| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here 08:29 - Mar 25 with 4235 views | jasondozzell |
Sounds like there's a good chance Ashton invited Farage.
He's got an inflated opinion of himself. It's not his club it's ours. |  | | |  |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:31 - Mar 25 with 2647 views | GlasgowBlue |
Completely agree.
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:33 - Mar 25 with 2621 views | soupytwist |
The same person being CEO and Chairman is not a good idea, I've said that before.
Perhaps Ashton's tendency towards hubris has caught him out here. |  | | |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:35 - Mar 25 with 2567 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
Phil has said they booked the tour anonymously ...so in what way is there "a good chance Ashton invited Farage"? |  |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:36 - Mar 25 with 2543 views | waveneyblue |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:35 - Mar 25 by The_Flashing_Smile |
Phil has said they booked the tour anonymously ...so in what way is there "a good chance Ashton invited Farage"? |
Because making things up helps flame the outrage ?
Thats my guess |  | | |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:39 - Mar 25 with 2497 views | soupytwist |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:35 - Mar 25 by The_Flashing_Smile |
Phil has said they booked the tour anonymously ...so in what way is there "a good chance Ashton invited Farage"? |
Because The Athletic has published an article saying that a senior club official set up a meeting with Farage.
And likely got done over by Reform's publicity machine who saw it as an opportunity to turn it to their own ends. | | | |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:45 - Mar 25 with 2459 views | Bloots |
….from day one that Ashton was as massive egotistical, attention seeking, middle management cliche who cares about nothing but self promotion and power grabbing was either at worst really thick or at best painfully naive.
I, of course, have been telling everyone about this for ages. But then I am really handsome, incredibly intelligent and am never wrong about anything.
Basically I should be running the club. |  |
| "It won’t be good enough for the far woke on here” - TWTD User (Mar 2026) |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:51 - Mar 25 with 2363 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:39 - Mar 25 by soupytwist |
Because The Athletic has published an article saying that a senior club official set up a meeting with Farage.
And likely got done over by Reform's publicity machine who saw it as an opportunity to turn it to their own ends. |
I've just read the first post on it: "an associate of a senior club figure to a Reform official asking for a meeting with Farage during his visit to the town."
So
1. An associate. Not a senior figure at the club but an associate of them, whatever that means. Someone who knows them.
2. A senior club figure. If it were Ashton, why doesn't it say Ashton?
3. During his visit to the town. Lower case T. So the town of Ipswich not the football club.
For all we know this was Alan Brazil wanting to have a few beers with Farage while he's in Suffolk! People have put together a hell of a lot to get "Ashton wanted to meet with Farage" from that! | |
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| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:54 - Mar 25 with 2352 views | itfcjoe |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:45 - Mar 25 by Bloots |
….from day one that Ashton was as massive egotistical, attention seeking, middle management cliche who cares about nothing but self promotion and power grabbing was either at worst really thick or at best painfully naive.
I, of course, have been telling everyone about this for ages. But then I am really handsome, incredibly intelligent and am never wrong about anything.
Basically I should be running the club. |
For me it's always been obvious what he can be; and this is pure ego - the difference is normally his competence outweighs his ego but not this time |  |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:56 - Mar 25 with 2311 views | pointofblue |
I agree, and I called it the moment O'Leary retired. Someone else should have took on the role rather than Ashton promoted.
And where is he anyway? We've heard more from Queen Elizabeth II than him since this happened. |  |
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| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:57 - Mar 25 with 2297 views | Funge |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:45 - Mar 25 by Bloots |
….from day one that Ashton was as massive egotistical, attention seeking, middle management cliche who cares about nothing but self promotion and power grabbing was either at worst really thick or at best painfully naive.
I, of course, have been telling everyone about this for ages. But then I am really handsome, incredibly intelligent and am never wrong about anything.
Basically I should be running the club. |
As always, Bloots, I defer to you.
The penny dropping for me was that berserk run down the touchline, giving Towun fans high-fives after we won 1-0 at Lincoln, after what felt like half a season - Macauley Bonne scored, as I recall.
