Chairman and CEO Mark Ashton says the Blues will be looking at recruiting a different type of player with the physical attributes required to compete in the Premier League.

Having been relegated after one season in the top flight, Town will be looking to make an immediate return in the campaign ahead.

Speaking on TalkSPORT, Ashton was asked what lessons can be learnt as the club aims to win promotion from the Championship and then secure a longer-term stay in the Premier League next time around.

“I think it’s recruitment, recruitment, recruitment,” he said. “One of the things that we learnt was that gap in the physicality, the physical attributes of players that are required in the Premier League.

“When we look to recruit players now in the Championship, we have to adjust and amend how we recruit players. We need to look at players with the physical attributes because the reality is [manager] Kieran [McKenna] can coach them, but you can’t develop the physical attributes to the level that you need to compete.

“So it’s an evolution for us. We have to look at recruiting a different type of player, a player with a different set of physical attributes.

“But let’s be under no illusions, if we get back to the Premier League, it will be equally as tough. We have to take the learnings from what was a very tough season.”

Ashton reiterated that McKenna, who speculation but little more linked with the Brentford job handed to former Blues loanee Keith Andrews earlier today, is fully committed to the club for the campaign ahead.

“Kieran and I talk on a daily basis,” he continued. “I gave him his opportunity when we took him from Manchester United, he took it with two hands and he’s done extremely well.

“Success brings challenges, he’s been coveted. We sat down right at the end of the season at my house one night, we looked each other in the eye and I said, ‘Are you in? Are you in for this, Kieran?’. And he was very clear, ‘Absolutely, Mark. I’ve got a job to do, I want to take us back up’.

“There’s always going to be noise around him but there also has to be a bond of trust and he’s looked me in the eye and said, ‘I’m in, I want to rebuild this football club’. We work very closely.

“There will always be noise around him, that’s the nature of the beast, but he’s a man I believe has integrity, he’s told the fanbase he’s going to be here and he wants to get us re-promoted.”

Photo: TownTV

BlueNomad added 11:30 - Jun 28 I ought to be grateful to people like Darkhorse because people like him/her are helping me decide to step away from social media, for a while at least. I realise how much time I waste in reading ignorant rubbish from people who, based on their certainty, must excel in their running of complex organisations!
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inghamspur added 11:59 - Jun 28 Dark horse has been out in the sun too long
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1960H added 12:01 - Jun 28 @Bazza8564....Muric was shot to due to his experiences at Burnley pieces before he came to us, Hutchinson is a step up but I did think of him as a new signing as he was with us the previous season ( I should have done) we have not seen enough of Ogbenne and Szmodics due to injuries, I still feel the. Squad is not balanced and needs adjustments, the 140 million we spend made us one of the biggest spenders in Europe! (Ok it's a tiny amount compared to the big boys and we were always going to struggle! Was is spent wisely? I'm not so sure

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Marinersnose added 12:06 - Jun 28 I’m puzzled by Ashtons comments as he is suggesting that our recruiting has to be better, is he not ? I totally agree that we need to build a future proof squad capable of withstanding the physicality of the PL but without naming names, we have spent big money on players who clearly lack in this area. At least the problem is as obvious to those that matter as it is to the fans

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Gazelle added 12:09 - Jun 28 When I watched the two teams come out for the first match of the season I looked at our opponents, Liverpool and thought bloody hell are these the type of players that were going to be up against every match and I was right.
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1960H added 12:11 - Jun 28 @Bazz2564....PS In hindsight Maybe quality instead quantity might have been a better option last summer who knows? MaJust my opinion,
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1960H added 12:16 - Jun 28 Sorry for the typos sitting in the sun combination of predictive text and being unable to see much on the screen!
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Widj123 added 12:26 - Jun 28 What a complete idiot anyone could have told him that last year he needs to go and useless McKenna with him
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wiltshire_blue added 12:29 - Jun 28 It does make me laugh reading some of the negative comments on here. People that nearly made it, or played semi pro football, or had a few good Sunday league games think they know more than a professional football manager and club chairman. If this was the case than you probably would be in there position and not stacking shelves or serving sausage and bean melts. Not saying that there is anything wrong with that, but it also doesn’t mean that you know more than they do. They have done an amazing job since coming in and will likely take us back up again next season as we are in a stronger position compared to when we first entered the championship!

