Ashton: We Knew Our Top Targets and Got Them Across the Line Friday, 24th Mar 2023 18:26 CEO Mark Ashton says the Blues’ January transfer window, widely hailed as a great success, was the culmination of work going back to the end of August. Town signed Massimo Luongo, Nathan Broadhead and Harry Clarke on a permanent basis and George Hirst on loan from Leicester during the window with all four having made a significant impression during the Blues’ ongoing six-game winning run. “The one thing I would say is that when you have a good window as a CEO, you get nice kind words,” Ashton said. “But be under no illusion, I’m simply the tip of the sword. “I have a role to play, but it’s not all me. There’s a group of people who work really hard behind the scenes, [manager] Kieran [McKenna] included, his staff included, [chief operating officer] Luke Werhun, [director of football operations] Gary Probert, [director of performance] Andy Rolls, [head of recruitment] Sam Williams in particular, his team. “There’s so much work from a talent ID bit, identifying the right player, Kieran being comfortable with that part of the whole process and then the acquisition piece, whether that’s permanent or a loan. “I just felt this window was so important to us. We’ve moved to a world where everything’s either Whatsapped or on a Zoom or Teams call, which I’m not the biggest fan of. “I think what my staff have got here is really good personality and I think it’s easier to get in front of people. “I made a comment that we weren’t going to leave a stone unturned, but if we don’t get off out of our chairs and go and visit people and pitch and give people the courtesy of explaining who we are, what we’re doing, why we’re trying to do this, why League One, we haven’t left any stone unturned. “And I include myself in that. I couldn’t ask the staff to do that if I didn’t do it as well. Whatever the club was with the players, I did that, Luke did that, Kieran did that at all the different levels, whether that was CEO, recruitment, manager, coaching staff, we went and spent the time. “And I think the biggest upside we’ve got is that it’s Ipswich Town, the size of the football club, players are coming here to play in front of the best part of 30,000 people, promotion push, great experience if they’re on loan, great opportunity to develop if they’re a permanent signing and Kieran plays a major role in that because they’re only going to get better. “The challenge is the mental switch from a Premier League Broadhead, Premier League Hirst, Premier League Leif, ‘We’re not dropping to the Championship, we’re dropping to League One. Gulp’. “That’s no disrespect to Ipswich, Ashton, McKenna, the board, the ownership, it’s not about money at that point, that’s a huge mental switch on why [they should] step back to come forward. And that’s what takes the time. “Everyone played a part in that and I think the biggest thing for me was that we knew what our 'A' targets were, we had others bubbling away, but we stuck to our guns and the players that Kieran wanted, we got across the line.” Among the players understood to have been interesting the Blues who didn’t end up at Portman Road was Peterborough midfielder Jack Taylor. “It’s wrong of me to talk about players who are under contract at other football clubs, there’s been a lot of noise, a lot of press,” Ashton added when quizzed on the 24-year-old. “There were other players that we looked at, there were other clubs that we spoke to about players that didn’t come to fruition.” Swansea’s Morgan Whittaker, who was recalled from his spell at Plymouth during the window, was also understood to be a target. “Whittaker was a name that was thrown at us time and time again but in any deal, players have got to be lined up, agents have got to be lined up, clubs have got to be lined up and if any of those isn’t, you’re swimming against the tide. But I would reiterate that the 'A' targets were the 'A' targets.” It’s believed Whittaker, who came close to joining Rangers during the window, was wasn’t keen on a move to the Blues. Also on Town’s January radar was Tottenham’s England U20 international striker Dane Scarlett, who is on loan at Portsmouth. “Another name that was mentioned,” Ashton added. “There are probably 15 others that I could reel off that we were doing work on. “You don’t work on one deal and then when that falls away, you start on the next one. You’ve got plates spinning all the time and the work for January really started at the back end of August, it was that early this year that we were onto it.” Late in the window there was interest in Town winger Kyle Edwards from Hull City and other clubs but Ashton says the decision had already been taken not to allow any of the first-team squad to move on. “Line drawn, no problem,” he said. “We’ve got strong ownership, if Kieran knocked on my door and said he wanted to move on player x, then it’s over to me to get the best value. “Nothing had changed in January, whether it was Kyle or anyone else. These are the players he wanted in with us. “What Kieran didn’t want was a shock or surprise on the last day of the window with me saying ‘What do you think?’, so we made the decision at that point, ‘No, we’re closed, we get on with it’. Was the interest in Edwards permanent or a loan? “It didn’t go that far. We got to the point where it was ‘Can we have a conversation?’ and the answer was no. There were a couple of [clubs], there was little bit of noise on the last day of the window, the last couple of days of the window. “My job is to have good information, so I know those calls are coming, I’d already had the heads-up, ‘Beware, you’re going to get a phone call’, two days out.” The Mark Ashton Interview
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