Jump to content
IGNORED

Mark Ashton Leaving (Merged)


Harry

Recommended Posts

49 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

 

 

As for Ashton, careful what you wish for. If you think he's the root of all our problems I think some may be in for a surprise

And this is precisely what Ive said and really believe. MA is a fantastic scape goat for a much much wider failure across the club. His departure in isolation does not change the direction of travel.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Marina's Rolls Royce said:

And this is precisely what Ive said and really believe. MA is a fantastic scape goat for a much much wider failure across the club. His departure in isolation does not change the direction of travel.

I am not sure. He is the Captain of the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think its right that Ashton has gone. I cannot remember such a divisive figure who was not the manager. The problem with Ashton is that he is a poor communicator and he signs up to the Ricky Gervais Guide to management speak. I think overall he is being judged harshly when considering his contribution. 

There have been improvements in the way the club has been run during his tenure which should not be understated. Our Youth Policy had almost vanished and has been reinvigorated by Ashton. His appointment of Tinnion was clever and there is no doubt that the club has grown stronger as a result with at least 6 players on the verge of the First Team or in it. We have had more players go out on loan and gain valuable experience. He has also delivered a first class training ground. Scouting networks have been established and he has tried to create a structure which is not dependent on 1 or 2 people, including the manager. Let's face it, we have had times in our history when the club has been bloated by lots of players of different managers which has cost us a fortune to get rid.

His negotiation skills should also not be forgotten and he has helped to generate unheard of levels of transfer revenue, including establishing helpful links with sides such as Chelsea.  

Where I think Ashton has failed is ultimately down to his style of communication and leadership. He has been anonymous for large parts and has not engaged with the supporters.  This makes him seem arrogant and above everyone else.  If his realistic and genuine aim was top 6 then he has failed. In fact, he has presided over a squad in decline, unbalanced and unfit. Looking at it, the value of the squad is also in decline with 1 or 2 exceptions. It is difficult to say that the squad is in a better state than it was when he joined.... in fact, I would say its gone back to square 1 as he leaves. Lots of players out of contract is a sign of poor business. 

The transfer deals that have been done by the club since he was appointed have largely been MISS. We have not invested wisely in the squad and players have been brought in with no real intention of them going into the first team (Engvall, Szmodics, Adeklun, Eissa, Walsh, Watkins to name but a few). There is about 7 million pounds in that little lot.  We needed a quality squad not one bloated by numbers. 

He culled Steve Cotterill which never made me warm to him. The club treated a double winning manager disgracefully. The appointment of Johnson was largely a gamble which paid off given the position we found ourselves in at the time but the appointment of Holden smashes Ashton's legitimacy. There is simply no way Holden was or could be the best man to take us into the top 6 and beyond ... he couldnt do as part of LJ's team so what evidence did they have that he could do it on his own..... there was none. What he then came out and said what he did about it was disrespectful to the fans. We may have different opinions but not one person on here would have said "Holden". Was that his decision or was it SL's.  That appointment has taken the club backwards. 

Overall, I think its right for him to move on as he has not met his own publicly stated objectives (top 6), but I don't think some of the things he has done are all bad. He perhaps leaves us in a slightly better state than when he joined, which perhaps reveals the poor management of the club back in the day. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Winston said:

Hey guys and gals... whose up for a party?

 

https://fb.me/e/1fYdf2X7L

 

 

7FE626F2-F31F-401D-8D97-557EA814E8DE.jpeg

Out of likes but that’s superb! Sports Bar should be open for this? ?

He’s been fortunate that we haven’t been at the games this season else I am sure there would’ve been plenty of “Mark Ashton, what a manual manipulator!” ringing out. Maybe save that for if we play Ipswich?! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Red Exile said:

Oh come on...no one could have seriously thought Dean Holden the right appointment, regardless of what he said. The fact he'd worked at the club for years should have made that even more obvious to those in the room. He was wet behind the ears as a manager and had none of the qualities needed to move the club forward. At the time some of us had to go along with the idea that maybe he had something we couldn't see, and humour those on here who want to believe everything they are told. But Holden was an appalling appointment, out of his depth, as - in truth - was the man he replaced.