A proper 'what the fck are you doing' moment. |  | | |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:02 - Mar 25 with 2248 views | WolfieAtTheBack |
Some of it you can kind of deal to a point with but Farage holding up a town shirt with his name on the back is just too much.
Professionally I book music stuff into venues / festivals and even at the most basic level as in a tiny music venue (100 cap) the persons letting the people into the building would know who is coming and what to expect.
Find it hard to believe a multi million pound business would not know a political party (who ever it may be) is taking photos of your building, brand and sponsors and using them for their own gain. | | | |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:06 - Mar 25 with 2195 views | soupytwist |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:51 - Mar 25 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I've just read the first post on it: "an associate of a senior club figure to a Reform official asking for a meeting with Farage during his visit to the town."
So
1. An associate. Not a senior figure at the club but an associate of them, whatever that means. Someone who knows them.
2. A senior club figure. If it were Ashton, why doesn't it say Ashton?
3. During his visit to the town. Lower case T. So the town of Ipswich not the football club.
For all we know this was Alan Brazil wanting to have a few beers with Farage while he's in Suffolk! People have put together a hell of a lot to get "Ashton wanted to meet with Farage" from that! |
My view is that it went like this:
Someone senior at the club thought that given possible outcomes in the upcoming local elections, having a chat with Farage while he was in the area might be a good way of getting some idea of what Reform's attitude to some of the club's plans might be. That person knew that a direct approach on the 21st century equivalent of ITFC headed paper would not be a great idea (so they're not completely stupid) and so they used a third-party to try and set it up.
Reform thought "Great, let's see what we can get out of this and book a stadium tour where we'll be able to shoot a load of pictures/video we can use to our advantage".
Club didn't spot potential issues with that, and the senior club figure thought they could control the outcome. They were proved catastrophically wrong because they're naive and their own ego didn't let them think that it could end badly. They should have asked for the meeting to take place away from Portman Road.
Club put out wishy-washy statement and are unable to acknowledge their error and admit that anyone did anything wrong because to do so would be to puncture Ashton's unshakeable belief that he (or his lieutenants) are always right.
The Athletic article doesn't name Ashton because to do so would probably reveal their source.
My only surprise is that there hasn't been a thread started on here by a Bristol City fan saying "Told you so". [Post edited 25 Mar 9:07]
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| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 09:09 - Mar 25 with 2176 views | Steve_M |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:45 - Mar 25 by Bloots |
….from day one that Ashton was as massive egotistical, attention seeking, middle management cliche who cares about nothing but self promotion and power grabbing was either at worst really thick or at best painfully naive.
I, of course, have been telling everyone about this for ages. But then I am really handsome, incredibly intelligent and am never wrong about anything.
Basically I should be running the club. |
Absolutely, standard corporate guff probably seemed like intelligent insight after Clegg and Milne but some of that, and the ego, goes with the territory to a large extent. Normal people don't want to be CEOs.
Letting him have the dual role was a real failure of corporate governance and there are a number of decisions made - footballing and non-footballing - where questions should have been asked about the club's approach. |  |
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| One of the more recent…. on 09:09 - Mar 25 with 2166 views | Bloots |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:57 - Mar 25 by Funge |
As always, Bloots, I defer to you.
The penny dropping for me was that berserk run down the touchline, giving Towun fans high-fives after we won 1-0 at Lincoln, after what felt like half a season - Macauley Bonne scored, as I recall.
A proper 'what the fck are you doing' moment. |
….moments was him proudly revealing that he’s had a personal TV screen installed in front of his seat at the ground so that he can immediately review referee decisions and phone up Howard Webb during a match to complain.
Personally it was the tight t-shirts worn under a suit that raised the immediate red flag for me.
