, there needs to be balance, and at the very sharp end, he’s been well short..,,, it might still see us missing out goals for MANY years to come.
No offnece.., but I’m not sure you understand the implications of selling bet £80 million, just to improve the balance sheet, for a sale.
If we don’t get sold, we are in for a rough few years, if it’s in the EFL with !5 million a year TV money and not £150 million.
We aren’t a plucky league one club.
We have huge liabilities and a squad where assets will be sold for a sakes multiple.., and Mark hasn’t shown any integrity during the whole process.
Hard for him in truth.., but it’s a situation 100% of his making. | | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 17:23 - Aug 10 with 904 views | Joey_Joe_Joe_Junior |
There’s not a chance in hell he is more important than McKenna, that’s ridiculous!
The absolute biggest thing Ashton can take credit for is appointing McKenna, he obviously deserves all the plaudits for that.
He had huge financial backing for the level and delivered but let’s remember we had major investment.
I’m not sure how much of say he has in player recruitment or if he just being told this is who we want and it’s up to him to go and get the deals done. If it’s the former I’m still not completely sold last summer was a brilliant off season. More of a mixed mag with the incomings I think. |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 17:24 - Aug 10 with 895 views | Nutkins_Return |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 17:11 - Aug 10 by darkhorse28 |
As a measure. He spent up to £150 million last two windows. Most of which still sits on our books as future liabilities.
The only players in that group who were close to the required standard, have left and are leaving, and our owners are now selling up.
Hard not to conflate the owners selling (to some degree) with Ashton persuading them to award our manager a champions league contract, and spend £100-150 million on players, give or take some add ins which might not be triggered.
In that context. Most would measure the last 18 mk the as a disaster, especially as the club sale now means the owners are selling LOTS of depreciating player assets to inflate the sales value and crystallise any gains to cash on the balance sheet.
That’s not to say he isn’t a very good operator in the EFL, or to detract from two promotions, and bringing a talented young coach in McKenna to the club.
But if anyone is looking for a top tier CEO, he won’t be making any long list, let alone short.
35 years, and maybe you should go and take those 35 years on evidence as a whole. Not just two seasons in the EFL.
Also maybe wait for the end of the window.
If we sell £80 million (net) worth of players, there’ll be a large element which isn’t for compliance or football reasons, but simply to help the owners sell…, and that does inflate directly to Mark, and a VERY poor 12 months strategically.
If he doesn’t have agency for the failures, how does he get credit for the success.
Neither side can have it both ways, there needs to be balance, and at the very sharp end, he’s been well short..,,, it might still see us missing out goals for MANY years to come.
No offnece.., but I’m not sure you understand the implications of selling bet £80 million, just to improve the balance sheet, for a sale.
If we don’t get sold, we are in for a rough few years, if it’s in the EFL with !5 million a year TV money and not £150 million.
We aren’t a plucky league one club.
We have huge liabilities and a squad where assets will be sold for a sakes multiple.., and Mark hasn’t shown any integrity during the whole process.
Hard for him in truth.., but it’s a situation 100% of his making. |
I had to stop reading because this was primarily taking the worst possible outlook on every scenario over the last 18 months with a bit of fantasy/speculation thrown in. | |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 17:29 - Aug 10 with 872 views | Big_Jase |
Hi Mark how are you? |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 21:09 - Aug 10 with 673 views | Swansea_Blue |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 12:38 - Aug 10 by TRUE_BLUE123 |
very true |
I’ve always thought the owner/CEO/board (whoever is ultimately responsible for calling the shots) is the most important person in the club. Get the structure wrong, make bad managerial appointments and get the funding model wrong and it soon goes all Marcus Evans. |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 21:14 - Aug 10 with 641 views | waveneyblue |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 17:11 - Aug 10 by darkhorse28 |
As a measure. He spent up to £150 million last two windows. Most of which still sits on our books as future liabilities.
The only players in that group who were close to the required standard, have left and are leaving, and our owners are now selling up.
Hard not to conflate the owners selling (to some degree) with Ashton persuading them to award our manager a champions league contract, and spend £100-150 million on players, give or take some add ins which might not be triggered.
In that context. Most would measure the last 18 mk the as a disaster, especially as the club sale now means the owners are selling LOTS of depreciating player assets to inflate the sales value and crystallise any gains to cash on the balance sheet.
That’s not to say he isn’t a very good operator in the EFL, or to detract from two promotions, and bringing a talented young coach in McKenna to the club.
But if anyone is looking for a top tier CEO, he won’t be making any long list, let alone short.
35 years, and maybe you should go and take those 35 years on evidence as a whole. Not just two seasons in the EFL.
Also maybe wait for the end of the window.
If we sell £80 million (net) worth of players, there’ll be a large element which isn’t for compliance or football reasons, but simply to help the owners sell…, and that does inflate directly to Mark, and a VERY poor 12 months strategically.
If he doesn’t have agency for the failures, how does he get credit for the success.
Neither side can have it both ways, there needs to be balance, and at the very sharp end, he’s been well short..,,, it might still see us missing out goals for MANY years to come.
No offnece.., but I’m not sure you understand the implications of selling bet £80 million, just to improve the balance sheet, for a sale.