Mark Ashton thinks he talks a good game. In fact he doesn't, as we have all become aware. He alienates people. I don't think that's his intention, but he does. I'm led to believe by those who've met him that he's a highly respected salesman. Which is great when you have assets to sell that others want. Being a good salesman doesn't maker you a good investor...as our current first team squad shows. He is, of course, not the root of all our problems. That lies in the consistent inability of the club's owner to make the right appointments!

I stand by my statement. You simply can't answer that if you weren't in the interview process. I'm sure most of us know someone who talked themselves into a job above their station at some point

It could have been that we wanted Hughton but he wasn't that fussed and was useless in the interview. 

I agree in hindsight he was probably out of his depth, and I wanted Hughton or Pearson at the time, but I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that having an inside perspective (and a very short turnaround summer) he may have had an advantage over anyone else because he knew what had gone wrong and believed he could fix it. Turns out he couldn't. Considering NP hasn't done much since it could be the players let him down? 

I think with Ashton many people are making assumptions that he picked and chose the players to buy as opposed to just doing the deals for the players the managers wanted. If it's the latter I'm not sure he can be blamed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 minutes ago, TheJudge07 said:

I think its right that Ashton has gone. I cannot remember such a divisive figure who was not the manager. The problem with Ashton is that he is a poor communicator and he signs up to the Ricky Gervais Guide to management speak. I think overall he is being judged harshly when considering his contribution. 

There have been improvements in the way the club has been run during his tenure which should not be understated. Our Youth Policy had almost vanished and has been reinvigorated by Ashton. His appointment of Tinnion was clever and there is no doubt that the club has grown stronger as a result with at least 6 players on the verge of the First Team or in it. We have had more players go out on loan and gain valuable experience. He has also delivered a first class training ground. Scouting networks have been established and he has tried to create a structure which is not dependent on 1 or 2 people, including the manager. Let's face it, we have had times in our history when the club has been bloated by lots of players of different managers which has cost us a fortune to get rid.

His negotiation skills should also not be forgotten and he has helped to generate unheard of levels of transfer revenue, including establishing helpful links with sides such as Chelsea.  

Where I think Ashton has failed is ultimately down to his style of communication and leadership. He has been anonymous for large parts and has not engaged with the supporters.  This makes him seem arrogant and above everyone else.  If his realistic and genuine aim was top 6 then he has failed. In fact, he has presided over a squad in decline, unbalanced and unfit. Looking at it, the value of the squad is also in decline with 1 or 2 exceptions. It is difficult to say that the squad is in a better state than it was when he joined.... in fact, I would say its gone back to square 1 as he leaves. Lots of players out of contract is a sign of poor business. 

The transfer deals that have been done by the club since he was appointed have largely been MISS. We have not invested wisely in the squad and players have been brought in with no real intention of them going into the first team (Engvall, Szmodics, Adeklun, Eissa, Walsh, Watkins to name but a few). There is about 7 million pounds in that little lot.  We needed a quality squad not one bloated by numbers. 

He culled Steve Cotterill which never made me warm to him. The club treated a double winning manager disgracefully. The appointment of Johnson was largely a gamble which paid off given the position we found ourselves in at the time but the appointment of Holden smashes Ashton's legitimacy. There is simply no way Holden was or could be the best man to take us into the top 6 and beyond ... he couldnt do as part of LJ's team so what evidence did they have that he could do it on his own..... there was none. What he then came out and said what he did about it was disrespectful to the fans. We may have different opinions but not one person on here would have said "Holden". Was that his decision or was it SL's.  That appointment has taken the club backwards. 