Small but obvious signs. | |
| "It won’t be good enough for the far woke on here” - TWTD User (Mar 2026) |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:13 - Mar 25 with 2104 views | The_Flashing_Smile |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:06 - Mar 25 by soupytwist |
My view is that it went like this:
Someone senior at the club thought that given possible outcomes in the upcoming local elections, having a chat with Farage while he was in the area might be a good way of getting some idea of what Reform's attitude to some of the club's plans might be. That person knew that a direct approach on the 21st century equivalent of ITFC headed paper would not be a great idea (so they're not completely stupid) and so they used a third-party to try and set it up.
Reform thought "Great, let's see what we can get out of this and book a stadium tour where we'll be able to shoot a load of pictures/video we can use to our advantage".
Club didn't spot potential issues with that, and the senior club figure thought they could control the outcome. They were proved catastrophically wrong because they're naive and their own ego didn't let them think that it could end badly. They should have asked for the meeting to take place away from Portman Road.
Club put out wishy-washy statement and are unable to acknowledge their error and admit that anyone did anything wrong because to do so would be to puncture Ashton's unshakeable belief that he (or his lieutenants) are always right.
The Athletic article doesn't name Ashton because to do so would probably reveal their source.
My only surprise is that there hasn't been a thread started on here by a Bristol City fan saying "Told you so". [Post edited 25 Mar 9:07]
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There's nothing to stop Reform/Farage saying "Ashton invited us/me".
They haven't. | |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:15 - Mar 25 with 2079 views | itfc_statman |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:35 - Mar 25 by The_Flashing_Smile |
Phil has said they booked the tour anonymously ...so in what way is there "a good chance Ashton invited Farage"? |
No way are you still this naive when it's been confirmed the club was lying hahahahahaha | | | |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 09:16 - Mar 25 with 2069 views | nrb1985 |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:54 - Mar 25 by itfcjoe |
For me it's always been obvious what he can be; and this is pure ego - the difference is normally his competence outweighs his ego but not this time |
How will you guys approach this on BM Joe?
I love the BM content because it's very calm, measured and the opposite to most of the reactionary tripe you see on fan channels.
But fck me people are angry about this and rightly so. | | | |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:17 - Mar 25 with 2052 views | _CliveBaker_ |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:06 - Mar 25 by soupytwist |
My view is that it went like this:
Someone senior at the club thought that given possible outcomes in the upcoming local elections, having a chat with Farage while he was in the area might be a good way of getting some idea of what Reform's attitude to some of the club's plans might be. That person knew that a direct approach on the 21st century equivalent of ITFC headed paper would not be a great idea (so they're not completely stupid) and so they used a third-party to try and set it up.
Reform thought "Great, let's see what we can get out of this and book a stadium tour where we'll be able to shoot a load of pictures/video we can use to our advantage".
Club didn't spot potential issues with that, and the senior club figure thought they could control the outcome. They were proved catastrophically wrong because they're naive and their own ego didn't let them think that it could end badly. They should have asked for the meeting to take place away from Portman Road.
Club put out wishy-washy statement and are unable to acknowledge their error and admit that anyone did anything wrong because to do so would be to puncture Ashton's unshakeable belief that he (or his lieutenants) are always right.
The Athletic article doesn't name Ashton because to do so would probably reveal their source.
My only surprise is that there hasn't been a thread started on here by a Bristol City fan saying "Told you so". [Post edited 25 Mar 9:07]
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I'd say that's pretty much spot on.
It's pretty obvious given the access they got and the fact they were greeted by the Comms Director that it wasn't just any other anonymous stadium tour we were preparing for.
Reform knew they could use it as a PR opportunity, and they've done that in a very considered way. Unsurprisingly Reform are rather better at playing that game than the club is.
I think its more a case of serious naivety. That in itself is a problem, the fact its happened and the response to it has been proper amateur hour stuff, I would be highly embarrassed if I were MA. Its about as far from elite as you can get. |  | | |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:18 - Mar 25 with 2031 views | bartyg |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:51 - Mar 25 by The_Flashing_Smile |
I've just read the first post on it: "an associate of a senior club figure to a Reform official asking for a meeting with Farage during his visit to the town."
