Christopher Hughton’s interview approach

[Bris Red]

45 minutes ago, City Rocker said:

Seriously? It's hysterical stuff like this that makes me side with Ashton and the Lansdowns and double my support for Dean and the boys. 

You think Chris Hughton is bigger than Bristol City? F'k off! 

You have completely missed the point. Anyway I’m sure a manager of Chris Hughton’s calibre will hardly lose any sleep over not getting the Bristol City job.. I’d love to ask him what he thought of Ashton and the pleb JL!

[Mr Popodopolous]

1 hour ago, RedRoss said:

It's not impossible but in my mind its implausible because most things are nowadays. For some reason society and specifically football fans are always looking for a reason or conspiracy behind things. I must read 4 rumours or implausible theories on just this platform a week. We live in a world of attention seekers and that's what I feel it is. Why hasn't Exiled Robin talked about Paul Cooks interview and the reasons he didnt get the job (surely the same source would know about that too?) or other candidates? The reason is because Chris Hughton is on vogue at the moment and it will gather the most attention. 

Obviously I have no idea but I just don't buy it.

 

Cook has a situation that maybe complicated by the terms of his release from Wigan.

However fair point, Hughton would certainly be the one to generate most clicks- Wigan were refusing to release Cook from his contract though or the administrators were as he was deemed to be an asset.

Look around at some of the leaks in football though, some of them probably even likely occur for trivial or irrational reasons.

The bit I can to some extent believe is that he may have wanted a bigger wage and transfer budget than we could justify.

@spudski has posted about the club and industry before, would be interested in whether he thinks this could've been leaked and especially by anyone below top exec level.

[eric04]

1 hour ago, M.D said:

So, Chris Hughton attended an interview for a role with a championship club and came in completely unprepared not knowing the background of the club or its playing staff.

he then had no plan or insight in to how he wanted to take this club forward apart from get rid of all the playing staff.

does that sound believable?

Mark Ashton said the last four were interviewed several times. If CH was that bad, how did he end up getting interviewed multiple times. This is horse shit. The Post is one source, and likely as hell, someone else who spoke to GMCG and now thinks he’s in the know “cos he heard” is the other.

Exiled Robin hasn’t double sourced at all. He’s heard two versions of Chinese whispers. Unless he’s spoke to CH, JL or MA. Those are genuine sources. 

 

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 minutes ago, eric04 said:

Mark Ashton said the last four were interviewed several times. If CH was that bad, how did he end up getting interviewed multiple times. This is horse shit. The Post is one source, and likely as hell, someone else who spoke to GMCG and now thinks he’s in the know “cos he heard” is the other.

Exiled Robin hasn’t double sourced at all. He’s heard two versions of Chinese whispers. Unless he’s spoke to CH, JL or MA. Those are genuine sources. 

 

Journo could have heard it from someone below exec level within the club with a grievance, and then the journo be the one who told Exiled Robin.

Leaks often and understandably take quite circuitous routes. Always off the record, always through multiple layers.

[eric04]

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Journo could have heard from someone below exec level within the club with a grudge who told Exiled Robin.

Leaks often and understandably take quite circuitous routes.

And the more people they pass through, the more diluted the truth becomes. 

[Jeez]

It’s certainly possible and I’ve seen 1st hand where the nailed on candidate, who is everyone’s favourite & the one you want to hire turns up to a final interview completely unprepared, for a top level position.

You’re sitting there thinking how is this happening & you know you have to appoint the other person or start the process all over again.

It would explain a lot.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Just now, eric04 said:

And the more people they pass through, the more diluted the truth becomes. 

Some do, some don't.

Not dismissing parts of it entirely. If Hughton demanded a say £10m transfer budget and to push the boat out on wages that would justifiably have proven a problem this summer!

[2015]

The same Exiled Robin who spoke on OSIB pretty much defending the club, MA and JL at all costs?

I think I will take what he says as a pinch of salt. Total happy clapper.