Overall, I think its right for him to move on as he has not met his own publicly stated objectives (top 6), but I don't think some of the things he has done are all bad. He perhaps leaves us in a slightly better state than when he joined, which perhaps reveals the poor management of the club back in the day. 

I like most of your post, but can’t agree with your 2nd paragraph regarding his achievements. 
The youth policy was essentially re-established by Sod & Amy Kington who did the work to achieve Cat 2. Nothing to do with Ashton. 
Tinnion wasn’t appointed by Ashton. 
He didn’t deliver the training ground. That was a plan for many years and was Lansdown who paid for it. I think it’s way off the mark to suggest that Ashton was responsible for the idea, design and build of this. 
He didn’t set up scouting networks, in fact he sacked any Chief Scouts we had. 
Yes, some of the fees received for players was good, but who’s to say another CEO wouldn’t have derived those (or similar) fees for what were good players in a sellers market. 
 

I see nothing that Ashton had achieved. He’s a fraud. And I’m delighted he’s gone as we were only heading one way under his tenure. Down. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

I stand by my statement. You simply can't answer that if you weren't in the interview process. I'm sure most of us know someone who talked themselves into a job above their station at some point

It could have been that we wanted Hughton but he wasn't that fussed and was useless in the interview. 

I agree in hindsight he was probably out of his depth, and I wanted Hughton or Pearson at the time, but I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that having an inside perspective (and a very short turnaround summer) he may have had an advantage over anyone else because he knew what had gone wrong and believed he could fix it. Turns out he couldn't. Considering NP hasn't done much since it could be the players let him down? 

I think with Ashton many people are making assumptions that he picked and chose the players to buy as opposed to just doing the deals for the players the managers wanted. If it's the latter I'm not sure he can be blamed.

Let’s be honest, the interview process for a football manager is not comparable with an ordinary run of the mill interview process. It shouldn’t really have mattered that DH ‘outperformed’ CH (which I would have though was bullshit anyway. 

The clues were in their respective CV’s, not matter how well he answered the question “tell us about a time you’ve faced a challenged and how did you overcome it.”

Theres one reason only DH got that job, because he wouldn’t stand up to outside interference. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Will b11 said:

How many points do we need to be mathematically safe ?

We need 9 points to be mathematically safe as Derby can get to a max of 58 and Rotherham still have 9 games left (and Cov 6)

Realistically I would say we are already safe but a win on Sat would all but confirm. I think the current bottom 3 will drop with 45 points or fewer

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Will b11 said:

How many points do we need to be mathematically safe ?

Mathematically it looks like Wycombe can only reach 48, Sheff Wed can reach 53, Rotherham can reach 60 but Derby can only reach 58. So 59 would be mathematically safe

Realistically though, Rotherham are playing every 3 days now til the end of the season, and those teams have to play teams around the bottom half so they can't all pick up max points.

We're safe, it's not even worth worrying about IMO

Link to comment
Share on other sites

48 minutes ago, Bobbie said:

Jon Lansdown is the Managing Director of the club and the only thing you can think of that he’s ‘managed’ is the irrelevant logo.

He’s not.  He’s the Chairman (and holds Director status).

Out of interest, how much do you think he contributes to the day to day running of the football club....as opposed to other roles he performs for Bristol Sport.  He most definitely errs towards “kit” and “branding”.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Fordy62 said:

Let’s be honest, the interview process for a football manager is not comparable with an ordinary run of the mill interview process. It shouldn’t really have mattered that DH ‘outperformed’ CH (which I would have though was bullshit anyway. 

The clues were in their respective CV’s, not matter how well he answered the question “tell us about a time you’ve faced a challenged and how did you overcome it.”

Theres one reason only DH got that job, because he wouldn’t stand up to outside interference. 

Whilst I agree, I can't see us appointing CH if he came in with a shit attitude or like the job was beneath him, or had huge demands on backroom staff etc at an uncertain time in a pandemic. Not saying that happened, but there's definitely scenarios where you wouldn't recruit the best "on paper".

