Chairman and CEO Mark Ashton says he’s been delighted by the Blues’ performances this season even if results haven’t followed and reiterated that his belief in manager Kieran McKenna, his staff, the players and the club as a whole hasn’t wavered.

Town sit in 18th place in the Premier League following their return to the top flight after 15 games having won only once this season.

However, speaking at last night’s PLC AGM in the Sir Bobby Robson Suite, appearing alongside chief operating officer Luke Werhun and chief financial officer Tom Ball as well as PLC chair Roger Finbow, Ashton reminded shareholders where the club has come from in a remarkably short time.

“I think in three years, we have built the first stage of a huge rocket ship. But this is not the end, it is simply the end of the beginning,” he said.

“If I look at where we’ve come from and come to, where we’ve arrived at and the challenges that we face ahead, you’ll remember me talking at the last AGM about the four pillars of the football club upon which we would rebuild this amazing club.

“The first of which was the football department, and that was the appointment of Kieran, the further enhancement of his coaching staff, the development of the training facilities, the further enhancement of our academy, our recruitment, our analysis etc.

“In the last 12 months we have continued to develop all of those areas. Kieran has signed a new long-term contract with the football club, which wasn’t an easy thing to achieve but was supported by the board in its entirety and was a very, very important part of our summer following promotion.

“Recruitment, that’s been probably one of the biggest challenges of my career this summer, for sure.

“Moving into a very tight time period with the group of players that we’ve predominantly taken from League One to the Premier League, which is what we always said we were going to do, we knew we would need to recruit quickly and recruit effectively. And I think in the majority of the cases we are very happy with what we have recruited.

“The development of our players continues, players who have come on the journey with us, players we recruited in the summer are all developing and are becoming far better players under Kieran McKenna and his coaching staff, that is for sure.”

Reflecting on how the season has gone so far, he added: “On the pitch, the first team, it’s difficult. Are we surprised by anything? Not really. If you ask my honest opinion, I’m really pleased with the performance. In fact, I’m delighted with the performances.

“What hasn’t happened is that the results haven’t quite followed as we would have liked. A couple more wins and I think we’d all be feeling a little bit different. But my optimism, my determination, my belief in Kieran, the players, the staff and this football club doesn’t move move one millimetre.

“[Sunday’s 1-1 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth] was disappointing, it was frustrating. There but the width of a post we could win the game, there but the width of the post we draw the game.

“But that is the Premier League. It’s brutal and we have to deal with it. For us to win a game, we have to be 10 out of 10 every time, nine, nine-and-a-half just doesn’t get you across the line.

“But, don’t forget where we’ve come from. We’ve got a lot of work to do and from a performance perspective, we always talk about sticking to the process and I’m more than happy with the performances that Kieran and his team have put out this season.”

Looking ahead to the January transfer window, Ashton pre-empted questions which might come from the floor later: “Before anyone asks, yes, we will be active. That’s what we do because we will move forward.”

Reflecting on the commercial side of the club, he added: “Commercially we continue to drive forward. Further enhancement of our relationship with main partner and family friend now Ed Sheeran, who is a shareholder. He should have been here. He can come and speak next time!

“All areas of commercial revenues are moving forward and moving forward well. I think you’ve seen what we’ve tried to do is tried to be really fair on ticket prices and shirt prices. Compare us with the rest of the league and we’re probably bottom of the league with some of the most competitive prices in the league.

“My mantra since I joined this club is attractive football which is affordable for families because we know we’re in a cost of living crisis, we know there is a challenge on every family’s pound and while we are running a business which loses a lot of money, we’re still trying to make this affordable for everyone.

“From a financial perspective. Let’s be really clear about this football club is. When I joined this football club, our revenues were circa £13 million. We will break through £153 million this year. That is a growth curve that I challenge anyone in world football to match.

“We are not little Ipswich, we are not sleepy Suffolk. This rocket ship will not stop. Anyone who knows me, anyone who has worked with me, I am not interested in bobbing along. We will move forward and we will move forward with power and pace because if we don’t, that lot up the road will go past us again. Not under my watch.

“This is only the end of the beginning. We have a lot to do. We’re not perfect, we will talk about some of the things where we’re not perfect that we don’t get quite right I’m sure. But I promise you, this management team, this board, when they wake up every single morning, their primary focus is how we make your football club better. How do we move forward?