[Simon79]

48 minutes ago, RedRoss said:

It's not impossible but in my mind its implausible because most things are nowadays. For some reason society and specifically football fans are always looking for a reason or conspiracy behind things. I must read 4 rumours or implausible theories on just this platform a week. We live in a world of attention seekers and that's what I feel it is. Why hasn't Exiled Robin talked about Paul Cooks interview and the reasons he didnt get the job (surely the same source would know about that too?) or other candidates? The reason is because Chris Hughton is on vogue at the moment and it will gather the most attention. 

Obviously I have no idea but I just don't buy it.

 

You only come on here 4 times a week? COYR 

[Mr Popodopolous]

30 minutes ago, 2015 said:

The same Exiled Robin who spoke on OSIB pretty much defending the club, MA and JL at all costs?

I think I will take what he says as a pinch of salt. Total happy clapper.

What do you think Hughton's wishlist contained then- and do you think it was feasible?

Exiled Robin maybe worth taking with a pinch of salt, but easy to play the man not the ball.

A mismatch of realism vs idealism financially at least may have been possible here.

Stuff about no preparation work, no knowledge etc however- that certainly does not ring true.

[AshtonGreat]

So he had no knowledge of the playing staff but he wanted to have a complete clear-out. Somehow I doubt it

[formerly known as ivan]

Hahaha, the man who has god knows how much experience, three promotions to the premier league, links throughout the football world and worked at Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton... wouldn’t know how to prepare for an interview for Bristol City!

Do me a favour!

[Mr Popodopolous]

45 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

Hahaha, the man who has god knows how much experience, three promotions to the premier league, links throughout the football world and worked at Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton... wouldn’t know how to prepare for an interview for Bristol City!

Do me a favour!

Did he factor in correctly the finances though- and the reality of the situation in Covid and FFP times?

How do you spend as he may have liked as of summer 2020 when you have a fairly large squad, a fairly stagnant market, losses related to Covid 19 on the books- and you still have to keep losses within acceptable limits? Let alone the ongoing monitoring and future monitoring from present day factor?

We'll never know but summer 2021 would be a good time for a new man to do an overhaul provided we keep a steady ship as we have loads out of contract and Covid related losses or football finances generally may have improved by then.

Still, you posted a thread about SL selling up- a viable proposition in this financial climate for a mid-ranking Championship club?? Can I have some of what you're having!  

Do you also realise that if he sold us up, he could in theory stop putting cash in and look to force costs right down to self-sufficiency or as close to possible as this. That would mean lower transfers, lower wages etc etc- owners have done it before!

Or he could look to whack us down to worse- self-sufficiency, inclusive of a hefty whack of rent on all the club assets.

Or he could take out loans on the fixed assets we own as alternative funding- or that he owns, but have us pay it back- secured against the fixed assets which would and especially in alternative finance have a chance of a hefty rate of interest attached- the interest aside, the loans would have to be paid back eventually of course. (Unless it'd be some kind of interest-only loan I guess) but it would add to our cost base significantly.

PS- it's two promotions to the PL. Equal to a certain Mr. Coppell- though that said it was 2 with him and one when it was Division One. He had 3 in total but just two post 1992.

[James54De]

1 hour ago, eric04 said:

Mark Ashton said the last four were interviewed several times. If CH was that bad, how did he end up getting interviewed multiple times. This is horse shit. The Post is one source, and likely as hell, someone else who spoke to GMCG and now thinks he’s in the know “cos he heard” is the other.

Exiled Robin hasn’t double sourced at all. He’s heard two versions of Chinese whispers. Unless he’s spoke to CH, JL or MA. Those are genuine sources. 

 

Perhaps he got multiple interviews because the club really wanted him, and thought that they should try as hard as they could to reach an agreement. 

[Red-Robbo]

Easy for the guy who's been at the club for years to show up with lots of intricate knowledge of the club and its players.  My first question would've been "If these were such great ideas, how come you couldn't sell them to Lee Johnson?"