I think the other suggestion that we held off for so long because we didn't know how Covid was going to play out, and made a short term appointment to just keep us going til we knew more about the future is a feasible option.

I just don't see any evidence other than hearsay of "outside interference".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, MarcusX said:

I stand by my statement. You simply can't answer that if you weren't in the interview process. I'm sure most of us know someone who talked themselves into a job above their station at some point

It could have been that we wanted Hughton but he wasn't that fussed and was useless in the interview. 

I agree in hindsight he was probably out of his depth, and I wanted Hughton or Pearson at the time, but I don't think it's beyond the realms of possibility that having an inside perspective (and a very short turnaround summer) he may have had an advantage over anyone else because he knew what had gone wrong and believed he could fix it. Turns out he couldn't. Considering NP hasn't done much since it could be the players let him down? 

I think with Ashton many people are making assumptions that he picked and chose the players to buy as opposed to just doing the deals for the players the managers wanted. If it's the latter I'm not sure he can be blamed.

Fair enough. All I can say is that I've been involved in hundreds of interviews and appointments. I can't recall a single occasion in which we gave a job to someone we knew to be incapable simply because they spoke well on the day.

I know it sits badly with some posters on here but the reality is that Lee Johnson, Mark Ashton and Dean Holden were all controversial appointments for a reason. Many doubted their talents. Many were proved right. It must be tough to have been proved wrong! It feels to me that the stables are swept. An era of overselling and overconfidence is gone, an era in which supporters were patronised and often treated like ignorant fools. The big question is what comes next. There we are in the hands of SL, whose track record is, sadly, poor.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My only concern is the timing of this. We have a load of contract negotiations to sort out (be they current out of contract players or new recruits) and no one to do this as far as I can see.

If Walsh is going to replace Ashton (see the other thread), I only hope that we can get him in earlier than 31 May. If Walsh isn't available, I have a concern that Pearson may not commit until he knows who is going to be Ashton’s replacement. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Dolman_Stand said:

Agre with this although him going isn't the only moving part at the club currently, sadly we have gone from being unbelievably stable with the Johnson and Ashton double act which provided us with a near guaranteed top half finish in the Championship (something we've never really had before) to the club now being in a position where currently we have no CEO and 1st Team Management and only half of a first team squad in place as of June 1st which is only 6 weeks away!

There are going to be some huge decisions to be made by the Lansdown family over the next fortnight or so that will have lasting consequences. If the correct decisions are made then all is not lost and the last 5 years can be seen as good building blocks for the future, if this goes wrong then we could well be looking at another stint in League 1 which would be catastrophic given how far we've come off the pitch since the last promotion.

When do you think the decline started?

For me there is a strong correlation to us “generally” getting worse as more and more of the 14/15 squad left the club.  Some of those were upward moves, some weren’t.  Imho we failed to use the money wisely...and first performances tailed off over at least 2 1/2 years, eventually results caught up 18 months ago.  Financially it’s been on the cards for 3 seasons too, increased costs without the relative increase in squad ability.

Thats my view anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Harry said:

I like most of your post, but can’t agree with your 2nd paragraph regarding his achievements. 
The youth policy was essentially re-established by Sod & Amy Kington who did the work to achieve Cat 2. Nothing to do with Ashton. 
Tinnion wasn’t appointed by Ashton. 
He didn’t deliver the training ground. That was a plan for many years and was Lansdown who paid for it. I think it’s way off the mark to suggest that Ashton was responsible for the idea, design and build of this. 
He didn’t set up scouting networks, in fact he sacked any Chief Scouts we had. 
Yes, some of the fees received for players was good, but who’s to say another CEO wouldn’t have derived those (or similar) fees for what were good players in a sellers market. 
 

I see nothing that Ashton had achieved. He’s a fraud. And I’m delighted he’s gone as we were only heading one way under his tenure. Down. 

Thanks, saved me the job.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...