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TimmyH added 12:32 - Jun 28 Start looking abroad more often...which by and large our scouting system has failed to do, Cajuste was our only foreign import last season and that was a loan. As mentioned by one or two posters we need to get players in that are more physical as well as obviously the quality.
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churchmans added 12:34 - Jun 28 I didnt even read his post! Phuk me he was writing a novel! Pizzed up no doubt
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churchmans added 12:35 - Jun 28 Its going to be another emotive,rollercoaster season
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Leutard added 12:57 - Jun 28 What is the state of our scouting system, have we made any efforts to improve it?
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Edmundo added 14:15 - Jun 28 There's a reason Dave Gorman calls the comments section the "bottom half of the internet " given some comments over this and other articles. Ffs, Ashton is just spelling it out, mainly because it's quiet ATM and fans want to get an idea of what's going on in the way of recruitment. Fortunately it's all strategic stuff rather than the old "we've got XYZ lined up" rubbish we used to get from Clegg/Milne etc

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WhiteVanMan added 14:39 - Jun 28 A little less conversation a little more action Looks like we are going to loose out on Agyeman to Derby a d Norwich have already signed 5 players
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blueoutlook added 15:24 - Jun 28 Is our scouting system even up to speed ? Ashton has been banging on about it taking time for 3 years now. Are we looking abroad now, because that’s where the stars of tomorrow are and a lot cheaper as well. No good spending absolute fortunes on home grown kids who aren’t physically up to the job.
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Bazza8564 added 15:35 - Jun 28 1960H. Quality over Quantity is a good point, but not one I think I would have played differently. With the odds against an essentially underdeveloped squad (most was League one) ever being good enough to survive, I think Ashton knew exactly what he was doing and reinforced as well as he could be buying the very best Championship players at an age they would grow into PL quality in 2-3 years. The quick developers like Delap and Omari will get sold off and the investment will be repaid at 200% with reinvestment this summer always on the cards. Did MA think we would go down? Yes I think he did. Will we have £65m to bolster that squad with 4 incoming players? Yes we will. You could argue that doing what he did prepared us for failure. I would argue that the true test is where we are in 3-5 years time, when all this talent has matured and we have been up (and possibly down again) at least once. One thing I can say with certainty that four players at £35m would a) Have been almost impossible to recruit, B) Wouldn't have kept us up on their own and C) Would have been sold on at at loss because they wouldn't stay with a championship Club. I think Mark's wisdom to plan for stability and pray for a miracle was wise. He couldn't have spent any more, but now add a new CF, 2 in MF and one at the Back with the £65m, keep the rest and see how that squad looks against the likes of this seasons opponents and judge when it shapes up next season. My opinion, no way in a million we would ever get through last season with what we could afford, but hes positioned us supremely well for another crack at it. He knows exactly whats hes doing

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blueboy1981 added 15:52 - Jun 28 Questions have to now be asked of people ? - talk is always cheap, maybe too much free reign has been left to two particular people ? Relegation has undoubtedly upset the Applecart - HUGELY !!
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Bazza8564 added 15:56 - Jun 28 Blueboy, you mean the two people who have, between them, rescued the club from the mid table league one position, restored capacity crowds to PR week in week out for the first time in a generation and put us on a footing with the Investors to go from strength to strength in the years ahead?
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blueboy1981 added 16:00 - Jun 28 Carberry - you’re absolutely right, but two people who ‘should’ have known, obviously didn’t !! But, we’re not allowed to be truthful on here, ‘they’ call it being Negative (the Ostrich’s I mean) by ‘they’ !!
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blueboy1981 added 16:10 - Jun 28 People and Players leaving - doesn’t encourage people go join us - and that’s right where we are at RIGHT NOW ! Makes you wonder who’s next for the EXIT ?? - it’s a daily occurrence now !!
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RobsonWark added 16:23 - Jun 28 whitevanman I couldn't careless about how man players those Canaries have signed. Just because they have signed 5, it doesn't mean they are any good. They have only spent £2.3 million so can't be any good. They also lost 6 players.
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Bazza8564 added 16:28 - Jun 28 Blueboy. Omari will be next, as soon as the PSR year rolls over and that will put another £35m in the coffers alongside the £30m we got for Delap. And then we will sell surplus like Walton, Broadhead and Al Hamadi. And that same new PSR year will mean we will start signing players again. But with £65m to spend and probably 4 gaps to fill. a CF (or possibly two), 2 MF minimum and a LCB if Baggott is deemed not up to it. It's so easy to moan when you can sit behind the keyboard and just strike out. Show a bit of faith and gratitude that our club is now on a long term growth path again. And if you believe we were ever going to survive a double promotion and stay in the PL, I really feel for you......You call us Ostriches because we were being grateful and thinking beyond the lagacy of adecent side we had in 1981!

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Bazza8564 added 16:31 - Jun 28 RobsonWark, spot on. We have a PL PSR year to run down (monday) they have a championship one that works differently. When Omari goes we will have £65 raised from two players, £2.3m won't cover the agents fees of the players we can afford!
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BlueNomad added 16:31 - Jun 28 Blueboy, RUBBISH! There is natural churn at every club. Two players reached the end of their contracts and for their own reasons didn’t go for what was offered here. We have sold another for £30m due to a relegation clause in his contract. The fact they have gone won’t deter anyone. Stop resorting to ridiculous hyperbole which looks ridiculous.
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