With Hughton his past successes and experiences at a high level should more than cancel out a more sketchy view of who's who. That can be acquired before the season. Hughton is known for meticulous preparation.

I think the real "car crash" was the decision Lansdown and Ashton made.  

[Mr Popodopolous]

4 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

Easy for the guy who's been at the club for years to show up with lots of intricate knowledge of the club and its players.  My first question would've been "If these were such great ideas, how come you couldn't sell them to Lee Johnson?"

With Hughton his past successes and experiences at a high level should more than cancel out a more sketchy view of who's who. That can be acquired before the season. Hughton is known for meticulous preparation.

I think the real "car crash" was the decision Lansdown and Ashton made.  

Agree on the substance- the main area I can see or should be able to see a sticking point is the budgetary differences.

Beyond that possibility, he surely ticked all of the boxes. If it was a significant divergence in budget though, what we could offer vs what we have available then don't see how any party can take the blame tbh.

[Atticus]

Dont believe that for a second. Even if Gregor was a source.

Who would of leaked it?? It would of been from our camp. It reeks of trying to get fans back on the boards side.

Utter nonsense, cus as have been said, it wouldn't explain how we got Holden. 

[Major Isewater]

Chris Hughton’s lawyer is probably getting his order in for a new Ferrari as we discuss the subject. 

[Spike]

5 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

What do you think Hughton's wishlist contained then- and do you think it was feasible?

Exiled Robin maybe worth taking with a pinch of salt, but easy to play the man not the ball.

A mismatch of realism vs idealism financially at least may have been possible here.

Stuff about no preparation work, no knowledge etc however- that certainly does not ring true.

I think Hughton would have wanted control, that's the be all and end all issue that prevented it IMO. Hughton is a manager, we wanted a coach and I'd imagine Hughton said "I want to do it my way" and the board probably said "We employ Ashton for the transfer dealings and what we want is a coach".
I think ultimately it was just down to the old style vs the new system and the club were unwilling to budge on their new coaches over management approach that they are taking. I'd imagine Hughton would have wanted a budget to work with too which is more risky than selling our best players and developing new ones.

It still comes down to money and control IMO, many are happy to accept the new coaches because they look good on camera, doing their coaching techniques but until we see that transfer onto the pitch it all means nothing when it comes to getting promotion. We could develop a squad of 30 outstanding youngers and still not win promotion because at the end of the day it comes down to tactics and the performance of the 11 players and any subs. I don't see promotion under this model, at least not with Holden as I don't think he'll have the tactical experience.

I personally would have given Hughton control and told Ashton to work with him on transfers on a 2 year contract and after 2 seasons if there were no clear signs of promotion I'd have let the contract end. There won't be many big chances to have a manager of that quality at this level and although the club has a plan having a few seasons of the youth developing on loans or the odd games wouldn't have been detrimental in the long run, it certainly wouldn't have been a bad thing had we gained promotion but it is what it is. I'm not excited about this season, I won't be going to any games and I won't be buying any merch. I can understand the fans that are willing to just get on with it and support the club but I believe if you financially back something that you don't agree with then you'll forever be that fan the club can exploit when they need to.

[The Batman]

Reminds me of the Michael Misfud transfer debacle back in 2008. Nobody knows what really happened bar the people in there. People can speculate and interpret till the cows come home. Some may be true. Some may not. Makes for some interesting reading to pass some time. 

[Fordy62]

Utter bullshit. 

Exiled Robin used to be a really decent writer, but has more recently just become a peddler of the club’s propaganda - he’s lost his ability to be neutral, to criticise the club. And it’s very sad. 

[Lew-T]

29 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

Utter bullshit. 

Exiled Robin used to be a really decent writer, but has more recently just become a peddler of the club’s propaganda - he’s lost his ability to be neutral, to criticise the club. And it’s very sad. 

The busiest man on Twitter...

 

[Jeez]

Depends on the level of unpreparedness but there is always going to be a difference in approaches  from internal vs external candidates.