So
1. An associate. Not a senior figure at the club but an associate of them, whatever that means. Someone who knows them.
2. A senior club figure. If it were Ashton, why doesn't it say Ashton?
3. During his visit to the town. Lower case T. So the town of Ipswich not the football club.
For all we know this was Alan Brazil wanting to have a few beers with Farage while he's in Suffolk! People have put together a hell of a lot to get "Ashton wanted to meet with Farage" from that! |
I've got some beans to sell you. |  |
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| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 09:18 - Mar 25 with 2024 views | WD19 |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 08:57 - Mar 25 by Funge |
As always, Bloots, I defer to you.
The penny dropping for me was that berserk run down the touchline, giving Towun fans high-fives after we won 1-0 at Lincoln, after what felt like half a season - Macauley Bonne scored, as I recall.
A proper 'what the fck are you doing' moment. |
This, this and thrice this.
OK, so I am sure he was as relieved as we all were…..but I can never unsee it. |  | | |
| Yep, it was such a low bar…. on 09:18 - Mar 25 with 2018 views | Bloots |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 09:09 - Mar 25 by Steve_M |
Absolutely, standard corporate guff probably seemed like intelligent insight after Clegg and Milne but some of that, and the ego, goes with the territory to a large extent. Normal people don't want to be CEOs.
Letting him have the dual role was a real failure of corporate governance and there are a number of decisions made - footballing and non-footballing - where questions should have been asked about the club's approach. |
….I bet he couldn’t believe his luck, the natives were lapping it up.
Ironically Milne was a really nice bloke with good intentions, just a bit clueless and given no chance with Evans’ lack of investment/interest. | |
| "It won’t be good enough for the far woke on here” - TWTD User (Mar 2026) |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:21 - Mar 25 with 1968 views | FrimleyBlue |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 08:36 - Mar 25 by waveneyblue |
Because making things up helps flame the outrage ?
Thats my guess |
Or because farage himself last night confirmed during his leeds event that he had been invited to PR
Absolutely he could be lieing couldnt he but then it does match what the athletic says. Plus the clubs own statment is about hosting and contradicts the source stuff they fed twtd and eadt yesterday morning.
But entirely yours and flash's right to believe yesterday mornings stuff over anything else that followed after. |  |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:23 - Mar 25 with 1953 views | nrb1985 |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:18 - Mar 25 by bartyg |
I've got some beans to sell you. |
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| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:27 - Mar 25 with 1922 views | _CliveBaker_ |
| This wouldn't have happened if Mike O'Leary had still been here on 09:21 - Mar 25 by FrimleyBlue |
Or because farage himself last night confirmed during his leeds event that he had been invited to PR
Absolutely he could be lieing couldnt he but then it does match what the athletic says. Plus the clubs own statment is about hosting and contradicts the source stuff they fed twtd and eadt yesterday morning.
But entirely yours and flash's right to believe yesterday mornings stuff over anything else that followed after. |
Farage lying isn't a massive stretch, lets be honest.
But the fact the Comms Director was there to greet him, Farage shirts printed up, and they got access that I know for fact you don't as a layman on a stadium tour tells you the club 100% knew who was visiting. I think its very unlikely MA wouldn't have been aware it was happening.
Whether we responded and opened the doors off the back of them speculatively booking a stadium tour, or whether we proactively reached out offering them a meeting is by the by really IMO. However you cut it we've facilitated it. | | | |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 09:29 - Mar 25 with 1913 views | itfcjoe |
| Anyone that didn’t realise…. on 09:16 - Mar 25 by nrb1985 |
How will you guys approach this on BM Joe?
I love the BM content because it's very calm, measured and the opposite to most of the reactionary tripe you see on fan channels.
But fck me people are angry about this and rightly so. |
I'm not actually about on Sunday, and we were planning to have a week off ahead of the run in last I heard - I haven't caught up with the other guys directly about it but (speaking for myself, not as BM) probably not an area we would want to go into other than to highlight how this isn't 'apolitical' without giving major views on the actual party involved. | |
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