“This isn’t short-term success. Short-term success is not particularly difficult to achieve. Sustainable success is far more difficult.

“On the pitch are not where we want them to be but we’re not far away. But you know what? I learn more now about my team, my players, my staff, my fanbase, my stakeholders than whenever we win games because the true supporters, the true people who really care about this football club do the one thing that I asked from day one: We stay together. We win together, we lose together. We’re happy together and we cry together. We are as one.

“This football club is so special but the only way we can continue to move forward is to move this incredible club with its amazing fanbase forward as one.

“When you go home tonight, when you go to work tomorrow and you see your friends and you get on social media tonight, if you take one message, take that: Ashton said ‘We move as one, we stay together through the good times and the challenging times’.

“And it is challenging on the pitch right now. We all feel it when we left [on Sunday]. But if we move as one, we’ll move forward. This football club’s too big to go back to where it was under the previous ownership. Let’s not forget, I couldn’t even sit in the seats day one here because they were so dirty.

“We will move forward. I’m so grateful to the fanbase, I’m so grateful to all of you. We’ve got to dig deep, we’ve got to stay together and we’ve got to go as one.”

In the PLC business side of the event Town’s financial director Tom Ball was elected to the PLC board, having been in the position on an interim basis having replaced former chairman Mike O’Leary, while Elizabeth Edwards and Peter Over were re-elected.

A TWTD live blog covering the question and answer session can be found here.

TWTD

Linkboy13 added 10:44 - Dec 10 He will probably say what a great season if we get relegated it's called putting a spin on things.
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bluebullet29l added 10:54 - Dec 10 Really Mr Ashton?????????????????????
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bobble added 10:59 - Dec 10 I will take 2 of your fridges sir....
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Gforce added 11:04 - Dec 10 Let's be honest, we are incredibly fortunate to have Mark Ashton at the helm,by far the best leader we have ever had. No Matter what happens this season, the future is bright and we are in safe hands. We WILL return bigger and better than ever,I have no doubt.
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Dissboyitfc added 11:14 - Dec 10 Feel very much the same, performance wise I have enjoyed a lot of what I have seen, results have been disappointing! Not sure that’s putting a spin on the situation, it’s an assessment of where he feels we are at. I haven’t used words like must win so far this season but towns next 2 games i feel will play a massive part in our season. These are games I can see us picking up points, after that Arsenal and Chelsea where I expect zero return.

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trncbluearmy added 11:17 - Dec 10 "When I joined this football club, our revenues were circa £13 million. We will break through £153 million this year." To put that into perspective scum are currently less then half that figure and beats their record of £133m The future is bright the future is Ipswich COYB
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Hatman2 added 11:20 - Dec 10 He’s absolutely right - it’s been a massive step up - League One to PL in 2 seasons, and asking Morsy, Chaplin, Davis, Burgess, Burns etc to start and win at this level. The whole club is together in fighting hard, McKenna needs time, transfer windows, and rub of the green with injuries and the big decisions in games. Those latter 2 things have not stacked up well for us.

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TimmyH added 11:24 - Dec 10 Been competitive and not much in a fair amount of games we just don't have that resolution to get as much out of the games result wise, maybe a stronger squad/bench would help. You could argue too that we should have 4 points more than what we have...
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uppernorth added 11:28 - Dec 10 At least Ashton believes, whether right or wrong. I’ve spoken to the man and he will back us no matter what. They have long term plans and it’s all happened sooner than we could’ve hoped. Maybe we weren’t quite ready, and maybe we will win a few. But maybe’s are better than negativity. We take what comes and support the boys in blue!
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GatesPerm added 11:35 - Dec 10 I think that’s a pretty fair assessment of what’s happened since promotion was confirmed and of the seasons performance so far. Sometimes, I wonder about people’s expectations. This season was always going to be incredibly difficult for three reasons; the massive step up in the quality of football (the quality of all the opposition teams has surpassed what I expected; the limitations imposed by FFP and integrating a lot of new signings into the squad, On Sunday, there were 9 of the league one squad in the match day squad! We are not marooned yet, I am sure there will be more investment in players in the January window and hope still remains.