External: would be difficult to roll out a detailed roadmap of change without knowing weak points, especially if that is the brief, ends up being theoretical.

Internal: Knows the audience expectations & plays to their beat. Should be able to deliver detailed plan as they are so close the action so the detailed would be expected.

What you can’t do is compare like for like, but as I said sometimes the favoured candidate can just leave you disappointed, especially if you felt they were the one to take you forward.

Its possible the board compared like for like without factoring enough of the What If’s & not taking into account how the candidate will perform day to day outside of the interview dynamic.

[Murraysrightplum]

8 hours ago, LocoPal said:

As a chief exec, would you want anyone earning more than you in a 'lower role' like head coach or manager, that you couldn't be a baring influence on?

That would be Chris Hughton. He has his own mind and methods.

There is too much power up high, in executive positions with no real football experience.

As i've said before. We are ran more like an events organiser and recuitments agency now, but that is where the expertise of our CEO and his staff is.

Our old club is very, very dead.

Mark Ashton played for West Brom. I would agree about Jon Lansdown but it seems like wasn’t happy with the Holden appointment, so the ‘non football man’ agrees with the fans it seems

99% of fans on here aren’t ‘football people’ either (By which I mean never played or coached to a semi pro or professional level or been involved in running a professional club) and we pretty much all wanted Hughton. So maybe this ‘Football people’ phrase is just nonsense trotted out by fans who didn’t get their own way and have thrown their toys out of the pram?

Just a thought

[exAtyeoMax]

The tweet could be worded in a more professional manner for a start. 
I read on here or on Twitter a couple of weeks ago that CH hadn’t interviewed well, but that could mean for lots of different reasons as already stated.
To describe it as a “car crash” sounds like a second or thirty party recipient of the “gossip” elaborating and exaggerating, as some people do. 
A lot of people had concerns about CH fitting into the structure, financial constraints, budget required etc., so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he didn’t on this occasion. 
 

[Taz]

So Exiled Robin has Gregor as one of his sources? OK very plausible, but why has Gregor not published this instead of/as well? He wrote about Korey signing a new deal, and then had to be corrected by Korey. If there was a story in it, he would have wrote it himself.

I call bullshit.

[Phileas Fogg]

6 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Did he factor in correctly the finances though- and the reality of the situation in Covid and FFP times?

How do you spend as he may have liked as of summer 2020 when you have a fairly large squad, a fairly stagnant market, losses related to Covid 19 on the books- and you still have to keep losses within acceptable limits? Let alone the ongoing monitoring and future monitoring from present day factor?

We'll never know but summer 2021 would be a good time for a new man to do an overhaul provided we keep a steady ship as we have loads out of contract and Covid related losses or football finances generally may have improved by then.

Still, you posted a thread about SL selling up- a viable proposition in this financial climate for a mid-ranking Championship club?? Can I have some of what you're having!  

Do you also realise that if he sold us up, he could in theory stop putting cash in and look to force costs right down to self-sufficiency or as close to possible as this. That would mean lower transfers, lower wages etc etc- owners have done it before!

Or he could look to whack us down to worse- self-sufficiency, inclusive of a hefty whack of rent on all the club assets.

Or he could take out loans on the fixed assets we own as alternative funding- or that he owns, but have us pay it back- secured against the fixed assets which would and especially in alternative finance have a chance of a hefty rate of interest attached- the interest aside, the loans would have to be paid back eventually of course. (Unless it'd be some kind of interest-only loan I guess) but it would add to our cost base significantly.

PS- it's two promotions to the PL. Equal to a certain Mr. Coppell- though that said it was 2 with him and one when it was Division One. He had 3 in total but just two post 1992.

No disrespect intended, I’m a big fan of you as a poster - but you’re like a broken record on Covid/Financial implications 

[formerly known as ivan]

6 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Did he factor in correctly the finances though- and the reality of the situation in Covid and FFP times?

How do you spend as he may have liked as of summer 2020 when you have a fairly large squad, a fairly stagnant market, losses related to Covid 19 on the books- and you still have to keep losses within acceptable limits? Let alone the ongoing monitoring and future monitoring from present day factor?