If we don’t get sold, we are in for a rough few years, if it’s in the EFL with !5 million a year TV money and not £150 million.
We aren’t a plucky league one club.
We have huge liabilities and a squad where assets will be sold for a sakes multiple.., and Mark hasn’t shown any integrity during the whole process.
Hard for him in truth.., but it’s a situation 100% of his making. |
If that's written by an Ipswich fan I will be shocked, surprised (and incredibly disappointed).
I could almost sense the arousal as the post went on |  | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 23:42 - Aug 10 with 531 views | have_a_word_with_him |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 13:03 - Aug 10 by Smoresy |
Was player trading a success at Bristol City? They sold some for good money. Believe a criticism over there was that they then reinvested poorly, and when Ashton left they'd maxed out permitted spending, leaving them to ride out their mistakes in the market.
We've found great value with a few additions, good value with a few others, and would struggle to sell a few others for book value I imagine. The extent of Ashton's responsibility in identifying and developing our best value buy (Leif, probably), or worst value buy, is difficult to know perhaps? Appreciate he's responsible for every department, ultimately, but expect our recruitment process has undergone much change since his opening round of transfers. |
Lots of words no conclusion? Bristol City aren't a net spend kind of club are they, the owner is more interested in rugby |  | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 23:47 - Aug 10 with 494 views | have_a_word_with_him |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 16:39 - Aug 10 by tetchris |
He was known as a divisive character at Bristol and most fans were glad when he left. Many citing poor performance in the transfer market (sounds familiar?) and taking credit for things he had little or no involvement in (new training ground).
Having watched a few of his interviews I do find him a bit of a marmite character. I don’t see him going to a PL team, but his character, demeanour etc would certainly suit the MLS. He’s been at town since 2021 and I think he will be looking for a new challenge in the next 18 months.
There were articles recently that Gamechanger 20 were valuing the club at somewhere between £350-£375 million and could be looking for a full takeover, partial takeover or investment. ORG have already diluted their 90% ownership to 50% have sold the other 40% share for over £100million to Bright Path. If they do sell, new owners might bring in a new CEO so you can bet he has a get out plan. Wouldn’t surprise me if becomes more involved with the Gamechanger 20 guys if they do sell
and take over another club. |
You take Bristol City fans views when he was in charge in arguably their most successful period ever, including making some massive money from player sales, and ignore the fact he's overhauled the entire club from the utter shambles it was under Evans. That doesn't happen by accident. Short memories indeed. | | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 23:49 - Aug 10 with 485 views | syntaxerror |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 21:14 - Aug 10 by waveneyblue |
If that's written by an Ipswich fan I will be shocked, surprised (and incredibly disappointed).
I could almost sense the arousal as the post went on |
It’s almost as if there was an Elephant in the room. [Post edited 10 Aug 23:50]
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 00:15 - Aug 11 with 431 views | Bigalhunter |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 23:49 - Aug 10 by syntaxerror |
It’s almost as if there was an Elephant in the room. [Post edited 10 Aug 23:50]
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Nah, at least elephant could knock up a coherent sentence.
This creation just spouts poorly articulated drivel mixed in with AI-generated word spaghetti.
There’s always room for some structured, well-argued criticism and pessimism to counter the blind optimism, but this one needs a complete overhaul in approach. |  |
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| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 03:54 - Aug 11 with 359 views | DavoIPB |
We are in a better place than under Evans but that is mainly due to the money invested and a a very good manager. Our transfers on the whole I think have been quite poor and obviously as a money spinning venture. | | | |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 09:59 - Aug 11 with 190 views | Smoresy |
| Mark Ashton - one of those most successful CEOs in football on 23:42 - Aug 10 by have_a_word_with_him |
Lots of words no conclusion? Bristol City aren't a net spend kind of club are they, the owner is more interested in rugby |
Incorrect, Lansdown's spent a fortune there (maybe he's changed tack more recently, I haven't followed). They lost £38m in Ashton's last year and a further £29m in the year afterwards: they couldn't have been running hotter.
Equally, an exit strategy seems to have been put in place, and not just for Ashton personally, so they were able to press the emergency cool-down button without being penalised by the EFL. My take would be that owner and CEO agreed to go all-in on the promotion dream, without overstepping into "or bust" territory, and it didn't work out. That happens. But Bristol City fans see the shoe-string budget Pearson then had to work with to avoid FFP sanction and they criticise Ashton heavily for falling short.
My personal conclusion is that it's unsafe from our vantage point to know if this is a great strength of his. We can't fairly judge imo. Has he put in place better structures since his time at Bristol? Was he pivotal to the Brighton arrangement, which I've loosely read about, and have we secured an advantage over ours peers here? Plenty more questions and if you know all the answers, fair play for your superior connections to the inner sanctum.
Currently, I'd award the man an "A". Incredible progress on the pitch, incredible owner investment, he's wired into the heart of it. He's also done a great job of monetising the fans, of ensuring that success on the pitch has been met with success in the stands and in the club shop, and in Portman Road extra-curriculars (Ed, Fabio). If progress on the pitch cools down, commercial partnerships will be important to separate us financially from others in the division, see Birmingham's success. I don't know how well we've done here thus far - hopefully well. | | | |
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