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ArnieM added 11:59 - Dec 10 The single biggest challenge we now face is to try and get the quality of player, ( required to take us to the next level), is to actually join us! This is the biggest test of Ashtons time here now I think. He has to really sell the club to these targeted players.
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Texastom added 12:08 - Dec 10 We have overachieved. It's fantastic what we have achieved, just outstanding. Everyone knows their job, all the staff are good at their job and committed. We have all got to be realistic though. The Premier needs to start filtering the money down the Leagues - this has still to be agreed. I just feel privileged to support a lovely club. Elsewhere around the country, you speak about ITFC and they love us and the fact we are promoted. I wasn't a Sheepshanks fan, but this guy, like and rest in the Club are professional. There is no other Club in the country like ours, embrace it!

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Europablue added 12:17 - Dec 10 "we are running a business which loses a lot of money", not much of a business now is it? This is not a criticism of Ashton or the club, but it is ridiculous that with so much money in the game it isn't possible to even break even.
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blueboy1981 added 12:17 - Dec 10 Not so sure the Paymasters and Investors will be though !! - Points will be of far more interest to them than Performances - as will eventually be evident to all. ITFC is a totally different animal these days !!
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tractorboybig added 12:45 - Dec 10 well he is unlikely to say anything else,he is mr all things to everyone
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Jugsy added 12:47 - Dec 10 To the whingers, you will never be happy. Give up now and let someone else have your seat who would enjoy themselves. We are in the Prem and we are competing. We are ahead of schedule, that comes with it's own problems. We should enjoy this journey, enjoy that we're in the Prem, enjoy that pundits and oppo fans tell us we play football the right way. We're a credit to the league and as fans we shouldn't let results get us down, we need to be better than that. COYB, looking forward to Saturday already!

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Alphawhiskey added 13:01 - Dec 10 I think we may have Peaked a season too early after getting promoted into the Championship. That being said, I don't think we have done too bad so far. We have been competitive in games, apart from a few like West Ham away, Man city away etc. We have also been unlucky in others and made silly mistakes in games that we should have won , Leicester, Man utd, Forrest , Brentford, etc. Then there are games where we have been poor, Palace and Everton at home etc. Overall we are about where most pundits and people expected us to be with a long way to go. Even if we go down we will be incredibly competitive and one of the Favourites to go up again. We have came a long way from the Evans and Clegg regime COYB

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Linkboy13 added 14:14 - Dec 10 The happy clappers on here might think Ashton is God but Gamechanger might want to know why they are paying someone 150 thousand a week to sit on the bench and wasted money on championship players that are clearly not good enough for the Premier league apart from possibly Delap although he was dreadful Sunday.
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OldFart71 added 14:42 - Dec 10 Oh course Mr Ashton is not going to say this season has been a big disappointment and in truth it's not. We wanted Premier League football, we got it. A season or two before it was assumed we would I suggest. Therefore the whingers and moaners, the McKenna outers need to do one. As Ashton said "We stick together " Those up the road love to see fans of ITFC whinging, just as we do them. Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing you are unhappy with where we are. Just remember where we as Ashton said have come from.

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Gforce added 15:17 - Dec 10 I can't believe a minority of people are actually being negative towards Ashton,not just on here,but the odd radio phone in,I've listened to. Those few have extremely short memories,have they forgotten where we were just 3 years ago before Ashton and his team took over. I'll tell you where,lower mid-table and almost certainly heading for league two,under the dreadful Evans ownership. What Mark,Keiran and co have achieved is simply astonishing.....be grateful !

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blues1 added 15:38 - Dec 10 Lunkboy13 Here we go, coming out with the " happy clapper" bs. You need to get real. This season was always likely to go the way it is. It's a massive jump , without the ability to buy the quality of players necessary, due to the limits on us, from the PSR. We are unable to spend as much as any other club in the lge due to the length of time weve been out of the lge. Those who u dub as happy clappers are just fans who are realistic about the situation,. Andzwhatxare you on about, paying some1z£150,000 a,week? We're not paying anyone that amount. And if ur talkingabout phillips( we only pay part of his wages), he's been suspended and injured