We'll never know but summer 2021 would be a good time for a new man to do an overhaul provided we keep a steady ship as we have loads out of contract and Covid related losses or football finances generally may have improved by then.

Still, you posted a thread about SL selling up- a viable proposition in this financial climate for a mid-ranking Championship club?? Can I have some of what you're having!  

Do you also realise that if he sold us up, he could in theory stop putting cash in and look to force costs right down to self-sufficiency or as close to possible as this. That would mean lower transfers, lower wages etc etc- owners have done it before!

Or he could look to whack us down to worse- self-sufficiency, inclusive of a hefty whack of rent on all the club assets.

Or he could take out loans on the fixed assets we own as alternative funding- or that he owns, but have us pay it back- secured against the fixed assets which would and especially in alternative finance have a chance of a hefty rate of interest attached- the interest aside, the loans would have to be paid back eventually of course. (Unless it'd be some kind of interest-only loan I guess) but it would add to our cost base significantly.

PS- it's two promotions to the PL. Equal to a certain Mr. Coppell- though that said it was 2 with him and one when it was Division One. He had 3 in total but just two post 1992.

I thought he got promoted with Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton?

[formerly known as ivan]

6 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Did he factor in correctly the finances though- and the reality of the situation in Covid and FFP times?

How do you spend as he may have liked as of summer 2020 when you have a fairly large squad, a fairly stagnant market, losses related to Covid 19 on the books- and you still have to keep losses within acceptable limits? Let alone the ongoing monitoring and future monitoring from present day factor?

We'll never know but summer 2021 would be a good time for a new man to do an overhaul provided we keep a steady ship as we have loads out of contract and Covid related losses or football finances generally may have improved by then.

Still, you posted a thread about SL selling up- a viable proposition in this financial climate for a mid-ranking Championship club?? Can I have some of what you're having!  

Do you also realise that if he sold us up, he could in theory stop putting cash in and look to force costs right down to self-sufficiency or as close to possible as this. That would mean lower transfers, lower wages etc etc- owners have done it before!

Or he could look to whack us down to worse- self-sufficiency, inclusive of a hefty whack of rent on all the club assets.

Or he could take out loans on the fixed assets we own as alternative funding- or that he owns, but have us pay it back- secured against the fixed assets which would and especially in alternative finance have a chance of a hefty rate of interest attached- the interest aside, the loans would have to be paid back eventually of course. (Unless it'd be some kind of interest-only loan I guess) but it would add to our cost base significantly.

PS- it's two promotions to the PL. Equal to a certain Mr. Coppell- though that said it was 2 with him and one when it was Division One. He had 3 in total but just two post 1992.

 

3 minutes ago, formerly known as ivan said:

I thought he got promoted with Newcastle, Norwich and Brighton?

My bad, Norwich were already in the Prem!

[Silvio Dante]

I think, irrespective of the truth in the interview, what this process has done is a degree of harm to Chris Hughtons future managerial aspirations, and I’d make the call that his next appointment will be at a smaller club than us.

Hes now:

- 61

- Over a year out of the game

- Been not selected for a job he’s publicly expressed an interest in (ours)

- Been not in the frame for jobs you’d expect him to be a candidate for (Watford/Bournemouth)

If there’s a lower prem vacancy or a top six champ, they’re looking at Eddie Howe first. I don’t care how good you are (or were) previously, football moves fast and when you’re 60+ and out of the game for the period CH is/will be (likely verging on 2 years when the next “scale” vacancies come about), you’re yesterday’s man - you’re  Alan Curbishley.

Fact is, CH needed our job, Bournemouth job or Watford job at this stage to avoid that slip into “didn’t he do well ages ago” territory when future roles come up. And if he did come unprepared in view of that, more fool him.

None of this means I didn’t think he was a damn good candidate on paper and wouldn’t have welcomed him. But he may have needed us as much as we may have needed him