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Stability is our greatest strength 07:24 - Jun 21 with 876 views

Ashton has often said that stability is our greatest strength, because he knew that he'd found a gem in McKenna.

Obviously results will determine how long O'Neil remains in charge, but will the club now have a more short term approach as is often the case at other clubs? e.g. get relegated and sack the manager. Or stay up and look to evolve by sacking the manager, as Bournemouth and Brighton did with Gary O'Neil and Chris Hughton.

Stability is our greatest strength on 07:37 - Jun 21 with 809 views

jayessess

Just don't think clubs that change division up/down every season are in a position to have much managerial stability.

Blog:

What Now? Taking a Look at Life in League One

Stability is our greatest strength on 07:38 - Jun 21 with 814 views

RIPbobby

I think the new manager gets a lot of time. Our previous gaffer won 4 games in a season in the top flight. I can't see any manager doing as bad as that this time around. I think we are coming into the premier league with eight other teams that may be deemed as being at crossroads. Last time out we were against lots of balanced teams.

Stability is our greatest strength on 07:41 - Jun 21 with 792 views

DarkBrandon

There must be a good chance that whoever we appoint by DarkBrandon 10 Jun 22:39
Won’t be manager when the transfer window opens in January.

Whoever it is will have a tough task of reshaping a squad, creating a team and instilling their philosophy.

Most clubs threatened with relegation from the PL sack the manager. Some do it more than once in a season.

McKenna was one of the few who would have had the steadfast loyalty of the board and support of the fans almost irrespective of what happened on the pitch.

Our new manager won’t have these advantages. They will be appointed with one task. An incredibly difficult one.

I’d put it at 50/50 that they’d see in the new year. That’s just modern football.

Stability is our greatest strength on 08:05 - Jun 21 with 698 views

Churchman

Stability is our greatest strength on 07:38 - Jun 21 by RIPbobby
I think the new manager gets a lot of time. Our previous gaffer won 4 games in a season in the top flight. I can't see any manager doing as bad as that this time around. I think we are coming into the premier league with eight other teams that may be deemed as being at crossroads. Last time out we were against lots of balanced teams.

It’ll be interesting. I hope he’s given time. Two years ago, we were woefully prepared in every way imaginable. The miraculous crest of a wave way the team had played sort of masked how far off we were, but we soon found out.

Could we have made a better go of it? Yes, had our recruitment been perfect, but we had no real base for it to be so at that time. Are we better placed now? I’d hope so. The experience gained allied to knowledge of what we are up against backed by stronger teams/infrastructure hopefully means we are.

This is where stability comes in. If the basic set up of the club is right in all areas, the swapping out of a manager, CEO or anyone else is less important. If I was on the ownership Board, that’s what I’d be aiming for. In Robson’s day, he was the club. He goes, it goes and essentially that’s what happened. Football clubs are not like that now.

If you look at Brentford and Brighton it doesn’t seem to matter much who they bring in. Their stability almost guarantees success. This is why I wasn’t too bothered either way if Thomas Frank turned up. Was it him or the club? Same with Potter at Brighton.

So to whoever takes the job at Ipswich, will he be involved with all aspects of the club as KM appeared to be or purely first team coach? Absolutely no idea because I’ve not a clue how a football club works in 2026 at Championship/Premier League level.

However back to the OP, for me stability is crucial. You only have to look at clubs without it like West Ham and Wolves to see the consequences.

Just random thoughts.

The issues for Town is that we don’t have an off field structure on 08:17 - Jun 21 with 650 views

unstableblue

An off field footballing structure that is

We don’t have a technical or footballing director

Dmitri Halajko Is focussed on the academy and elements of first team operations - he’s responsible for the football strategy and the identity of how Town play or who we recruitment.

We do have a recruitment director now, which is positive and it’s a big summer for him. But again he’s not owning the football side of the business.

That’s what these yo yo clubs and successful mid tier clubs have. Bournemouth sacked ONeil after he delivered something positive, but he didn’t fit the strategy.

Ashton seems very heavily involved in the footballing side now.

Even yo yo Norwich had a true footballing director

I just hope and pray GON hits the ground running, as we won’t even have season long stability - it will get very messy and fast

Poll:

Building on NthQldITFC thread - If you had to choose, would you rather?

The issues for Town is that we don’t have an off field structure on 08:21 - Jun 21 with 633 views

Churchman

The issues for Town is that we don’t have an off field structure on 08:17 - Jun 21 by unstableblue

In what way is Ashton involved in the footballing side? I assumed as CEO he was more like the conductor of an orchestra letting the heads of each area of the club run those elements and report to him and in turn him to the Board?

The issues for Town is that we don’t have an off field structure on 10:29 - Jun 21 with 465 views

unstableblue

The issues for Town is that we don’t have an off field structure on 08:21 - Jun 21 by Churchman
In what way is Ashton involved in the footballing side? I assumed as CEO he was more like the conductor of an orchestra letting the heads of each area of the club run those elements and report to him and in turn him to the Board?

Churchie - let me explain, at Brentford, Brighton and Bournemouth the CEO is not driving the football side of the business especially selecting a new coach/manager. Ashton is driving it at Town.

Yes — the evidence suggests that at all three clubs, the CEO is not the primary football decision-maker when it comes to identifying and selecting head coaches/managers. The process is led by football executives (technical directors, sporting directors, directors of football) operating within an owner-approved strategy. However, the degree of influence varies by club.

Comparing the three clubs

A useful way to think about them:

Brentford
Most sporting-director driven
Football department chooses coaches → owner signs off.

Brighton
Most system-driven
Club philosophy chooses coaches → football department executes → owner approves.

Bournemouth
Most owner-influenced
Football department identifies candidates → ownership heavily involved → appointment made.

Poll:

Building on NthQldITFC thread - If you had to choose, would you rather?

Stability is our greatest strength on 10:42 - Jun 21 with 435 views

boysof1981

Think he deserves a full season, let’s face it our last season in the PL wasn’t exactly great.

Stability is our greatest strength on 10:45 - Jun 21 with 426 views

jas0999

I very much doubt GO will be sacked if he keeps us up. Whether he would want to move on if a better offer came in (see his current club) would be the bigger issue.

Let’s be clear, GO has been brought in to keep us up. He needs to hit the ground running. We will all wish him well, but if results are poor he will have no credit in the bank and the club would I suspect act accordingly. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen and we win a few games!

[Post edited 21 Jun 10:48]

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