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blues1 added 15:40 - Dec 10 Linkboy13.( Cont'd. ). the last few,games so wasn't gonna,just walk back into the team.
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Leejames99 added 15:41 - Dec 10 @linkboy13 Do you just come on here put of boredom and to get a rise out of Ipswich Town fans, you clearly do not support the team it seems. I'm interested to know as I am sure we all are who the doom and gloom merchants, and there is a few of you, think should be going down this season? Leicester is a premiership team with a wealth of experience and Southampton have been a yo yo team and we haven't been there for 22 years and only 2 seasons ago were in league 1. So with that in mind the teams around us Wolves, Palace, West Ham, Everton they are all well established teams, so who goes down? 17th is the only position we can fight for, the last time we were in that league the first season we did well as teams didn't know the squad plus there was no VAR etc but the second season we were sussed and relegated never to return until now. Do you think the owners have no idea and just want money? If you moaners were fans you would know they all had a summit a few weeks ago and was nothing but positive. Do you not think that KMck and Ashton knew this season would most likely lead to relegation so in turn got the stadium premiership ready and recruited the best young talent from the Championship who know that league and give us an amazing chance to return more prepared with a new integrated team with a winning mentality and that is what a season in Championship will bring us. We have Szmodicks the top scorer, Greaves the top centre half, Delap. We then got fellow international of players in O'Shea and Ogbene plus managed to sign Hutchinson and still have Leif, Jack Clarke dynamite and young will only gey better etc and the biggest signing in keeping Mckenna. I am sorry to disappoint you but don't be surprised if we go and snap up the cream of this year's Championship also, the ones on fire but no chance of promotion, give them a taste of the prem so they all so hungry to get straight back. Like the league one players who served us so well from league one to today it is now time for the next phase. Some of those players will stay, Davis and Chaplin, Burgess have done well but others have to move on, it's football. Kelvin Phillips is class and if you knew football you would know that Phillips and Cajuste were on bench so neither get carded or injured as our captain is one card from suspension and I think you will find Cajuste and aphillips in the middle against Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea as they are both on loan from top clubs with huge experience and I'd rather they battling in midfield against Declan Rice, Guimeres, Caciedo, Palmer than Jack Taylor and a Burns. Muric I think can't be blamed entirely but has made mistakes but they all have but he is a top shot stopper and it most likely doesn't help hearing fans berating him but again Mckenna not daft, Walton did ok against Liverpool but not the answer and I would imagine we will stick with Muric as again he was Championship keeper of the season and has saved as many points as he lost us, against Spurs he was great, that's just one example, if you notice he plays better away, I wonder why? Our strategy has been perfect we have over achieved and like Brighton, Brentford and Bournemouth it is most likely we will take one step back to take two forward and become an established Premiership team and It is clear we are fully prepared and thinking ahead with it in mind. Rome was not built in a day and nor was Ipswich Town. Sorry long post but it needed be said. Forget anything better than 17th this season or be prepared for a year in Championship watching Town fly. I believe we will get some more talent from Championship and if we can get Ben Chilwell, maybe Maguire, Almiron, a few players who are bench warming at top clubs we may get 17th or 18th but in the meantime just enjoy that our club is doing well again, and we are in a good place. Trust the process, support and no matter what keep cheering the boys on whoever is on the field. COYB

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IanLowe added 16:01 - Dec 10 Great to see so many positive posts from real fans. The critics don’t seem to realise that our manager actually sees players train…! Everyday..! He actually knows how they are and what is possible..! Also look at the injury statistics, just out on media…we are second worst hit in the premier so far…irrespective of the reasons for this ..it cannot help. Perhaps when they are all fit we will win enough to stay up..! Let’s hope so..and support the whole club who have made, and are making such great progress.

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Carberry added 16:24 - Dec 10 It's amazing how people are suddenly accepting the prospect of relegation as almost inevitable, but it doesn't matter because look where we came from in just 3 seasons, and we'll bounce straight back. Ask Luton how that feels now. Will all the whingers please give up their seats to people who will get enjoyment from watching a losing team - what a disgrace you have bought a season ticket and expect the right to have an opinion. Our income has risen from £13M to £150+M, that's because we got promoted to the Premier League, Ashton didn't get his magic wand out. Also, there are odd references to people saying they want McKenna to be shown the door, maybe I've missed it but I haven't seen one of those. However, what will the reaction be if he picks Muric to play on Saturday?

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